Monday, September 30, 2019

Race Is Real Essay

In society, people socially construct institution based on sensory perception. Race is in fact a social construct made from systems of constitutive rules. It is used to generalize people into specific groups characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics. Although humans have created this entity, there are many sources that provide proof that race is impossible to define biologically. Since colonization began, humans have been given racial identities which continue to cause uproar in nations and states. People simply assuming the existence of race makes it real. Despite this, the assumption of the existence of race does not make it valid. Race cannot be objectively specified, and it should be seen as a whole. There is only one human race. D’Andrade classifies a constitutive rule as â€Å"an entity created by the social agreement that something counts as that entity† (91). A simple understanding of a constitutive rule is a rule that exists only because society believes in it, and adheres to it. Marriage is a clear example of how constitutive rules create a social entity; it exists solely on the fact that a culture agrees that it exists, and agrees on the general guidelines in which it exists. Generally speaking, constitutive rules rely on people’s adherence and shared thoughts to exist. D’Andrade explains the differences between constitutive and regulative rules. Regulative rules are those which provide guidelines and restrictions for existing forms of behavior. A regulative rule is not involved with the creation or elimination of an entity, whereas a constitutive rule does exactly that through social agreement. D’Andrade said that â€Å"Institutions are systems of constitutive rules. Every institutional fact is underlain by a system of rules of the form ? X counts as Y in context C'† (91). In this formula, X is the ideas that a culture believes in, Y represents the institutions and rules that those ideas count as, and C is the specific situation or culture. Constitutive rules define situations and/or subjects that have an effect on the reactions which come from the situation itself. The entity of family is an example of this. The systems of ideas that make up what we consider family are constitutive rules. Families can be classified into different categories including immediate and biological families, teams/teammates, religious groups, organizations and/or clubs. In this example, C is considered the American culture and the different ideas of what makes up a family is X. Although many believe family to be biological, even the boundaries of that can be argued. The considerations of family types are indistinguishable throughout the world. Those involved within families, especially close immediate families tend to pursue and enjoy a contented lifestyle. Many families strive to be involved with those within the family and help out one another. This positive involvement can also be seen within a team or organization of some sort that may grow to call themselves a family. Since it is socially constructed, the exact definition of family is hard to create and so all these groups may be considered family. Although a family is usually viewed as a positive aspect in one’s life, just like other constitutive rules, they are overlooked because they are too involved within the cultural aspect. After extensive research, it has been proven that race cannot be biologically defined. In general, people categorize people within a certain race depending mainly on their skin color, the construction of their eyes and even the color of one’s hair. These characteristics are arbitrary. In attempts to prove this, Jared Diamond wrote the article â€Å"Race without Color. † He arbitrarily chooses the gene that causes sickle-cell anemia. By using this way to classify people, Greeks, Thai and New Guineans would be put together as once race, and some Africans and Norwegians in another racial group (84). Classifying people into certain races is not biologically acceptable or possible to do objectively. It only creates views about others through our own eye, and leads to subconscious differentiation and discrimination. However, it is common today for people to use race as a simple way to categorize people. Considering all of the different classifications, Diamond, along with many anthropologists suggests, â€Å"one cannot recognize any human races at all. † It is given through anthropologists’ studies that rules that separate races from one another are constitutive rules. A socially constructed institution is only possible through the thoughts and ideas of those within a society. Race continues to be one of these examples, although it is known through facts and research that race is not properly appraised. In American culture every one has been subjected to the question of their race at one point or another. While taking exams or signing up for SATs here in America, people are questioned about their racial back rounds. This shows that race is real. Another example is seen in â€Å"Hotel Rwanda. † In the film, although the Hutus and Tutsis are from the same nation and seem physically identical to one another, there was bloodshed amongst these two races because of socially constructed identities. Race has evolved as a worldview and system of perspective. Race creates a body of prejudgments that distorts our ideas about differences between humans. The simple existence of two races in Rwanda made it so that the groups of people perceived differences and problems between them. Regardless of ideas and falsely created identities, race is real and should be viewed as a whole. A great example of the reality and issues of race within our society date back to the Rodney Glen King incident which took place in Los Angeles in 1991. During the month of March, Rodney King led police on a high speed pursuit though red lights and stop signs. After eventually stopping, police proceeded towards the car and threw King to the ground. The police officers claim he resisted arrest and was continuously stuck with batons, tackled and even tasered. George Holiday, a private citizen video taped this incident from his apartment, creating an international media sensation. In 1992, the officers were acquitted by a jury. The acquittal was based in part on a 13-second segment of the video tape. The jury verdict created massive rioting in LA for four days. By the time order was able to be restored, an estimated $1 billion in damage, with â€Å"55 deaths; 2,383 injuries; more than 7000 fire responses; 3,100 businesses damaged† (Smith, Anna Deavere). Smaller riots ensued in other U. S. cities. After the riots occurred, federal charges of civil rights violations were brought up against the officers. Two of the officers were found guilty and sentenced to 30 months in prison, while the other two were acquitted. During the acts of violence and riots, King had appeared in public in front of news cameras stating, â€Å"People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? † (Keyes. 1992) Although these acts of racial incidents occurred, in the midst of it, the one who was beaten stepped out and asked for peace and camaraderie amongst all. As described earlier, there was uproar across the country as people believed that the police involved in the attacks were initially not persecuted because racial factors. As seen in King’s quote, it is evident that he spoke in respect to racial neutrality while asking if everyone can get along. He was able to show that race is real in that simple quote. He referred to â€Å"we† as people living within this world, making them seem as a whole, as one race. As observed through this case and many others, including the most recent Jena 6 trial, race is still a factor for individuals and groups. Yet race still remains impossible to define and use. Race fits the anthropological formula for constitutive rules, â€Å"X counts as Y in context C. † Race, seen as a biological entity, is in fact a social construct made from systems of constitutive rules and is used to generalize people into certain groups. Although society views race as separate divisions among people, through scientific knowledge it is clear that human populations are not categorical, biologically distinct groups.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

An Analysis of Three Short Stories and Their Central Theme Essay

Throughout time, one of the most interesting social structures that is worth studying or analyzing would be the family. Needless to say, family plays a very important role in society-building since this is where all of us are able to find our respective identities. The three extraordinary works presented in this analysis will focus on the issue of family disharmony as well as the role of women in society during the earlier days of modern civilization. This particular analysis will look at three literary masterpieces crafted into perfection by three of the most distinguished women writers of our time:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Women Hollering Creek† by Sandra Cisnerno, â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, and â€Å"Revolt of a Mother† by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. â€Å"Woman Hollering Creek† was first published in Sandra Cisneros’s 1991 collection of short stories, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. The short story basically describes the lives of Mexicans who have crossed the border to live on †el otro lado† (376) — the other side—in the American Southwest. The main character in the story is Cleofilas, who is trapped in a constricting, culturally assigned gender role due to her linguistic isolation, violent marriage, and poverty. The author successfully weaves allusion to women in Mexican history and folklore –representing the same alienation and struggle being experienced by many women across the borders. As noted by one of the characters in the short story, Felice, there is clearly an existing domination of man over women in the culture they are in, and she goes about by noting â€Å"Did you ever notice how nothing around here is named after a woman? Really.   Unless she’s the virgin.   I guess you’re only famous if you’re a virgin†. (385) From this statement by Felice, we can see how lowly women are treated in the family structure.   Furthermore, it would appear from this statement that women are only valued that time based on certain physical qualifications (i.e. virginity) and not by their intrinsic value to the family. In this particular story, one striking point is the strong depiction of the author of a woman struggling to free herself from normal romantic expectations regarding domestic stability by choosing to leave her husband and finding herself in the process. The fact that the main character finds the strength to leave her family is a clear indication that family disharmony was very much existent in their home. The unequal treatment of women and the rigid gender structures at that time were clearly too much for the main character that she opted to break free from all these.   In fact, in one scene, Cleofilas laments the situation of women and the limited choices they have during her time saying â€Å"Tu o nadie. Somehow one ought to live one’s life like that, don’t you think?   You or no one.   Because to suffer for love is good.   The pain all sweet somehow.   In the end.† (377) In the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, the author basically tells the story of a mother’s conflicted relationship with her two daughters – a common scenario for any family, past or present. The issue of generation gap is clearly indicated in this story where the mother tries to explain to her two daughters the significance and representation of a particular quilt. What is an important piece of cloth to her is clearly nothing much to her two daughters, thus, creating family disharmony. As with many other stories by Walker, â€Å"Everyday Use† is narrated by the unrefined voice of a rural black woman, in the author’s attempt to give a voice to a traditionally disenfranchised segment of the population. Mama describes herself as a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.   â€Å"In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day.   I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man† (35). This description, along with her reference to a second grade education makes the reader understand that the main character takes pride in the practical aspects of her nature and that she has not spent a great deal of time contemplating abstract concepts such as heritage. However, her lack of education and refinement does not prevent her from having an inherent understanding of heritage based on her love and respect for those who came before her.   This is clear from her ability to associate pieces of fabric in two quilts with the people whose clothes they had been cut from: â€Å"In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago.   Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts.   And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War.† (40) The quilts have a special meaning to Mama.   When she moves up to touch the quilts, she is reaching out to touch the people whom the quilts represent. One of the most important themes in ‘‘The Revolt of ‘Mother’’’ is the distinction and reversal of traditional gender roles. Sarah’s initial acceptance of Adoniram’s building of the barn, despite his 40-year-old promise of building her a house on that spot, shows the prevalent belief that her duty is to follow her husband. Though Sarah does express her feelings to her husband, when he refuses to speak about the matter, she lets the subject drop, and the barn goes up. Adoniram’s refusal to truly listen to Sarah’s concerns throughout the story are clearly shown in his last words: ‘‘Why, mother, I hadn’t no idea you was so set on’t as all this comes to.’’(12) Throughout the story, Sarah has tried to explain her feelings but, Adoniram is not accustomed to listening to his wife – as per the custom during those times. Just like the two earlier short stories, â€Å"Revolt of a Mother† by Mary E. Freeman also touches on the role of women in small New England towns during the late 19th century. In this particular story, Freeman’s emphasis lies more with the oppression and rebellion of women. She portrays the main character as insistent on receiving equal treatment from her husband –clearly conveying women’s lack of power during those times. In fine, this particular story focuses on the struggle of women everywhere to reach out and make her presence felt to the society she is living in, especially in the family where she is part of. I believe every woman would feel frustrated with the treatment being given to the protagonist in this particular story since she is practically ignored by her husband. These three short stories enable us to see how the family structure works during the periods covered in each. Unlike the structure that we have right now, it would appear that the role that each one plays in the family is dependent on two important factors: gender and seniority. Obviously, discord was evident in each of the relationships presented because of the rigidity of the family structure during this period. Women were not given much room to assert their rights and children were often expected to carry out the wishes of their parents regardless of their own beliefs or opinion. The three stories are also very noteworthy because they focus on the role of women in society. Women have always been viewed as the weaker sex, but as the three short stories prove, women are far more resilient than many male chauvinists would give credit for. In fact, the role of women has evolved over the past few centuries and gender roles have evolved quite dramatically over the past few years. Whereas the female characters in the three short stories are confined by the limitations of their gender, the modern woman now faces a myriad of opportunities waiting for her. I believe that reading stories such as the three classics mentioned above are very poignant in the sense that they allow us to see how far we have come in terms of accepting women and the very important role they play in the development of the society. As they always say, behind every successful man, is an even more successful woman.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Infant Mortality: a Case Study

Theresa Curtis Intro to Global Health Case Study: Infant Mortality Each year approximately 10 million babies do not breathe immediately at birth, of which about 6 million require basic neonatal resuscitation. The major burden is in low-income settings, where health system capacity to provide neonatal resuscitation is inadequate. Many of these babies die because their birth attendant or caregiver did not know a simple technique called neonatal resuscitation. Neonatal resuscitation is important because it is a technique that can and will save a baby’s life.Birth asphyxia is one of the leading causes of infant mortality, cerebral palsy and mental disabilities worldwide. In this case, we were asked to look at the China Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Why is this program important and why was China the country in the most need to have the program implemented? The program is important because more than twenty percent of chinese children die from birth asphyxia. In China 17 million c hildren are born every year. And The idea that children have to die because a nurse is not trained to resuscitate the child is sad.We, as americans are used to the big medical centers and if something happen we know that our child will be in good hands. The Key players in bringing rescuscitation to china was the American Academy of pediatrics. The program was first introduced in 1987 and it failed. I guess at the time there was not enough funding and of course when something new is introduced in the medical world, doctors or administrators are not quick to accept new techniques. I think of all that children that lost their lives because doctors and nurses were not trained to administer CPR or mechanical ventilation.The Chinese Society of Perinatal Medicine provided obstetricians and neonatologst. The Chinese Nursing Association provided nurses professional education and training in resuscitation. They also included midwives in the training because midwives do not use resuscitation t echniques during births. The Freedom of Breath Foundation of life Program was developed to reduce infant mortality rates by ensuring there is at least one skilled neonatal resuscitation provider at every delivery. After five years, that goal has been reached, nd more than 100,000 medical professionals from more than 20 provinces have been trained. In studies conducted by the China Ministry of Health, birth asphyxia mortality declined by 53 percent in 360 hospitals surveyed. (AAP. ORG) The future of the program is other countries being introduced to neonatal resuscitation. If the program worked for china than whose to say, it would not work for other countries. I wanted to research and find what other countries have implemented neonatal resuscitation since China.There is a similar program in Bangladesh. Before the program was implemented, the traditional way to resuscitate was to hold the baby upside down, slap the bottom or blow in the baby’s face. The only suctioning was of the mouth and nose. The main barriers to effective resuscitation are lack of competent staff and lack of simple equipment. Aga Khan University with UNICEF launched a program to improve resuscitation skills of Physicians, Nurses, and Midwives.I hope that all countries are able to implement a neonatal resuscitation program in the hospitals but also go out into the communities and share the technique with those that give birth at home. It is known that many women do not go to medical facilities to give birth. Therefore, there need to be a nurse or midwives that can go out into the village, community, to teach the home nurse how to give proper resuscitation. My five-year goal would be that all people know how to administer neonatal resuscitation.Many children are lost because they come out and they are not breathing. However, if more than one attendant knows the procedure more children can be saved. I would all medical personnel trained and re-trained every six months. It is important t o maintain skills. In many countries the father is not apart of the birth, and maybe they should be. A male instructor can train and show the father during a home birth how to resuscitate if needed. It can be the difference between life and death. Freedom of Breath, Freedom of life |Helping babies breathe | | |Designed to train birth attendants in developing countries in the area| |First to successfully bring neonatal resuscitation to china, in a |of newborn resuscitation. | |systematic and sustainable way. | | |Was developed to reduce the infant mortality rate by always having a |Has a train the trainer approach.Train the nurses and midwives in the| |person trained and skilled in neonatal resuscitation at delivery. |area of resuscitation before they go into the hospital and train | | |fellow nurses and midwives. | |Grew to national scale having 190 certified instructors and 44,000 |Trained 31 facilitators and 102 learners. however, the majority of | |practitioners trained |parti cipants could not demonstrate mastery of bag and mask ventilation| |The rate of birth asphyxia declined by more than a third. | |Providers’ skills and confidence have increased and more babies are |Participants in a program for neonatal resuscitation in | |surviving. The program is saving lives and improving the health of |resource-limited settings demonstrated high satisfaction | |women. | | References www. aap. org www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov www. jnj. com/giving-breath-to-life www. unicef. org/rosa/newborn

Friday, September 27, 2019

Sex education at high school in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sex education at high school in Canada - Essay Example According to McKay, et al, (1998, p123) the Canadian parents have failed miserably in educating their children, about sexuality, a situation that denies teenagers the power to make informed decisions on matters related to their sexuality. In a world that technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, teenagers often get misguided information about sex on social networks and from pornographic sites, a situation that makes them vulnerable to early sexual experimentation. This exposure has resulted to high incidents of teenage pregnancies, infection by sexually transmitted diseases and other negative consequences such as dropping out of school and other reproductive health problems (Caims and Hiebert, 1994, p227). Sex education should be introduced in Canadian high schools to protect the teenagers from sexual related problems and enhance their personal safety. A study conducted by Geasler et al(1995, p 173) established that most Canadian parents entrusted educational institutions to provide sex health education to empower the adolescents with relevant knowledge such as personal safety, importance of abstinence and reproduction.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The unpredictability of future climate brings significant threats for Essay

The unpredictability of future climate brings significant threats for insurance companies. The unpredictability of futu - Essay Example In order to ensure this security, a deal is entered between two parties - the insurer and the policyholder. In the agreement, there is a given amount referred to as premium that is to be paid regularly by the policyholder to the insurance organization. In return, the insurance company agrees to pay a defined amount referred to as benefit or claim payment incase a predefined loss is incurred by the policyholder (Anderson & Brown, 2005, p.2). To avoid ambiguity during compensation, the agreement has to define which losses to be covered by the insurance policies. This would include medical insurance, life insurance, property insurance and many others. The insurance companies establish the premiums for the different insurance policies based on the value of the losses to be compensated and the frequency with which the losses have been observed to occur. Insurance may seem to be expensive and a waste of resources to a policyholder who has not suffered any loss over a long period of time. H owever, in case the unexpected loss occurs, it will be cheaper to have the loss compensated by an insurer. It is actually a way through which risk is transferred from one party to the other (Anderson & Brown, 2005, p.3; WetFeet, 2008, p.64). The advantage that the insurers enjoy is that not all of their policyholders will suffer losses at the same time. This kind of a pooling by the different policyholders enables the few policyholders that have had some loss to be compensated without loss to the insurance company. Climatic conditions contribute to various losses incurred in various fields in the insurance industry. Poor climatic conditions can interfere with business operations, can cause damage and loss of property, can lead to increased disease infection, and increased mortality rates emanating from accidents, floods, earthquakes and other disasters. The climate unpredictability brings significant threats for insurance companies Supportive reasons The occurrences of climatic chan ges and the inability of insurance companies to predict this future occurrence can be a threat to the success of the organizations. Firstly, the disasters often catch the insurance companies unaware due to poor mechanisms for mitigating the catastrophes. The climatic changes may not follow a predefined pattern and an attempt to make a prediction based on the previous occurrences often leads to miscalculations (Mills, 2005, p.1). This increases the vulnerability of the insurance organizations to the disasters. It often results in an increased liability claim leading to losses by the insurance organizations. The insurers are then not able to compensate for the losses that have been incurred (Godoy, 2011). The unpredictable climatic conditions like future occurrences of floods may make an insurance company to incur losses due excessive compensation of the losses incurred by the policyholders. The climatic conditions resulting into global warming provides humble opportunities for the oc currences of other natural catastrophes like wildfire that can be of great losses to the insurance organizations. For instance, the losses that were incurred by the United State’s insurance organizations due to wildfires were valued at $6.5 billion between 1970 and 2004 (Allianz Group& World Wildlife Fund, 2006,

Play Money Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Play Money - Research Paper Example The company celebrated its 150th anniversary this year. Intel Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells unified digital technology platforms The company offers microprocessors that process system data and controls other devices in the system; and chipsets (Bloomberg, 2014). Alcoa Inc. engages in the manufacture and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina. The company operates in four segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Flat-Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions. Its products are used in aircraft, automobiles, commercial transportation, packaging, building and construction, oil and gas, defense, consumer electronics, and industrial applications. Bank of America Corporation, over its subsidiaries, offers various banking and financial products and services to single consumers, small-and middle-market businesses, recognized investors, corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company’s Credits segment provides traditional savings accounts, cash market savings accounts, CDs and IRAs, and noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well The Dow jones industrial average jumped 195 point or 1.1% to 17390.52 a closing record for the index. The previous record was 17279.74. The Dow section leading the way higher was Gamble, which sported a $1.22 gain (+1.4%) getting the stock to $87.27. U.S Securities ans Exchange Commisions. (2014, June). Financial Navigating in the Current Economy: Ten Things to Consider Before You Make Investing Decisions. Retrieved from U.S Securities and Exchange Commisions:

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Individual differences and second language acquisition Essay

Individual differences and second language acquisition - Essay Example ional or biological factors enhance the differences amid humans, and there are ways that individuals use to learn their variations, although their interaction and introspection with other individuals can be similar. In this regard, it is crucial to evaluate the individual differences that influence second language acquisition. Among the factors that will be evaluate include; age, learning styles, individual motivation, learning strategies, sex, personality and aptitude. One of the most influential individual differences that affect the acquisition of second language is age. Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford (2003) hold that children and young individuals have a better chance of acquiring a second language as compared to older individuals; the argument is that there is a certain age limit at which children have the ability to acquire a second language at a faster rate. Beyond that age, physiological transformations in the brain force it to lose its capacity to intake new functions of acquiring a new language. For persons that have been deprived off the ability for linguistic input require a trigger that enhances the acquisition of the first language and this occurs at a critical period. Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) cite a case in which a 13 year old girl that had been abused and kept away from any languages was rescued; unfortunately, regardless of the numerous efforts to teach her the first language so as she would communicate, Genie never learnt the languag e. This finding led to a long and controversial debate which sought to determine the appropriate time in which an individual can acquire a new language. In other words, scholars held that there is a critical period at which an individual can acquire a new language and it is controlled by the physiological transformations that take place in the brain. The explanation given is that as an individual becomes older, the level of self-conscious increases and it hinders the ability to learn a second language. The sensitive

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Leadership style for Intel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership style for Intel - Essay Example In the first example, the company entered completely new market and gained superiority in this field; while in the second example, Grove has showed the world his ethical beliefs - the satisfaction of customers and high quality of products were of highest importance to him. Operational environment was like a chess playing board for Grove - he always anticipated what the competitors will do in response to his moves and then responded to their actions. Moreover, Grove was willing to share his knowledge and experience with other leaders through his writings. Not a single other leader has written so much about how to stabilize the change (Garten 26). In his books he explains how to increase the productivity of employees no matter what business they are working in. Grove addressed the issues immediately when they appeared. For example, in the mid 1990s the issue of competition was especially important for the big corporations. Grove has published a book explaining how the companies should deal with the small competitors who emerge suddenly and can change the shape of the industry. It was his nature to help other people to survive on the market. He has led his company to success and wanted other to succeed as well. Grove possessed exceptional... Intel was at the same time big and nimble as if elephants were able to dance (Garten 26). Grove was able to realize that size and speedy adaptability were critical to the global reach and has successful incorporated his cultural values into success of the company he headed. As Grove his noted, his greatest accomplishment was that he "played a significant part in developing the work environment and culture at the company and with the directors" (Garten 26). Grove has devoted his career to finding the way to motivate people. As his employees recall, is he wanted something, nobody had the right to say no. (Schlender 68). He possessed the ability to instill in employee's desire to do things right and the best of their ability, and employees did not want to disappoint him. As it was already mentioned, for Grove the responsibilities of CEO and the board of directors had to be separated with everybody having their own set of responsibilities. For example, he shifted the primary mission of board from pure oversight to helping the company reignite growth. When he became the CEO Grove has changed himself and transformed into another type of a leader, with governance issues being shifted to the board of directors. "In business he has shown time and again an uncanny ability to clarify and optimize complex organizations, business processes, and strategies by applying exacting standards and setting high, unambiguous expectations. Yet the real secret of his success is his ability to reinvent himself" (Schlender 68). This is what people think about Grove. As he recalls, the most difficult task for him was to learn to be silent. He realized that his opinion is not always the best and the only

Monday, September 23, 2019

MRKT Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

MRKT - Research Paper Example As a result of this revolution, the world has been automatically transformed into a single well connected global entity. It needs special highlighting of the fact that the technological revolution that has affected both the developed as well as the developing markets has brought a tremendous change in the nature and behaviour of the masses around the world. The consumers and masses of the present day increasingly prefer to live a dual life. This dual life promotes physical presence in the real world as well as virtual presence in the internet connected world. In order to stay connected to their virtual selves in the virtual world, the masses prefer to use various smart technology devices like Smartphones, I-pads, tablets. It is highly interesting to mention that the intense acceptance and usage of the technological devices has resulted in enormous acceptance of the multiple social networking sites. From the marketing point of view, it has to be said that for the purpose of better com munication of value to the customers as well as the target audience, creation of relevant product which will satisfy the needs existing in the market is of tremendous importance. For the purpose of acquiring knowledge and needs of the masses, it becomes highly essential on the part of the marketers to engage in the process of market research. Recognizing the trend of the young consumers to stay online for a considerable part of the day as well as night, marketers entitled with the responsibility of communicating the values of various kinds of products and services, are focusing on the process of engaging with their customers through the online platform. The online marketers in order to attract more and more of the online target audience are designing various kinds of interesting web enabled applications which automatically collects and tracks the users data as well as various other relevant specification. Needless to mention that in the bid to browse the highly interesting applicati ons, the online community of consumers ends up revealing a considerable amount of personal data. This essential data is being mined by the data scientists and data experts using the technology of Big Data. However, it has to be mentioned that the needs and demand related to normal products and services is highly different as compared to products and services that belongs to the health care sector. It has to be stated that for the purpose of significant understanding of the attitudes of the public as well as the trends of the consumers in regards to various healthcare products and services, a much specialised kind of research and market survey has to be conducted. While discussing about the various kinds of research data that is often considered by the private as well as government organizations belonging to the healthcare sector, the focus and importance has to be given on health survey data, general consumer based information as well as administrative data which is resulted from mu ltiple health care delivery systems (Goodby and et.al, 15). For the purpose of generation of relevant data, organizations belonging to the healthcare category often collect a lot of data which are generated as a possible by product of various operations of the organization. Now with the fast changing consumer needs and demands, the organizations providing services and products of the health care s

Sunday, September 22, 2019

This I Believe Essay Example for Free

This I Believe Essay â€Å"Come on Blake just one time, no one will know, just take one sip and one puff.† And from that day forward I started smoking black and mild’s, which lead to a daily routine. In high school, I never thought I would smoke nor drink, until I went to college. Being in high school, I always thought drinking and smoking was unhealthy. It leads to more serious problems that you cannot control. I was always the bigger person out of my group of friends, who would tell them right from wrong, about how unhealthy it was. It was even one point in time; I went as far as researching and handing out the literature of smoking. As the result, I lost a few friends along the way, due to handing out the literature. Once I attended college at Western Kentucky University, it seemed as if things changed dramatically. The quote â€Å"Never Say Never† really hit me like a ton of bricks. While it may be true of smoking being unhealthy, in spite of this knowing how smoking and drinking was abominable. I went out on a limb knowing it was beyond my beliefs. However, I was more than one hundred miles away in a strange environment. Within a few days, I started meeting people from different cities. I became close to this one particular girl and I began to hang with her and her friends. Soon afterwards things immediately changed from my beliefs of smoking and drinking. Just to fit in, I decided to take a puff and a sip. Once I took that one puff and that one sip. Smoking became an everyday ritual, as to where drinking was an every now and then process. But in my heart, I knew that the decision I was making was not right for me. I kept telling myself day in and day out. But the peer pressure of my friends forced me in the wrong direction. The conclusion is to always stick to what your beliefs are and that other people may not believe what you think is correct. And nevertheless allow someone to influence you from your beliefs, eventually their may be consequences that you may have to follow.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Should Courts Lift the Corporate Veil?

Should Courts Lift the Corporate Veil? The doctrine laid down in Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd has to be watched very carefully. It has often been supposed to cast a veil over the personality of a limited company through which the courts cannot see. But that is not true. The courts can and often do draw aside the veil. They can and often do pull off the mask. They look to see what really lies behind. The legislature has shown the way with group accounts and the rest. And the courts should follow suit. I think that we should look at the Fork company and see it as it really is the wholly owned subsidiary of the tax payers. It is the creature, the puppet of the taxpayers in point of fact, and it should be so regarded in point of law. Per Lord Denning MR, Littlewoods Mail Order Stores Ltd v I.R.C. [1969] 3 All ER 855 1.0  Introduction This dissertation will discuss the principles of limited liability and corporate personality and the courts’ reluctance to disregard the corporate veil the principle called â€Å"piercing the Corporate Veil†. We shall consider the circumstances in which the Courts have been able to pierce the veil of incorporation and the reasons as to why they have in most cases upheld the decision in Solomon v Solomon & Co[1]. All companies in the United Kingdom have to be registered and incorporated under the Companies Act which governs the principle of limited liability hence giving the owners or shareholders a curtain against liability from creditors in the case of the company falling into financial troubles. This curtain so created gives the company a separate legal personality so that it can sue and be sued in its own right and the only loss to the owners or shareholders is the number of shares held in the company on liquidation with no effect on their personal assets. This distinct separation between the owners or shareholders and the limited company is the concept referred to as the ‘veil of incorporation’ or ‘corporate veil’. In conclusion, it shall be argued that the courts should lift or pierce the corporate veil to a significantly greater extent so as to hold erring shareholders or directors of a corporation liable for the debts or liabilities of the corporation despite the general principle of limited liability were the corporation has insufficient assets to off-set the creditor liabilities. 2.0  Limited liability and Corporate Personality The principles of limited liability and corporate personality are the cornerstone of the United Kingdom company law since the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844, its consolidation in 1856[2] and the introduction of the Limited Liability Act 1855. These two principles have been so guarded by the courts as being fundamental to today’s company law by upholding the separate legal personality of a corporate entity. However, whilst the original intention of the legislation was to help companies raise capital through the issue of shares without exposing the shareholders to risk beyond the shares held, the present attraction to incorporating a company is the advantage of shielding behind the curtain of limited liability which could be abused by some businessmen. 2.1  Companies Act 2006 Article 3 (1) provides that a company is a â€Å"limited company† if the liability of its members is limited by its constitution. Article 7 (2) provides that a company may not be so formed for an unlawful purpose. Article 16 (2) The subscribers to the memorandum, together with such other persons as may from time to time become members of the company, are a body corporate by the name stated in the certificate of incorporation. (3) That body corporate is capable of exercising all the functions of an incorporated company. 2.2  Limited liability As stated above, the doctrine of limited liability was introduced by the Limited Liability Act 1855 as a means by which companies could raise capital by selling company shares without exposing the shareholders to unlimited liability.[3] The principle of limited liability shields the company owners, shareholders and directors or managers against personal liability in the event of the company winding up or becoming insolvent. In such an event the liability of its owners and shareholders is limited to the individual shareholding held as provided for by the Companies Act 2006 and the Insolvency Act 1986[4]. This means that the members of a company do not have to contribute their personal assets to the company assets to meet the obligations of the company to its creditors on its liquidation but have to contribute the full nominal value of the shares held by individual shareholders. It should be noted here that such limited liability does not shield the limited company from liability until all its debts or assets are exhausted. This principle has so been held since the House of Lords ruling in the Solomon case[5] in which the Lords where of the view that the motives behind the formation of a corporation was irrelevant in determining its rights and liabilities as long as all the requirements of registration are complied with and the company is not formed for an unlawful purpose[6]. Much as a limited company has a separate legal personality, its decisions are made by directors and managers who should use the powers conferred unto them by the company board of directors and the memorandum and articles of association[7], and any abuse will entail personal liability by the officer concerned. Limited liability encompasses both the small enterprise including one-man companies[8] and big companies hence limiting the liabilities to company assets and not to any other personal assets.[9] This view has been endorsed in recent times through numerous cases as evidenced in a one-man company, Lee’s Air Farming. Lee was the majority shareholder and director in the company in which he was also the employee. He was killed on duty in an air accident and the court held that Lee and the company were two separate entities and hence entitled to compensation.[10] The courts will only in exceptional circumstances such as abuse, fraud or where the company was used as an agent of its owner disregard the doctrine of limited liability and hold members, shareholders or directors personally liable for the debts and other company obligations to the creditors in what has been termed the piercing or lifting of the veil of incorporation. However, there are several statutory laws which allow for the principle of limited liability to be ignored in such situations as in the reporting of financial statements of group companies[11], corporate crime and insolvency[12] which we shall discuss below. 2.3  Corporate Personality A limited company is a legal person[13] with an existence which is separate and independent from its members as long as all the formalities of registration are adhered with in line with the Act. The corporate identity entails the company can sue and be sued in its own right without affecting its owners’ or shareholders’ rights. It is trite law that the only plaintiff to a wrong done to a company is prima facie company itself and not its shareholders[14] except in instances where there is a fraud against shareholders or the acts complained of are illegal. The company has been held as having an independent legal corporate personality since it was first held in the case of Solomon v A Solomon & Co Ltd[15]. To emphasise this point, Lord Macnaghten said that it seemed impossible â€Å"to dispute that once the company is legally incorporated it must be treated like any other independent person with its rights and liabilities appropriate to itself, and that the motives of those who took part in the promotion of the company are absolutely irrelevant in discussing what those rights and liabilities are.[16] In this case, Solomon registered his company into a limited company under the Companies Act[17] which required a minimum of seven (7) members for incorporation. Solomon became the major shareholder with his wife and children holding a share each but the company ran into financial problems leaving no assets for the unsecured creditors on liquidation. Whilst the court of appeal held the company to be a ‘sham’ and an alias, trustee or nominee for Solomon and that the transaction was contrary to the true intent of the Companies Act[18] the House of Lords reversed this decision and held that the company had been validly registered as required by the Act and hence had a separate legal personality from the shareholders. In arriving at this decision, Lord Macnaghten said that, â€Å"The company is at law a different person altogether from the subscribers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Nor are the subscribers, as members liable, in any shape or form, except to the extent and in the manner provided by the Act.† This decision shows that the House of Lords identified that the important factor was the observance of the requirements and formalities of the Act which safeguarded the principles of limited liability and corporate personality.  To date, this is the correct interpretation of the Company’s Act and it is important that the principle in maintained in the advancement of commerce. It should be noted here that the principle of corporate personality does not affect the company creditors to a large extent as far as the recovery of the debts is concerned. Following the decision in the Solomon case, Professor Gower has described a limited company as being ‘opaque and impassable’[19], whilst on the other hand it was described as ‘calamitous’[20]. Some commentators suggest that courts have been more inclined to the maintenance of the sanctity of the separate legal integrity of a company and have resisted the common law resolution of â€Å"peering under the skirts of a company to examine its linen (dirty or otherwise)†[21] as can be observed from the numerous cases since the Solomon case. The foregoing shows the importance to commerce of the incorporation of a company as it allows for continuity of the business transactions despite any changes in the owners, administrators, directors or shareholders of the company. However, common law has in some exceptional instances ignored this principle in stances of abuse or fraudulent use of a sham corporate structure. The courts have ignored the corporate sham structure and peer behind the veil to identify the â€Å"directing mind and will† that control the company and such intervention being termed as lifting the veil, cloak[22] or mask[23]. Whilst the courts have at times pierced the veil to benefit creditors when a company is placed under liquidation, there has been reluctance by the same courts to pierce the veil in instances which could have favourable results for shareholders.[24] 3.0  One-man Limited Companies The Council Directive 89/667[25] provides for the formation of one-man private companies hence moving away from the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 requirements. This Directive highlights the advancement in commerce and as can be indentified from the Solomon case, Mr Solomon was the owner of the company and only registered the other six shares for his wife and children to fulfil the requirements of the Act. The company owner in these one-man corporations would in most instances also be the director in which case some unscrupulous individuals could escape liability for their own misconduct by holding assets in the name of the corporation. The courts are prepared to pierce the corporate veil in a one man company so as to be enabled to treat assets of the company as â€Å"property held by the defendants† were the company is held to be an alter ego of the owner.[26] However, the courts have shown that they are not prepared to pierce the corporate veil even in one-man limited companies as long as they are properly registered as required by the Act. In the case lee v Lee’s  Air Farming[27] mentioned above, Mr Lee incorporated Lee’s Farming Limited and was the director and controlling officer as an employee of the company. On his death in an air crush whilst on duty and the family claimed workers’ compensation. The court held that the company and Mr Lee were distinct and separate entities and hence Mr Lee was a worker in his own company. Hence we see here the court’s upholding of the principle set down by the rule in Solomon v Solomon[28] which has remained controversial[29] with changing commercial activity and globalisation. The courts have been more willing to pierce the veil in one-man companies were the owner of the company is usually the controlling officer and does not deal with the company at arm’s length. In the case of Wallersteiner v Moir[30], Lord Denning held that the subsidiaries were controlled by Dr Wallersteiner making them â€Å"puppets† which â€Å"danced to his bidding†. Lord Denning is pointing out here that whilst the subsidiaries appeared to have a separate personality, they were in reality his agents or sham companies with no existence of their own and hence warranted the piercing of the veil. This principle of corporate personality as established in the Salomon case has been extended to groups companies which we shall look at below. 4.0  Group Companies Group companies comprise of the parent company with its subsidiaries carrying on their businesses not as a common enterprise or â€Å"single economic unit†[31], though portraying it as such to the outside world. The principle of limited liability applies to the subsidiary companies so formed as they are registered companies under the Act and as such each has a separate legal personality to the parent company and hence can sue and be sued in their own right. The advantage of this arrangement to the group is that it limits liability to each subsidiary company in the group whilst sharing the group profits for the benefit of the group structure. Such group structures can lead to the parent company forming subsidiary companies to run its risky part of the business and hence insulating itself from liability in the event of the subsidiary company failing to meet its obligations to the creditors.[32] The effect of corporate personality in group companies is that each entity is legally independent and separate from other subsidiaries and the parent, hence each entity being liable for its own debts,[33] which affirms the Solomon principle. Lord Justice Slade said: â€Å"Our law, for better or worse, recognises the creation of subsidiary companies, which though in one sense the creatures of their parent companies, will nevertheless under the general law fall to be treated as separate legal entities with all the rights and liabilities which would normally attach to separate legal entities†.[34] This is still the law and an affirmation of the principle in the Solomon case. In the case of Ord & Another v Belhaven Pubs Ltd,[35] the proprietors of a company which was in the business of acquiring old pub premises, doing them up and then letting them to tenants, duly let a renovated pub building to Ord. There had been misrepresentations made by the company as to the potential profitability of the premises which only came to light some time later. By the time Belhaven Pubs Ltd had ceased trading and could not meet its debts. Ord sought leave to substitute the parent company. The Court of Appeal held that the defendant company which had granted the lease was legitimate and had not been a mere faà §ade for the holding company and hence could not be substituted. This basic principle of separate legal identity has been re-affirmed more recently in the Court of Appeal decision in Adams v Cape Industries PLC[36]. In this case, the defendant company was a member of a corporate group with a UK parent company. The employees in its US subsidiaries were injured by inhaling asbestos dust and had successfully sued the subsidiaries in US courts. They applied to enforce judgement against the parent company arguing that Cape had been present in the USA through its subsidiaries as they formed a â€Å"single economic unit†. The Court declined to pierce the corporate veil and held that the â€Å"fundamental principle is that each company in a group of companies is a separate legal entity possessed of separate legal rights and liabilities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The principle in the case of Salomon was upheld on the basis that the subsidiary companies had been legitimately formed and hence were separate legal entities distinct from the parent company. 5.1  The Directing Mind A registered company is a separate and distinct legal entity, a body corporate[37] possessing rights and made subject to duties being able to sue and be sued in its own right. In the case of Lennard’s Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co. Ltd[38], the court held that, â€Å"a corporation is an abstraction. It has no mind of its own any more than it has a body of its own; its active and directing will must consequently be sought in the person of somebody who for some purposes may be called an agent, but who is really the directing mind and will of the corporation, the very ego and centre of the personality of the corporation†¦..† So we see here that the courts are willing to look behind the corporate veil as a matter of law so as to establish the directing officer behind the decisions and actions taken by the company. The directing mind of a corporation is the senior person whose authority is derived from the companys board of directors to perform the functions of the company as directed and for the benefit of the company.[39] In the course of business, such senior persons would then delegate their authority to other employees for the efficient running of the company in which case such employees’ actions or inactions would be considered as those of the â€Å"directing mind†. Lord Reid further went on to define the â€Å"directing mind and will† of the company as the person who acts for the company as he acts as â€Å"the company and his mind which directs his acts is the mind of the company.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. He is not acting as a servant, representative, agent or delegate. He is an embodiment of the company or, one could say, he hears and speaks through the persona of the company, within his appropriate sphere, and his mind is the mind of the company. If it is a guilty mind then that guilt is the guilt of the company.†[40] Therefore, this would mean that the â€Å"directing mind and will† of the company is any employee who performs certain functions for the corporation as long as he has the authority to do so and does not act outside his mandate in which case he will be held personally liable[41]. In Williams and another v. Natural life health foods ltd and mistlin,[42] the case of a small one-person company, Sir Patrick Russell in his dissenting judgment pointed out that â€Å"the managing director will almost inevitably be the one possessed of qualities essential to the functioning of the company†, but that in itself does not mean that the director is willing to be personally liable to the companys customers. Therefore to convict a company, the court will go behind the status of the separate legal entity distinction so as to establish the â€Å"directing mind and will† of the company controlling its activities[43]. However, it has been identified that the principle of limited liability can be subject to abuse and in the circumstances were there is statute will not provide justice or equity, the courts have in such exceptional circumstances disregarded the principle and held the shareholders or directors accountable for their decisions in the running of the company. The process in which the courts have disregarded the principle of limited liability is called â€Å"piercing the corporate veil† which is the main discussion of this document. 5.2  Tortious Liability The company is vicariously liable for any torts committed by its employees or agents whilst acting in the course of the official duties and ‘shall not be called into question on the ground of lack of capacity’[44] whilst the employee or agent remains the primary tortfeasor[45]. It is therefore clear that the â€Å"directing mind and will† can sometimes be personally liable for torts, for which the company is also liable, for their fraudulent acts though done on behalf of the company. 4.3  Criminal Liability The Barrow Borough Council case is thought to be the first prosecution of a local authority for corporate manslaughter. To convict a company of corporate manslaughter, the prosecution must prove the companys conduct, which led to the deaths, was the conduct of a senior person in the company—the directing mind (also often referred to as the controlling mind). In practical terms, this means that for a company to be guilty of corporate manslaughter a senior person (normally a director) also has to be guilty of manslaughter. The difficulty with these cases, particularly against larger companies with layers of management, is proving a causal link between the conduct (or lack of it) of the directing mind and the incident that caused death. 6.0  The Corporate Veil The corporate veil is the curtain that legally separates the company from its shareholders hence holding the company as having a separate legal personality and limited liability. In curtailing any abuses of limited liability and the protection of creditors to both small and group companies, the courts have in certain instances, though reluctantly, looked behind the corporate veil to establish the true intent of the controlling officers of the company. The courts have in the rare circumstances ignored the corporate form and looked at the business realities of the situation so as to prevent the deliberate evasion of contractual obligations, to prevent fraud or other criminal activities and in the interest of public policy and morality. Piercing the corporate veil has not been complicated in one-man companies were the owner is usually the director and hence the controlling officer as compared to group companies which have a layered structure. The controlling officer[46] will be held liable and asked to account for his actions so that the company can fulfil its financial obligations to its creditors in the event of company insolvency. In the case of Royal Brunei Airlines v Tan[47] made clear. 6.1  Lifting the Corporate Veil The corporate veil is a curtain that shields company shareholders and directors from personal liability by the principle of limited liability in the event of the company being insolvent and unable to fulfil its obligations. The lifting of the corporate veil concept describes a legal decision where the limited company shareholders or directors are held liable for the debts or other liabilities of the corporation contrary to the principle of limited liability. Whilst there is strict liability legislation to prosecute erring limited companies for statutory offences but were there is insufficient statutory protection, the common law remedy of piercing of the corporate veil is imposed by the courts so as to put liability on the controlling officer (directing mind) of the corporation. However, the courts have been reluctant to rebut the principle of limited liability and only in exceptional circumstances have they been willing to pierce the corporate veil to establish the true facts. In this way, certain individuals or parent-companies responsible for the company’s actions are held liable so at to account for their decisions as shareholders or directors. Generally, the UK corporate law holds that the shareholders, directors or parent-companies are not liable for corporate obligations of the companies or subsidiaries they control hence maintaining the principles of limited liability and separate legal corporate personality. The principles of separate legal personality and limited liability have been long recognised in English law[48] and that the shareholders or directors are not liable for the debts of the company as long as it is properly administered.[49] However, in exceptional circumstances[50], the courts have been prepared to look behind the company and establish the actions or inactions of the directors and shareholders using the process known as â€Å"piercing the corporate veil†. Piercing the corporate veil is the process whereby the court ignores the principle of corporate personality and holds the shareholders or directors liable for their actions so that they meet the company obligations in their personal capacities.  The courts will pierce or the â€Å"veil† were the corporate structure has been used as an instrument of fraud or to circumvert the law.[51] It has been argued that whilst the courts have used the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil though reluctantly, it is still not well understood leading to uncertainties in the legal process.[52] Some commentators have argued that the exceptional circumstances in which the courts have justified the piercing of the corporate veil is uncertain as evidenced by the number of contradictory decisions by the courts.[53]  Goulding[54] further argues that ‘it is not possible to distil any single principle from the decided cases as to when the courts will lift the veil’ due to the diversity of the cases, though they are more willing in cases of extreme abuse.[55] In the leading case on this subject, Solomon v Solomon[56] discussed above, the House of Lords maintained that â€Å"individuals could organise their affairs as they wanted and that if they chose to do so via incorporation they were entitled to the protection of limited liability as long as the incorporation was in accordance with the formal rules of the relevant legislation†. Though it is English trite law that the incorporation of a company protects the members from company liability by the principle of limited liability, there are both statutory and common law exceptions to the principle in cases of abuse of the corporate structure. 7.0  Statutory Exceptions Gower and Davies[57] argue that the courts are willing to lift the veil were statutory wording of a particular statute[58] is explicit as Parliament intended. The courts have resisted the temptation to pierce the veil because they consider it just to do so[59] though they are more willing in exceptional circumstances or were they feel that the shareholders or directors are concealing the true facts[60]. However, the courts have been reluctant to lift the veil were the statute does not specifically provide for it. There are various Acts which specifically provide for the lifting of the corporate veil and as such are strict and have to be followed. Following are a few examples of both civil and criminal liability imposed on limited companies. Companies Act 2006 sections 398 and 399 Group of companies Although each company is a separate legal person, section 399 (2) requires that the parent company prepares group accounts at the end of the financial year so as to â€Å"give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss†. This Act looks at the group of companies as a ‘single economic entity’ and in effect lifting the corporate veil which goes against the principles of corporate personality and limited liability.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Environmental awareness any effect on this relationship

Environmental awareness any effect on this relationship INTRODUCTION The world is currently facing complex environmental problems that have resulted in environmental degradation. Western studies have evidenced that consumers in the USA and Western Europe have grown more environmentally conscious in the 1990s (Curlo E., 1999). Recently, green consumerism has started to gradually emerge in the Asian regions in a significant manner (Gura˘u, C. et al, 2005) Supporters of environmental protection tend to be younger in age (Martisons et al, 1997). Given the anticipated life span of this age group, the cultivation of its green purchasing behaviour may go a long way in reinforcing behavioural commitment for the next few generations, especially in the developing Asian economies, where a surge in income and purchasing power seems to be in the making. India, one of the biggest economies of the world and a growing economic powerhouse of Asia, suffers from dangerously high levels of air pollution, poor water quality, high levels of exposure to severe traffic noise and high levels of garbage disposal. Compared with what has been happening in the West, consumers in India are just at the stage of green awakening. The use of eco-friendly products is still not very prevalent in the country, though there seems to be a huge potential for such goods in the country. Our research is based on the consumer behaviour towards environmental-friendly products. We have studied the impact of attitude towards eco-friendly products on purchasing behaviour, and whether environmental awareness has any effect on this relationship. LITERATURE REVIEW Environment consciousness, environmental responsibility, â€Å"going green† and so on. These are the terms in which marketers are increasingly talking about, and selling, their products today. The subject of ‘Environment is attracting interest of the marketers, and this is not really a new phenomenon. It has been doing the rounds since the early 1970s. A plethora of products have been launched with the ‘eco-friendly tag. Various studies have looked into the relationship between environment and marketing (Kassarjian, 1971, Kinnear et al, 1974 and Fisk, 1973). Marketers are interested to know how much premium a consumer is willing to pay for buying an eco-friendly product. This type of consumer behaviour is primarily influenced by a persons attitude and awareness. However, not all regions have been successfully studied for the impact of such attitude and awareness. International green marketers have expressed that the unavailability of market information in Asian countries often becomes a major hindrance to the success of international expansion of their green products (Gura˘u, C. et al, 2005). Many international green marketers have failed to implement effective market segmentation in their overall marketing strategies due to insufficient information in Asian countries (Keegan et al, 2000). A topic which has not been properly explored is young consumers green buying behaviours and factors that affect such behaviour. Young adults constitute a large citizen group and have the potential for a powerful collective force in society for environmental protection. Past studies have found that young people are more willing than older generations to accept new and innovative ideas (Ottman et al, 2006). ECO FRIENDLY ATTITUDE The past few decades have seen a phenomenal rise in environmental concerns. Concern for the environment has increased significantly, and, at the same time, peoples values and attitudes towards nature has changed substantially. Studies conducted in different countries have showed an awakening interest in green products or increase in environmentally friendly attitudes (Barber, 2010). Environmental concern transformed into the specific activity of Green Consumerism emerged in the latter half of the 1980s. Surveys show that there has been a permanent change in the attitude of consumers. One of the functions of knowledge is to help maintain a strong attitude. Attitude is typically considered strong when it is resistant to change and persistent over time. Thus, knowledgeable people with a strong attitude are careful, expert processors of information. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS The level of awareness influences the attitude and behaviour associated with green consumerism (Mittal, 1989). Recent researches suggest awareness in terms of their extent to which the consumer views the product itself as an important decision making variable affecting environmental behaviour (Dodd et al, 2005, Kolyesnikova et al, 2009 and Yuan et al, 2005). Another study has conveyed that an important component of environmental conscious consumer behaviour is the need for more information to be revealed about the relationship between products and the environment (Peattie, 1985). Increased awareness with green information sources has been shown to influence consumer purchasing decisions (Peattie, 1995). Americans have begun to develop an environmentally-conscious mind-set, with half of them saying that they do not have the information needed to be involved in increasing green behaviour and are less knowledgeable about which products and packaging materials are recyclable (GFK, 2007). A study conducted to examine the awareness and attitude of Zambian farmers towards environmental degradation and the relationships of these with a set of beliefs used to evaluate their perceived capacity and take corrective action towards improving the environment showed that awareness of environmental degradation is significant in depicting environmental self-efficacy and behaviour (ÃŽ ²=0.38; p ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOUR The findings of several studies reinforce the notion that Proactive Environmental Behaviour, like most other behaviours, is to a large extent situation-specific (Roozen and Pelsmacker, 1998). By studying Danish consumers buying organic products, it was found out that there is a relationship between values, environmental attitudes and consumer behaviour (Grunert Juhl, 1995 cited by Bjà ¶rk 1995: 66). However, the correlation between such attitude and consumer behaviour is not always high. In geographical studies it has also become evident that environmental knowledge is not something that explains ‘spatial behaviour. This is explained by saying that behaviour is influenced by intentions, which are in turn influenced by attitudes, and further which are influenced by beliefs about social norms (Whalmsley Lewis, 1993). Hence, attitude is just one factor among others influencing consumer behaviour. In case of many consumers, preferences for environmental amenities are exhibited either directly through polls and surveys or indirectly by participating in outdoor activities, environmental organizations or causes, undertaking conservation, recycling, or other stewardship activities (Torgler et al., 2008). At the same time it was also being suggested that the complexity of environmental knowledge on attitude can affect purchase behaviour, whereby the more knowledge a consumer has about an issue and a product the better the attitude predicts the willingness to purchase (Frick et al. (2004), Krarup and Russell, 2005) HYPOTHESIS In existing literature, environmental attitude is commonly understood as a cognitive judgment towards the value of environmental protection. Contrasting results have been found between environmental attitude and behaviour. While some researchers have claimed a positive correlation between environmental attitude and environmental behaviour (Kotchen and Reiling, 2000), others have concluded that the relationship is either moderate or tenuous (Davis, 1995). The contradictory results in studies of the relationship between environmental attitude and behaviour suggest that further studies are needed to confirm the relationship between environmental attitude and behaviour. Thus, based on the view in majority of the literature reviewed, our hypothesis is: h3 :Eco friendly attitude positively impacts eco friendly behaviour. Though it has been debated whether awareness affects attitude or attitude affects awareness. But it is important to note that after developing an attitude, the awareness in terms of recognizing and observing different things about the topic comes into picture. This is especially valid for a country like India where these things are increasingly gaining understanding. Let us understand the impact of attitude on awareness through this simple example. A student has a class on environmental issues. To be specific, the teacher discusses an example of how pesticides enter the human body through food consumption and organic foods can help in reducing these toxic levels and lead to a healthy living. The student develops a positive attitude towards organic foods because of this knowledge. This positive attitude will lead to him subconsciously noting organic foods when in the superstore. This is what awareness is. Eco friendly attitude has an impact on the level of environmental awareness. Thus, based on the literature, our hypothesis is: H2 :A positive attitude towards the environment will positively impact the level of environmental awareness. Eco friendly behaviour is defined to the consumption of products that are beneficial to the environment (Mostafa, 2007). Past studies have examined what factors affect environmental behaviour in general (Johnson et al., 2004). According to these studies, environmental awareness can be an important factor towards determining eco friendly behaviour. (Chan, 2001). From the aforementioned, our hypothesis is: H3 :Environmental awareness positively impacts eco friendly behaviour. In this study we intend to explore the relationship between eco friendly attitude and behaviour. It has been generally seen that though environmental attitude is fairly high now, eco friendly behaviour does not show such high levels. This has been referred to as the attitude behaviour gap. (Alwitt and Pitts, 1996). Many studies have been conducted to explore this gap and what variables can be used to explain this. Environmental awareness is one of those variables. (Chan, 2001) This study explores the concept of environmental awareness as a factor that mediates the impact of attitude on behaviour. With reference to these literary studies, our hypothesis is: H4:Environmental Awareness mediates the relationship between eco friendly attitude and eco friendly behaviour. Certain literary works have evidenced that women reported significantly more participation in general environmental behaviour and specific green consumption than men (Maineri, 1997). Certain sample studies of western countries have shown that females express more positive attitudes towards the environment than males do (Tikka, 2007). Additional evidence also provides that women report stronger environmental attitudes than men across age and across 14 countries (Argentina, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Venezuela) (Zelezny, 2000). A recent research conducted also claimed that female adolescent consumers scored significantly higher in environmental attitude (Lee, 2009). Equal numbers of males and females expressed a positive attitude towards organic foods according to study by (Dahm, Samonte and Shows, 2009). This finding varies somewhat from the literature, which identifies female s as being more aware and having stronger attitudes about organic foods. Based on these literatures, we have stated the hypothesis by breaking it into three sub-hypotheses: H5/A: The impact of eco friendly attitude on environmental awareness is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. H5/B: The impact of environmental awareness on eco friendly behaviour is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. H5/C: The impact of eco friendly attitude on eco friendly behaviour is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. RESEARCH DESIGN METHODS OPERATIONALIZATION OF CONSTRUCTS AND VARIABLES The figure shows a diagrammatic representation of our research model. The definition of each of the constructs according to our interpretation is mentioned below. ECO-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE (EFA) Eco-friendly attitude (EFA) aims to measure the cognitive judgment of the respondent towards the value of environmental protection. It is the prerequisite to eco-friendly behavior (EFB). This is because the person should exhibit some environment friendly attitude before he takes definite steps towards improving the environment thus is considered as the independent construct in the model. ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR (EFB) Eco-friendly behavior (EFB) measures respondents readiness to take specific actions for environmental protection. These include consumers willingness to buy organic products, products which are certified ‘environmentally-safe. High eco-friendly attitude may or may not lead to eco-friendly behavior and hence latter forms the dependent construct under study. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS (EA) Environmental awareness/consciousness (EA) measures the awareness level of the respondent about environment and current environmental problems. A person with high environmental awareness realizes that an effort is required, both at an individual level and organization level, to improve general environmental conditions. GENDER The variable gender has been obviously taken into two categories male and female. SAMPLE Content Validity was performed on the questionnaire before floating it to the sample respondents. The questionnaire was administered to eminent faculty of XLRI Jamshedpur and two social entrepreneurs. An email with the link to the survey was sent across along with a document explaining the constructs used. The explanation consisted of a small definition. The document also explained the research model and the hypotheses under test. Then a sample of 180 students in the age group 20-30 years, doing a post graduate course in Business management or equivalent participated in a questionnaire which inquired about their attitude towards the environment, awareness and purchasing behavior regarding eco-friendly products. The sample consisted of 102 male and 78 female respondents. The questionnaire was administered through the Internet and responses were directly received. MEASURES For the purpose of Content validity questions were asked in the following format: â€Å"I often buy products that are labelled as environmentally safe† measures Eco friendly Behaviour on a 5 point Likert scale. Yes No Cant Say For actual analysis constructs were measured by a five point Likert scale wherein respondents were asked to mark their responses from 1 (‘‘Strongly Disagree or ‘‘Not at all ) to 5 (‘‘Strong Agree or ‘‘definitely). The scores in each of the constructs was a direct sum of all the individual items ECO-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE (EFA) Respondents eco-friendly attitude was measured with a five-point Likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Strongly Disagree 5 ‘‘Strong Agree) developed by Sweeney et al. (2001). The scale had 7 items. A sample item is ‘‘It is very important to raise environmental awareness among Indians. ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR (EFB) Respondents eco-friendly behavior was measured with a five-point likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Strongly Disagree 5 ‘‘Strong Agree) developed by Sweeney et al. (2001). The scale had 6 items. A sample item is ‘‘I often buy products which are labelled environmentally safe. Items 2, 4, 5 and 6 are reverse coded and hence these items are added after subtracting them from 5. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS/CONSCIOUSNESS (EA) Respondents environmental awareness was measured with a five-point Likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Not at all 5 ‘‘definitely) developed by Vlosky et al. (1999). The scale had 5 items. A sample item is ‘‘I believe that environmental information on packaging is important. Gender was directly measured from a single question. The entire questionnaire is presented in Appendix A. ANALYSIS We have first of all conducted a reliability test for each of the three scales. Then for the purpose of our mediation analysis we have used a four step method that was developed by Kenny et al. (1998) and Baron and Kenny (1986) for the purpose of mediation analysis. This consists of four steps. In the first step we have used Eco Friendly Attitude as the independent variable to predict the dependent variable Eco Friendly Behaviour using linear regression. In the second step we have used Eco Friendly Attitude as the independent variable and used it to regress Environmental Awareness. The third step comprises of regressing Eco Friendly Behaviour using Environmental Awareness as the predictor variable. The final step comprises of regressing Eco Friendly Behaviour using both Eco Friendly Attitude and Environmental Awareness to determine the mediating effect of Environmental Awareness. RESULTS Content Validity reports showed that out of the 5 respondents, not more than 1 objected to the essentiality of any question out of the 17 questions in the survey. Hence none of the questions was discarded on those grounds. Reported in Table1 are the means, SD, correlations and internal consistency measure (Cronbachs ÃŽ ±). From the table we can clearly see that EA and EFB are very strongly correlated with each other. Even both of these are correlated with EFA but the extent of correlation of EFA is comparatively lower with EA and even lower with EFB hinting at a possible mediation of the EFA and EFB relation by EA. But a conclusive decision regarding the mediation can only be taken after we perform regression analysis for the same. Table 1: Means, SDs, correlations and Cronbachs ÃŽ ±. S. No. Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 Alpha (ÃŽ ±) 1 Eco Friendly Attitude 27.19 3.77 0.752 2 Environmental Awareness 19.52 3.7 0.606 0.797 3 Eco Friendly behaviour 18.89 4.47 0.457 0.738 0.847 Going forward, the regression analysis is presented in Table 2. In the first step we regress for EFB using EFA as a predictor or independent variable. The results show that the impact of EFA on EFB is significant (since p In the second step we regressed for EA using EFA as a predictor or independent variable. The results show that EFA significantly impacted EA (since p In the third step we regressed for EFB using the mediating variable EA as a predictor variable. The results again show a significant relation between the two which shows that the mediating variable here is significantly related to the criterion variable. Thus Hypothesis 3 is supported. In the final step we regressed for EFB using both EA and EFA as predictor variables to comment on mediation effect. EFA significantly affected EFB and EA as seen in step 1 and 2 but became non-significantly related to EFB in this step (p=0.795>>0.01). The same is emphasized by the fact that the significance of the impact of EA on EFB is still significant (p=0.000). Hence this shows complete mediation of the relation between EFA and EFB by EA. The mediation effect comes to 0.440 for EFA for its relationship with EFB. The Z-score using the Sobel calculator turns out to be 7.63 which is much greater than 1.96. Hence the mediation is significant at 1% level of significance (two-tailed). Hence hypothesis 4 is supported. Table 2: Regression Analysis Results for measuring the mediation effect. R ² Unstandardized ÃŽ ² Standardized ÃŽ ² Significance Change in ÃŽ ² Step 1 0.209 0.542 0.457 0.000 Step 2 0.367 0.594 0.606 0.000 Step 3 0.545 0.893 0.738 0.000 Step 4 0.545 0.88 0.728 0.000 Step 4 0.545 0.02 0.017 0.795 0.44 Once the mediation analysis is completed we now move to analysis of another important part of our model which is moderation of the relationships between EFA, EA and EFB by gender. Table 3 shows the regression re-performed separately for the male and the female samples. The mediation analysis again is shown to be significant in both the cases taken separately as seen from the fact that the first three relations are significant and in the step 4, the relation between EA and EFB is still significant showing that full mediation exists. The mediation effect turns out to be 0.62 in case of females and 0.322 in case of males. The Z-score comes to 6.38 in case of females and 4.57 in case of males. This shows that the mediation is significant in both the cases. Table 3: Regression Analysis Results for measuring the mediation effect (Female/Male). R ² Unstandardized ÃŽ ² Standardized ÃŽ ² Significance Change in ÃŽ ² Step 1 0.315/0.144 0.719/0.424 0.561/0.379 0.000/0.000 Step 2 0.519/0.262 0.839/0.427 0.720/0.512 0.000/0.000 Step 3 0.670/0.433 0.900/0.883 0.818/0.657 0.000/0.000 Step 4 0.671/0.435 0.947/0.844 0.861/0.628 0.000/0.000 Step 4 0.671/0.436 (-)0.076/0.064 (-)0.059/0.057 0.537/0.516 0.62/0.322 The standardized ÃŽ ² coefficient is shown for all the relationships in our model in the Figure 1 for both the male and the female set of respondents. The standardized coefficient clearly shows that for female respondents the impact of EFA on EFB is substantially higher than in the case of male respondents. The same is observed in case of the relationship between EFA and EA as well as between EA and EFB. Hence Hypothesis 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are supported. the Male/ Female set of respondents. DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The study conducted above analyzed the impact of Eco Friendly Attitude on Eco Friendly Behaviour and mediation of the relationship by Environmental Awareness in the context of the Indian youth studying in the post graduate schools of the country. Very little study, if any, has been conducted on this topic in the Indian Context so much so that only in 2009 has research started in Asia-Pacific by Kaman Lee (2009) on the same. This report provides a valuable insight into the topic for marketers as well as for future studies conducted in India. As can been seen from the analysis conducted above Eco Friendly Attitude seems to have a positive impact on Eco Friendly Behaviour which is consistent with the study conducted by Kotchen and Reiling (2000). This is very logical in the sense that people with a favourable attitude towards eco friendly products can be expected to have eco friendly behaviour even in spite of the extra price may be monetary or opportunistic that they have to pay for such behaviour. To have a better understanding of the topic we introduced Environmental Awareness as another construct and tried to find its role as a mediator. The first conclusion that came out of the same was that an Eco Friendly Attitude would imply a higher Environmental Awareness. This is in direct agreement to the study conducted by Mittal (1989). The logic behind the same is that an attitude would act as a motivation for them to learn more about these products hence increasing their awareness. The next conclusion that comes directly from the results is that Environmental Awareness leads to Eco Friendly Behaviour. This is again consistent with the study conducted by Chan (2001). This makes sense because people with more awareness about eco friendly products can be expected to have favourable purchasing behaviour towards the same. The results also establish the mediation of the relation between Eco Friendly Attitude and Eco Friendly Behaviour is being mediated by Environmental Awareness which is consistent with the studies conducted by Alwitt and Pitts (1996). This stresses on the importance of bringing about awareness about Eco Friendly Products among consumers. The conclusion that can be drawn here is that awareness about these products is more important than only an attitude towards the same. The results also show gender specific implications for each of these relationships. From the analysis for female consumers impact of attitude on behaviour seems to be higher which is in direct accordance with the study conducted by various authors like Maineri (1997) etc. mentioned in the literature review. The same is true to the other two relationships between Eco Friendly Attitude Environmental Awareness and between Environmental Awareness and Eco Friendly Behaviour. This makes sense because prominently household purchasing is done by females and hence there is a higher probability of attitude being converted to purchasing behaviour. Again females have been seen to exhibit more seriousness towards such issues as expressed in the literature review and hence the case. India is set to see a substantial increase in the market for eco friendly products. The study has great relevance for Indian marketers because this study emphasizes on the fact that awareness plays a key role in behaviour. This is a positive boost to the importance of environment awareness campaigns in bringing about eco friendly behaviour. This justifies the use of such campaigns in the drive for to create a host of environment friendly consumers. The fact that the impact of such awareness on behaviour is more in case of female consumers hints to the marketers about the possible benefit of targeting that segment of the consumers. The obvious conclusion from the above research is that the benefit from conversion of awareness and attitude to behaviour would be more in case of female consumers and marketing campaigns should be made to influence this particular market segment. LIMITATIONS, SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION Firstly the primary data collection was done among a restricted age group (20-30 years) and hence the same cannot be generalized for all the other age groups. Similar studies need to be conducted among other age groups as well. Secondly the same is valid for the educational background. As for the purpose of this study we had only approached students from B-Schools or other equivalent post graduate schools. Hence this result cannot be generalized for other sections of the society. Thirdly there might be an influence of cultural behaviour on survey results as the same is restricted to Indian cities. Hence for the purpose of generalizing the results, future studies should take into account the cultural influence on different variables. Fourthly The media used for the dissemination of the questionnaire in our case is internet because of the scarcity of time. Hence this might have restricted a few of the respondents from our target group. A parallel on-paper questionnaire could have provided a more comprehensive sample from the target group. But for the restricted category of people from which our sample was taken and which forms a substantial market for eco friendly products the results hold true. Thus for this section Eco Friendly Attitude positively impacts Eco Friendly Behaviour and the same is moderated by Environmental Awareness. The impacts are much higher in female consumers compared to male consumers. Hence female consumers should ideally be the target of marketers to eco friendly products who try to drive in awareness about eco friendly products to people having positive attitude towards the same.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Computers and Education :: Teaching

Computers and Education Computers in education is such a massive topic. Students have been going to classes everyday since they were five years old. How much access did you have to computers in grade school? How many of you started to use computer in grade one, two or even three? Most of my peers in the same age bracket may not have even touched a computer prior to reaching grade six. Currently students are getting access to computers at a younger age because the availability is becoming more sizeable, they’re using them in their classrooms as well as taking classes to learn more information toward computer related subjects. Even though a lot of parents may think that little Johnnie or Susie could only learn Sex Ed from computers and the internet. Lots of parents contemplate the safety of their children when surfing the internet, believing that their kids will get involved in some of the more damaging effects that they can be introduced over the internet that they fail to notice the positive of it. U sing the help of a computer and the internet is constructive for students because it allows the students to give a more professional look to their homework, paper and labs. The internet offers students a vast resource of areas that then can get hold of research and facts about their projects. The "computer world" is a growing industry. The capabilities of present day machines have grown so rapidly that students have access to numerous programs such as multimedia, internet, education CD and many, many more. Students have the opportunity to learn and to become more active in their school work. Have fun on the computer and learning valuable skill that they will aid them to searching for and getting a job in this computer operated world. Students are basically learning about computer from three different teaching methods such as; correspondence over the internet, in class methods and the good old way of learning on your own approach which there is a lot of people out there in the world that has learn vast amounts of knowledge that will get them far in this computer world. Whether, it’s in the computer business or even another trade. The teaching methods has to chance and become more advance. Teacher have to keep there student active so there not bore. Keep them on their toes.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

full monty :: essays research papers

Full Monty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Full Monty is a film which women fulfill their fantasies. Film is talking about a fantasy world where women are power holders and men are objects. Film is based on the idea that after hundred years of industrial reform, which was started on United Kingdom, modernized factories and high technology machines make blue-collar workers unemployed. Those unemployed Englishmen who are losing their power and becoming weak to women are trying to survive by strip teasing. Gaz, our main character should pay his wife to see his kid. Closed steel plants made Gaz and his friend unemployed. Machines took their place. They should fin something in order to survive. Their survival is to re-evaluation of their places in society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to shape a new world definition, Feminist thought is making new fantasies everyday but as everyone knows it is hard to change the world order. I believe that in the Twenty-second century women will have more power, power of money and social power. It will not be power of women on men. Men will never be objects. Nowadays some women have jobs and men have not. But this does not change the world other way around. In the film a friend of Gaz says â€Å" Few more years and men will not exist.† In my opinion, this is a sentence that some women want to hear. In a free market people use their resources to produce what others want. Producers of Full Monty saw that there is a demand for a film where men are considered as objects. Whether the have jobs or not men will always be men. The film is not completely different from now. A man in the film states â€Å"My wife is out there spending with fucking MasterCard.† This man wants to find a men’s job to work, but there is no jobs available for his skills. In today’s world Men are in power women, who are said to be weak, are still spending with â€Å"fucking† MasterCard or Visa.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

IB Chemistry Lab Design †compare the effect of temperature on the concentrations of Vitamin C and Vitamin A in solution Essay

Research Question: To compare the effect of temperature on the concentrations of Vitamin C and Vitamin A in solution. Background Information: Many researchers claim that the vitamin content in the food we eat decreases as we cook the food, since it is being exposed to high temperatures. This really intrigued me since cooking is one of my hobbies, and I always try and check the nutritional value of meals that I cook. With this in mind, it was quintessential for me to see for myself if these claims hold true. To narrow the scope of the investigation, I chose Vitamins A and C to do this study upon. The claims state that the enzyme in whose form Vitamin C is found, gets denatured (or oxidised) at temperatures over 70Â °C as well as at low temperatures, in the freezer. Also, studies claim that Vitamin A (in the form of retinol) gets oxidised at high temperatures, during cooking. Once these vitamins get oxidised, they are lost to us. This investigation will compare the effects of high temperature on Vitamin A and Vitamin C solutions. http://chemmovies.unl.edu/chemistry/smallscale/SSGifs/SS054Ascorbic.gif The ascorbic acid enzyme gets denatured at high temperatures because the tertiary structure of the protein, which the enzyme is made up of, unravels, causing the active site of the enzyme to change in shape. This leads to the substrate being unable to fit into the active site, and we say that the enzyme is denatured. This denaturing can take place at extremes of pH too.The Vitamin A (retinol) gets oxidised because, at high temperatures, it reacts with oxygen in the air to form a carboxylic acid (retinoic acid). In the laboratory, ascorbic acid found in fruits and vegetables can be simulated by adding ascorbic acid crystals to water, to form a mildly acidic solution. This solution can also be used as the standard solution during titration to find concentration of ascorbic acid. To simulate Vitamin A, we can simply add retinol to water to form a standard solution. Hypothesis: At higher temperatures, both the concentration of Vitamin C and Vitamin A can be expected to decrease. However, I expect the decrease to be greater in the case of the Vitamin C solution since (having protein-like properties) it is more sensitive to extremes of temperature. Also, the alcohol retinol has a high boiling point, so I believe that it will be more resistant to oxidation too. Variables: Independent Variable Why and How it is Changed Temperature to which the Vitamin C/A solution is heated The factor whose effect is being studied on the concentration of Vitamin C/A in a solution is the temperature the solution is heated to. Therefore, the temperature is the independent variable. In order to change the temperature, equal quantities of the same Vitamin C/A solution are heated to different temperatures. The different temperatures taken are – 30Â °C, 50Â °C, 70Â °C and 90Â °C. As a control, one solution is placed at room temperature. A thermometer is used to measure the temperature of the solution. Investigation at each temperature will be repeated 3 times, to ensure reliability. Dependent Variable Why and How it is Recorded Concentration of Vitamin C/A in solution (in mol dm-3), after exposure to temperature The effect of temperature on the concentration of Vitamin C/A in a solution is being studied, thus the concentration is the dependent variable. As the temperature moves further away from room temperature (above or below) the concentration of Vitamin C/A in the solution should decrease due to denaturing or oxidation. The concentration of Vitamin C is calculated by doing an iodine titration. A starch solution is added to a standard Vitamin C solution which is the titrant. Into this, a solution of potassium iodide and potassium iodate is titrated till a blue colour is obtained (end point). This is repeated thrice. The average volume of iodine solution used is calculated, and divided by the concentration of Vitamin C. Then, the solutions of unknown concentrations are titrated and unitary method is used to calculate their concentrations. The concentration of Vitamin A is calculated using a redox titration. This is done by making a solution of acid dichromate, potassium iodide and starch. This is titrated against a solution of sodium thiosulfate of known concentration. The volume of thiosulfate used is noted. Then, the Vitamin A solutions are added to a similar solution of dichromate, KI and starch, and titration is carried out with thiosulfate. For every 1 less mole of thiosulfate used there is 0.25 mole of alcohol in the sample (according to the chemical equations) which was tested. Controlled Variable Why and How it is Maintained pH of Vitamin solution Extremes of pH can also lead to the denaturing of enzymes, so if pH changes it will interfere with the results, potentially giving inaccurate results. Thus, the pH needs to be kept a constant. This can be done by adding a few drops of acidic buffer to the initial solution. Presence of Antioxidants Antioxidants including salts such as sodium chloride tend to ‘protect’ ascorbic acid from being oxidised, and thus their presence may lead to inaccurate results. Thus, they need to be eliminated. This can be done by using distilled water (without any salts) while preparing the solution of ascorbic acid. Head Space Present in System The ascorbic acid gets denatured because of oxidation by air. Thus, if the volume of air present in the system changes, the results will also change invariably. To prevent this, the amount of head space present in the system must be kept constant. This can be done by placing a lid on top of the beaker in which the acid solution is heated. Initial Concentration of Ascorbic Acid solution If the initial concentration of ascorbic acid in the solution is different, then the final concentration will also be affected. This can be avoided by adding the same mass of ascorbic acid to the same volume of water while preparing all the sample solutions. Volume of Ascorbic Acid solution The volume of acid solution used for each temperature and each trial should be the same since otherwise it will affect the volume of iodine solution used. Therefore, the volume has to be measured accurately using a pipette for each temperature and trial (each titration). Concentration of starch, potassium iodide and potassium iodate solutions The concentration of any of these solutions will affect the volume of solution titrated during each trial. Thus, it needs to be kept a constant. This can be done by ensuring that equal masses of these reagents are added to equal volumes of water, for all the trials. Final temperature of solution The final temperature of the solution may affect the concentration of the acid in the solution, as rapid heating and cooling can encourage oxidation. Thus, to avoid errors, the solutions will be allowed to rest till they reach room temperature, and only then will they be titrated to calculate concentration. Chemicals 1. L-ascorbic acid – 3.52 g to make 1 dm3 of 0.002 M solution of acid 1. Glucose – 50 g to add to acid solution, to simulate fruit juice 1. Potassium Iodide – 10.0 g to make 1 dm3 iodine solution 1. Potassium Iodate – 0.536 g to make 1 dm3 iodine solution 1. Starch (soluble) – 0.25 g to make 50 ml of 0.5% starch solution 1. 3.00 M Sulphuric Acid – 60 ml to add to iodine solution 1. Distilled Water – To make all the solutions and washing Other Materials 1. Weighing Scale 1. Bunsen Burner 1. Tripod Stand 1. Wire Gauze 1. Mortar and Pestle 1. Pipette Filler 1. Lid (for beaker) – 4 1. Thermometer Procedure: Preparing Ascorbic Acid Solution of concentration 0.002 M 1. Measure 3.52 g of L-ascorbic acid using the weighing scale and the weighing boat (which has to be completely dry). 1. Place the weighed crystals in the mortar and use the pestle to crush the crystals into a fine powder, to aid with dissolving it in water. 1. Place the powdered acid into a 500 ml beaker and add a little distilled water to dissolve the acid. Use the glass rod to stir. 1. Once it seems that the acid has fully dissolved, add some more water to the solution, to ensure that all the acid has actually dissolved. Then, transfer the solution into the 1000 ml standard flask using a washed funnel and the glass rod. 1. Wash the beaker with water and pour into standard flask, to remove any remaining solution. Repeat this process 3 times. 1. Wash the funnel and the glass rod, letting the water run into the standard flask. 1. Make up the solution to the 1000 ml mark. Place the stopper and mix the solution thoroughly. Transfer approximately 500 ml of this solution to the 500 ml beaker, for ease of use. Preparing the 0.5 % starch solution 1. Measure 0.25 g of starch using the weighing scale and weighing boat. 1. Bring 50 ml of distilled water nearly to a boil, and then add the measured quantity of starch powder to it. Allow to cool. Preparing the Iodine Solution 1. Measure 10.0 g of potassium iodide and 0.536 g of potassium iodate using the weighing scale and weighing boat. Transfer this to a 500 ml beaker. 1. Dissolve the solids in approximately 400 ml of distilled water. Stir using the glass rod, to aid in dissolving. Add the 60 ml of 3.00 M sulphuric acid to the solution at this point. 1. Once it seems that the solids have fully dissolved, add some more water to the solution, to ensure that all of it has actually dissolved. Then, transfer the solution into a 1000 ml standard flask, using a washed funnel and the glass rod. 1. Wash the beaker with water and pour into standard flask, to remove any remaining solution. Repeat this process 3 times. 1. Wash the funnel and the glass rod, letting the water run into the standard flask. 1. Make up the solution to the 1000 ml mark. Place the stopper and mix the solution thoroughly. Transfer approximately 500 ml of this solution to a 500 ml beaker, for ease of use. Titration Set-up and Final Steps 1. Transfer 65 ml of Vitamin C solution each into 5, 250 ml beakers. 1. Keep one of the containers in a trough containing melting ice (0Â °C). Keep one at room temperature (as a control + standard solution). Heat the other three to 30Â °C, 60Â °C and 90Â °C respectively. Ensure that all the beakers are covered with a lid during heating or cooling. 1. Wash the pipette, first using tap water and then distilled water. Rinse the pipette thoroughly with the Vitamin C solution at room temperature. 1. Use a pipette to transfer 20 ml of the Vitamin C solution, at room temperature, into a conical flask. This is the standard solution (and the control) since its concentration is known (0.002 M). 1. Add 10 drops of the starch solution to the conical flask. Swirl the contents to mix properly. 1. Wash the burette with tap water followed by distilled water. Then, rinse the burette with the iodine solution. 1. Fill the burette with iodine solution till the 0.0 ml mark. 1. Titrate the iodine solution into the conical flask, swirling the conical flask at all times. The end point is reached when a blue colour is obtained that persists even after 20 seconds of swirling. Note down the volume of iodine solution used. 1. Re-fill the burette to the 0.0 ml mark. Repeat the titration process 2 more times. Note down these two values for volume of iodine solution used as well. Calculate the average volume used. 1. Check that all the solutions that were heated (or cooled) have reached room temperature, with the help of a thermometer. 1. If they have reached room temperature, repeat the entire titration process (steps 18 – 24) with the other 4 solution (0Â °C, 30Â °C, 60Â °C and 90Â °C). Ensure that the burette is re-filled to the 0.0 ml mark after each and every titration, and that the pipette is first washed, and then rinsed with the solution that is going to be placed in the conical flask. 1. Use unitary method, to calculate the concentration of Vitamin C in each solution, after heating or cooling, using the concentration of the solution at room temperature (0.002 M) as the known value.