Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Actions to be taken when carrying out a case study

Actions to be taken when carrying out a - Case Study Example Among the actions that Ava Beane proposed to Eric Gregory and Mellissa Hayes is knowing the main aim of the study, this is clearly the identifying the main reason for carrying out the research study. Having a clear topic that will be evaluated, learning the attitude of the people living around the area of the place where the study will be conducted while at the same time considering their opinion on the study. Furthermore, Gregory and Hayes should find out if any other parties have ever conducted the same study before; they should survey the population where they are to carry out the survey that will be used to answer the research questions. This is necessary because they will be able to identify the most appropriate persons who will be able to answer the relevant questions as it is not possible to get information from the entire populationGregory and Hayes are also advised to follow the relevant procedures that are required in the event of carrying out the case study. When creating the questions that will be required to be answered by a given population for the study, the characteristics and the sex of the people answering the questions should be considered. This is because the answers give a precise the opinion of the person. However their identity are supposed to be concealed entirely as that is how it expected by the ethics governing scientific studies. Moreover they can use the collected data and compare it to the past researches that bear the same topic name.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact of Greek and Roman Civilization

Impact of Greek and Roman Civilization INTRODUCTION There is no ancient history without the mention of Greek and Roman civilizations. Ancient civilization was part of the history that formed the basis of the world we know today. Many people would ask why Greek and Roman civilizations became so popular in the world. In Western culture and identity, Greeks occupy a very prominent place in conception. The Greeks have made generations of influential writers and scholars especially due to their Hellenic culture. Roman civilization on the other hand was founded in 800BC on an Italian peninsular (Spielvogel, 2008). Roman civilization, which is a mighty empire, started as a monarchy and then shifted to a republic before becoming an empire. Much of ancient Rome culture got inspiration from ancient Greece (Mahaffy, 2009). Collins Randal in the book The sociology of philosophies: a global theory of intellectual change points out that culture begets itself. He points out that culture is autonomous and that culture explains its changes, terms and forms (pg 9). Collins points out that, culture beliefs such as religion, ethnic consciousness and political ideologies are not correlated with social variables such as class. Collins says that intellectual activity is basis of intellectual communities. The various aspects that make up intellectual activities include religion, social knowledge and intellectual networks. RELIGION IN GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION Greeks and Roman are intellectual communities that believed in religion. Greeks believed that religion was important because it made their lives better. They believed in many gods and goddesses (polytheistic).They believed that gods would take care of them both when they were living and when they died. The Greeks believed that their gods and goddesses were very powerful that they controlled everything from the winner of a race to waves in the ocean (Mahaffy, 2009). Each god or goddess had one or two specific roles they performed and controlled in life. The Greeks built beautiful temples for their gods where they used to go pray, worship and offer sacrifices in form of animals. The Greeks prepared festivals in honor of the gods whereby they sacrificed animals as gifts to their gods. The Greeks made large festivals that included a feast with music, plays and dancing after which they paraded and made sacrifices. An example of a Greek goddess is Athena (goddess of wisdom and war). A temp le known as Parthenon, built for the goddess stands to date. The Greeks believed that Mount Olympus was where all their gods and goddesses lived. Examples of some of the gods the Greeks worshipped and their specific roles include Zeus-supreme leader of the Gods, Hermes-messenger of the gods and Poseidon- god of the sea. Collins stated that one of the intellectual activities relating to religion is giving intellectual rituals (pg 28).Greeks showed their solidarity through religious ritual of animal sacrifices and festivities. The Romans later worshipped the same gods as Greeks but under different names (Guaitoli, 2006). The Greeks could not worship at the temple only but there were holy sites referred to as oracles. The Greeks believed their gods used signs in nature to answer their questions. They used their priests to ask their question and listen to the answers through signs. Romans just like Greeks believed in religion and attached great importance to it. Just like the Greeks, they were polytheistic, they believed that their gods were responsible for their creation and controlled their lives. Romans classified religion in to state religion and household religion (Spielvogel, 2008).Household religion involved worshipping the gods that protected the family and house. Roman houses contained a sacred place regarded as altar where every family prayed to the gods each morning. Just like the Greeks, The Romans believed in gods and goddess that they believed controlled everything in life from killing for food to falling in love. Just like the Greeks, Romans honored their gods and goddesses by building grand temples. They also offered animal sacrifices to the gods and gave them gifts that they thought would please them. They believed that if the gods were happy with them, they would in return receive good luck but if they were angry with them, something would go wrong. Political institutions in Greek and Roman Civilization City-states divided Ancient Greece with Athens as the largest city-state (Liberati Bourbon2002). City-states were many small areas sub-dividing the state. The mountainous ecology of Ancient Greece separated the city-states making it very difficult to travel from one city-state to another. Everyone believed that their city-state was better than the other was although they all worshipped the same gods and had similar traditions. Initially a few wealthy men ruled the city-states before a government system was introduced. Each city-state had its own government who ruled through democracy. The democratic government allowed people to rule and to vote for their leaders. Athens subdivided their people in to three classes; the upper class that consisted of male citizens born in Athens, middle class consisted of male citizens not born in Athens while the lower class consisted of slaves. Voting in ancient Greece took place in public assemblies and only males born in Athens voted. The upper class group discussed the laws that benefited ancient Greece but not the middle class or lower class. Ancient Rome was an empire that had emperors as the leaders. Just like Greece, a government headed by an emperor ruled Rome. The power of the government in Rome was balanced between three branches; the executive, the legislative and the judicial (Guaitoli, 2006).The executive branch consisted of two leaders (consuls), elected by the upper class to serve for one year. Their role was to order Roman army during wars and supervise the senate. Mayors, tax collectors, city police among other superior person in cities formed part of executive branch. The senate consisting 300 male citizens who owned the land formed the legislative branch. The men appointed by the consuls controlled the consuls by telling them how much to spend and on what activities. The judicial branch consisted of six judges that decided on the punishments the criminals would receive. The judges elections occurred after every two years (Guaitoli, 2006).In Rome only adults had permission to vote and just like the Greek system, males who owned the land could only do amendment or criticize law. Role of Men and women in Greek and Roman Civilization Men, women and children had different roles and responsibilities in Greek and Roman culture. In Greek culture, men wore special clothes known as chitons. Chitons showed the man status in the society specifically through the decoration. The men mostly worked as farmers or businesspersons during the day and demanded great respect while at home. Men were the ones in charge of the house and the family. Women and children in Greek culture did not eat in the same room as men. The slaves fed and entertained men during dinner as they lay on couches. Women on the other hand were not given much responsibility, they were not allowed to go to Olympics, visit the city or even eat or sleep in the same room as men. Their work was to run the household, have children and manage the slaves if they were wealthy and if not work the fields. In the Roman culture, men wore clothes known as togas. The patterns and color of a mans togas showed what his status was in the society. Men in Roman culture were the masters of the family and the house. They worked during the day and socialize with other men in the afternoon and evenings. Men in Roman culture had different roles depending on whether you were rich or poor. The man main role was to provide for his family. Women on the other hand took care of the household and children. Women in Roman culture were not too restricted as some could hold jobs such as teaching. Comparing Religion and Political Institutions in Greece and Rome Greeks and Romans portrayed many similarities in their religion beliefs and rituals. Both cultures were polytheistic, believing in many gods and goddesses. Both cultures also believed that the gods and goddesses controlled everything in life from creation, their lives and everything that goes on. Greeks and Romans believed their goods were very powerful and that they gods took care of them both when they were living and when they died. Both Greeks and Romans believed in intellectual activity of religious rituals. Both cultures honored their gods and goddesses by offering animal sacrifices. Both Greeks and Romans built beautiful temples where they used to pray and offer sacrifices to their gods and goddesses. Both cultures believed that the gods answered their prayers through natures signs. Roman believed that gods would show a sign if they were happy and they were unhappy something bad would happen. Both cultures had many gods and goddesses with each god or goddess having a specific role to play or a specific place to control. Despite having so much similarity in the religion, Greeks and Romans also have some differences in their religious beliefs. Although both cultures believed in gods and goddesses, they had named them differently. Greeks believed that their gods and goddesses live on Mount Olives (Sansone, 2004) whereas Romans did not have a specific place where all their gods and goddesses lived. Greeks religion was not classified while Roman classified their religion as either state region or household religion. Greeks had set-up holy sites known as oracles where they used to pray in, while Roman has set places in their houses known as altars where they used to pray at as a family. Greeks and Roman civilizations were similar in the way their political institutions were made. They both believed in a government system of ruling. Both Greeks and Romans voted for their leader who was the head of the government. Both cultures regarded the upper class males citizens by birth as the only significant people in law making and amendment. In both cultures, women were not allowed to vote and only adults who had attained the legal age (18 years) could vote. The differences in political institutions included issues such as the Greeks believed in democracy while the Romans it depended on the political leaders chosen. The Roman government consisted of three branches, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary while the Greek government all people ruled. Greece had subdivision called city-states with each city-state having its own government while Rome there was only one government with three branches that rules the land. CONCLUSION Roman and Greek civilization form a part of ancient history of the world. They both greatly influenced the Western culture as some of the beliefs and culture followed today got inspiration from them. When we compare the two cultures to the Collins theories of intellectual activity, it is evident that the two cultures were rich in culture intelligence. They had deep respect in religion and rituals that brought them together socially (Collins, 2000 pg 28). The social problems the two cultures exhibit is division in to classes only males who are citizens by birth are allowed to vote. Women are not mentioned anywhere in any political decisions showing gender biasness. Just as most historians suggest, Greek culture highly influenced Roman culture. In terms of religion and political institutions, the two cultures can be classified as socially intelligent despite of social division and gender inequality.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Unsustainable Debt Essay -- Economics

Unsustainable Debt Many ordinary citizens today in developed countries such as Canada acknowledge the abject poverty affecting citizens of various African countries and other undeveloped nations. However, exactly why these countries are in this position appears to be a mystery, despite many cash grants, relief efforts, and aid are delivered to these countries by various Western organizations amidst great media attention. In addition, it also seems natural that such undeveloped countries should have a net flow of capital moving towards them from wealthy industrialized nations such as Canada. On the contrary, a net flow of money has actually been directed towards the industrialized nations and various financial institutions from these impoverished countries[1]. This fact has failed to achieve much media coverage, if any. Figures on poverty levels of the early 1950's, following the Second World War, do not reflect those found today[2]. Undoubtedly poverty existed in the world. In fact, both the world's economy and the global GNP figure were far smaller in comparison to present day figures[3]. However, the fact that poverty existed in many countries did not imply that the inhabitants of those countries lacked basic necessities such as food, water, adequate shelter, and basic health services. This present situation of utter poverty is a result of the debts and debt service payments; an enormous burdens on these countries. Far greater percentages of capital and resources are spent each year on interest payments resulting from these debts by the debtor nations than on vital services such as education, health care, and basic social infrastructures[4]. Without the debts and debt service payments, such countrie... ...., 1991) 54. [8] John Serieux. Journeys Just Begun. (Canada: Renoult Publishing Co. Ltd., 2000) 28. [9] Cheryl Payer. Lend and Lost. (United Kingdom: Zeb Books Ltd., 1991) 27. [10] Roy Culpepper. Journeys Just Begun. (Canada: Renoult Publishing Co. Ltd., 2000) 32. [11] Roy Culpepper. Journeys Just Begun. (Canada: Renoult Publishing Co. Ltd., 2000) 33. [12] Gianni Vaggi. From Debt Crisis To Sustainable Development. (Great Britain: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1993) 117. [13] UN Economic Commission for Latin America. Debt Adjustment and Renegotiations in Latin America. (USA: L. Rienner Publishers, 1986) 34. [14] John Loxley. Debt Disorder: External Financing for Development. (USA: Westview Press: 1986) 162. [15] John Serieux. Journeys Just Begun. (Canada: Renoult Publishing Co. Ltd., 2000) 29.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

How do the characteristics of the villages Navenby and Dorrington differ?

This is the overall question that I have to answer in order to investigate the differences and similarities of the two rural villages: Navenby and Dorrington. To help answer this question I went on a field trip to Lincolnshire to take notes on the site, situation, size, morphology and services of Navenby and Dorrington. There are various elements in which I can investigate to identify these factors for my two chosen villages. These are: *Land use *Amenities or Services *Comparison of settlement patterns *Age of evolution of settlements *Site *Situation There are five questions I have devised to ask to make a basis for my investigation between Navenby and Dorrington: â€Å"How and why do the sites of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† â€Å"How and why do the situations of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† â€Å"How and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† â€Å"How and why do the population sizes of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† â€Å"How and why do the levels of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† These questions are suitable in helping to answer the overall question because all of these things being asked are all characteristics of a village. Enabling to break them down means that we are able to look at the villages in a lot more detail and make notes on things specifically. Also read  Driver’s Ed Module Reflection Journal To answer questions one and two I will sketch and colour code maps of Navenby and Dorrington to show how services, amenities and land use differ between the two. The map will be able to show the situation as it will show access to resources and facilities for example: access to food resources or a building and fuel resources. The map will also show the site of the villages as it will show if the villages are good for defence or for water supply or shelter, for example For question three being able to note how the morphology differs between the two villages will show how the villages have developed through time and how economic, social and historic conditions have affected the villages. Question four will show how population sizes differ due to various elements. These could be things such as accessibility, land ownership pattern, settlement size or planning constraints. This will also show what villages are developing and perhaps which are decreasing and whether people who live there are perhaps commuters for example. Question five will show which village is more developed and which is more rural. Whether the land has been used to suffice for the people who live there and why the land has been used the way it has for example bus routes or industry building to give people work. Or the land has not been changed at all meaning less developments and maybe more commuters. To be able to answer the previous question (how do the characteristics of the villages of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I had to identify the information that I will need to collect from visiting the villages Navenby and Dorrington. For the first two questions (how and why does the site and situation of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I will have to collect my information from resources such as information centres; exploring the villages themselves and also noting anything that relates with the site and situations of the villages and then to compare them when I get home and write up the differences. I can also use an OS map for this question because it will show the situation of the villages to resources that are needed. For example water, shelter and defence etc. For my third question (how and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I collected my information by walking around the villages again and making notes on how the villages have economically grown or shrunk, how socialisation has developed the villages or not and how historic conditions have affected the villages. This can be done by looking at the types and ages of the buildings within the villages. This information is necessary to my studies as I will be able to find out why the villages have become what they are today and what has influenced. Both villages could have had different economic, social or historic conditions, which would cause them to be very different now due to different village morphology. For my fifth question (how and why do the level of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I collected my information by using a tally chart. Every time I saw a particular service I added to my tally chart. I also looked at the local bus route and made a note of the other villages it went through and how often it ran. I also made note on other services such as mobility services and the number of public houses, educational centres and places of worship. This information is necessary to my study, as it will show which village is more developed and also which village is more economically developed. I think this information will be useful to collect, as it will enable me to collect the same information for each village making it a fair comparison. The methods chosen to collect the data were appropriate because the notes I made jogged my memory of what I fully saw when I got home. Also making a tally chart was a quick and simple way to note down the different services within the villages as I could fully write up the services when I got home. Making notes on the types and ages of buildings on maps provided made it possible to describe the morphology that has taken place over time. I thought using an OS map was a good method for working out the differences between the sites and situations of the villages as it gives a good perspective of whereabouts certain resources are that are needed to be noted to be able to compare the sites and situations. Whilst collecting my data I did encounter a few problems. Although the weather was good (it wasn't raining) it was very windy and cold. The wind kept moving sheets around and at times a bit uncontrollable. Also because it was rather cold it became uncomfortable to work and felt rather tiresome. In the village of Navenby because it was the largest village I found it hard to get around the whole village and collect all the relevant data in the time limit we were given. This wasn't a good thing as it could affect the results of my final work. I also found it difficult to get all the information I wanted. For example I was unable to get the details I wanted on population size as there was a limited availability to this resource and so I had to do my own research on the villages when I got home on the Internet. I also found it a bit difficult to read the map at times as some of the buildings weren't marked and so It was slightly difficult trying to figure out where I was standing and to w here certain buildings were. â€Å"How and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† Navenby and Dorrington's land use is dominated by residential land use. However Navenby ‘s residential land use is nearly 75% more than Dorrington's. Other forms of land use within these two villages are education centres, places of worship, cemeteries, public houses and open land such as farmland and playing fields. â€Å"How and why do the levels of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† Both Navenby and Dorrington vary a lot when it comes to services. Although they both have some of the same services such as a butcher, public house, post office, public telephone, village hall church/chapel, a bed and breakfast and a gifts and crafts centre Navenby differs a lot because it has over 30 services whilst Dorrington only has 17 services. Both villages have mobile services, which include Fish, Library (on Mondays), Bread, Clinic, Milk or dairy sales and a Bank for Navenby and a mobile Bread and Butcher service for Dorrington. Graph One Graph Two â€Å"How and why do the sites and situations of Navenby and Dorrington differ?† See sketch maps. From this investigation I hoped to find how the characteristics of Navenby and Dorrington differ. I have found from my study that both villages are very different and only have very few similarities. Site: Navenby is the largest village and is also the best positioned as it is on top of a scarp slope so it would have been used as a lookout for when the village was under attack. The village is also not too far from a good source of water. Dorrington on the other hand is a very small village in comparison and is also in decline this could be due to the fact that it is on flat land and it not being near a good water source. Situation: From my studies I have learnt that the closer a village is to a large town then the larger the village is likely to be. Therefore, because Navenby is closer to Lincoln than Dorrington it is a larger village. Morphology: I have also learnt that the land use in both Navenby and Dorrington is residential with little farmland and basic services such as public houses, places of worship and education centres. Also from my investigation I have noticed that Navenby is a growing village. Due to it being on the main route between Lincoln and Grantham and that it is a good commuting village. Dorrington is in decline which is possibly due to it not being a very good commuting village has little services compared to Navenby and its nearest large town is Sleaford rather than Lincoln or Grantham. My accuracy of my data collected could have been more reliable if I had a longer amount of time to spend in the villages. If I had longer I could have had more time to find out things such as residential incomes, agriculture, population sizes, growth in services etc as these would all affect the growth or decline between the villages.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Perfect Competition Essay

The spectrum of market structures varies diversely from highly competitive markets where there are a large number of buyers and sellers, each of whom having little or no power to alter the market price to a situation of pure monopoly where a market or an industry consists of one single supplier who enjoys considerable control over the market price, unless specific restrictions are placed directly by the government. A market structure such as the Chicken Meat Industry can be deemed as â€Å"Perfect Competition (PC)† as it fulfills the following mentioned assumptions: 1. There are many producers in the economy as mentioned in the question.   2. Each individual firm in the market is a Price Taker- the firms cannot control the price of chicken being sold in the market instead they have to simply accept the designated going market rate as the price of their product. This happens due to two major characteristics of Perfect Competition: a. As there are a large number of suppliers, each of them has a relatively small share of the overall market. As a result, these individual firms are unable to affect price by directly bringing about a change in its own supply because by assumption, each firm is small in size b. Due to the enormous competition faced by each firm, no single firm can increase the price that it charges above the price charged by the other firms in the market without losing business caused by a large substitution effect away from that firm 3. All firms produce identical goods, as in the case of Chicken Meat Industry where the product i.e. chicken is homogenous. The characteristics of chicken do not vary much from supplier to supplier as a result they are substitutes for each other. 4. Buyers are perfectly aware of the nature and quality of chicken being sold to them as well as being well informed about the price being charged by each seller. 5. All firms, present and future, are assumed to have equal access to all factors of production as well as any advancement in technology in the production process. 6. The chicken meat industry is characterized by freedom of entry and exit. There are no barriers to entry or exit of firms in long run as a result the present the market will always be open to competition from new entrants. 7. â€Å"No externalities in production and consumption so that there is no divergence between private and social costs and benefits†. (tutor2u.net) Market Analysis Short Run We know that Economic Profit is the difference between the Total Revenue (TR) and Total Cost (TC) where TC consists of both explicit and implicit costs. As Opportunity costs are the next best alternative forgone, a chicken meat supplier can have can have a significant accounting profit with little to no economic profit. In the Short Run, economic profits for individual chicken meat suppliers depend on the position of their Average Total Cost curves. (investopedia.com) In the short run the equilibrium market price, P1 is determined by the interaction between market demand and supply. This price is taken by each of the firms as their selling price which in turn is constant for each unit sold. Therefore, the AR curve also becomes the Marginal Revenue curve (MR). We know, a firm maximizes profits when marginal revenue = marginal cost, therefore the profit-maximizing output for a given firm is Q1. The firm sells Q1 at price P1. Because the ruling market price is greater than the Average Total Cost (P>AC), the firm will make positive economic profit as indicated by the shaded area below.