Essay about Is Abortion Morally Permissible or Not

The following essay will examine the morality of abortion with specific reference to the writings of Don Marquis, Judith Jarvis Thompson, Peter Singer and Mary Anne Warren. I will begin by assessing the strength of the argument provided by Marquis which claims that abortion is impermissible because it deprives a being of a potential â€Å"future like ours,† and then go on to consider the writings of Singer, Thomson and Warren to both refute Marquis claims and support my assertion that abortion is morally permissible primarily because of the threat to the freedom and bodily autonomy of women extending the right to life to a foetus in utero would pose. To fully understand the argument we should first define the parameters of the debate and the†¦show more content†¦Don Marquis spearheads the potentiality argument in his essay on the immorality of abortion (Study Guide, pp. 167-73), claiming that it is impermissible because it deprives the foetus of a â€Å"future like ours,† and is consequently morally on par with killing a healthy adult (Study Guide, p. 170). Despite Marquis’ claims that his argument combines the best aspects of the personhood and sanctity of life ideas to produce a superior ethical theory on the immorality of abortion (Study Guide, p. 170), his argument features many flaws, including seemingly ad hoc explanations to avoid speciesism (Study Guide, p. 169) and exclude contraception (Study Guide, p. 173), and, most prominently, ill-defined terminology. His entire argument centers on the value of a â€Å"future like ours† and yet he fails to define what exact quality makes such a potentia l future valuable, giving only a vague indication that it is somehow different to personhood. The vagueness of what is essentially the key to his entire theory makes it difficult to accurately dispute his claims, yet he concedes himself that his theory is simply an indirect and unconvincing way of reaching the same conclusion as the personhood argument (Study Guide, p.171). His conclusions are in essences the same as those drawn from the personhood argument, it argues that foetuses should be granted legal personhood based onShow MoreRelatedIs Abortion Morally Permissible?966 Words   |  4 PagesA Defense of Abortion, she argues that abortion is permissible because an individual’s right over their own body outweighs a fetus’s right to life. In this paper I will focus on whether or not abortion is always permissible. First, I will present Thomson’s argument which says that abortion is sometimes permissible. I will do so by describing her â€Å"famous violinistà ¢â‚¬  thought experiment. Next, I will object to Thomson’s claim and expand the scope of her argument by arguing that abortion is in fact, alwaysRead MoreAbortion Is Morally Permissible?1817 Words   |  8 PagesAbortion is the willful and deliberate termination of pregnancy before the fetus comes to term; meaning the death of a fetus. Not having access to safe and legal abortions can cause more pain than positive it can lead women to be injured or infertile or even dead. Also, the denial of access to safe and legal abortion is said to be depriving women of the right to control their own body. However, the above point does not persuade people who are against abortion because they believe that fetuses areRead MoreAbortion Is Morally Permissible?1675 Words   |  7 PagesAbortion is defined as â€Å"The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.† (Oxford Dictionary). Nearly three out of ten women in the U .S. have an abortion by the time they are 45-years-old (Planned Parenthood). Abortion is morally permissible because an abortion prevents a woman and the potential child’s suffering. Abortion is moral because it is a fundamental right of competent adults to make their own decisions on the course of theirRead MoreIs Abortion Morally Permissible?1977 Words   |  8 PagesThe question of whether or not abortion is morally permissible is widely disputed amongst those who are pro-life or pro-choice. While in some societies abortion has been outlawed, others either entirely allow for it or consider abortion permissible on a case-by-case basis. Many pro-lifers classify abortion as immoral, some even considering it murder. Abortion is typically defined as terminating a pregnancy before the fetus is able to survive outside of the womb. A crucial factor in determining whetherRead MoreIs Abortion Morally Permissible?1879 Words   |  8 PagesAbortion is morally permissible in all ca ses; regardless of how the pregnancy came about. The question of whether the fetus is granted personhood at conception or anytime during its development is entirely irrelevant. The right to control your own body often trumps someone’s right to life. Even if you declare personhood to the fetus, it does not determine the morality of abortion. Whether it is â€Å"killing an innocent child† or not does not take away the fact that this country has time and time againRead MoreThesis: Is Abortion Morally Permissible?851 Words   |  4 PagesAbortion Thesis: Abortion is morally permissible in which a fetus is not a person which deprives the fetus to its right to life, circular reasoning is an ineffective to oppose abortion, abortion only risks the fetus not society, and deprivation from a fetuss future and suffering of a loved one has no affect on the argument towards anti-abortion. Mary Anne Warren in On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion stated the characteristics which are central to the concept of personhood which are â€Å"sentienceRead MoreEssay about Abortion: Morally Permissible or Impermissible?2524 Words   |  11 PagesAbortion: Morally Permissible or Impermissible? Abortion can be defined as a means of terminating a pregnancy by removing or expelling a fetus from the uterus before viability. Abortion has been, and will always be, a controversial issue in today’s society and in the future. People have always struggled to determine whether it is ethical to abort a fetus; morally permissible (acceptable) or morally impermissible (unacceptable). The polarizing views that are associated with abortion makes thisRead MoreWhy Should Sex Selection Abortions Are Morally Permissible?923 Words   |  4 Pagessex-selection abortions are morally permissible?† No, I do not think they are morally permissible. Not so much because of the utilitarian’s belief, which I will get into later, but because I do think a fetus is a person. And like Kantians who believe fetuses are persons, the fetus has all the rights and due all the respect that any other person has. To abort that fetus because it’s a girl (or a boy) does not give any righ ts to the fetus. With that said however, that doesn’t mean I think abortions themselvesRead MoreMarquis vs. Warren in the Case Against Abortion1298 Words   |  6 Pagesdetermining if abortion is morally permissible, or wrong including; sentience of the fetus, the fetuses right to life, the difference between adult human beings and fetuses, the autonomy of the pregnant woman, and the legality of abortion. Don Marquis argues that abortion is always morally wrong, excluding cases in which the woman is threatened by pregnancy, or abortion after rape, because fetuses have a valuable future. Mary Anne Warren contends that late term abortions are morally permissible becauseRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson1678 Words   |  7 PagesWhat takes precedence; an unborn fetus’ life or its mother’s right to her body? Anti-abortionist argue that the life of an unborn fetus has priority, and thus abortion is morally impermissible as it violates the fetus’ right to life. I n her article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion†, Judith Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible under the certain conditions where the rights of the fetus fail to surpass a mother’s right of choice. For the sake of her argument, Thomson allows the assumption that

Media Bring Social Change Free Essays

Over the last two decades, several major changes have occurred in the media industries that have altered the way in which the media institution operates. Social theorists have always had two distinct visions when it comes to the introduction of new media; one, a utopia where mass media is used to spread ideas and understanding and two, where people use media to transmit only the most vulgar information. Magazines, TV shows, You Tube, Twitter, internet, cell phones, Facebook and My Space are just a few of the many media sources that are used in the twenty-first century. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Bring Social Change or any similar topic only for you Order Now Billions of people around the world are influenced through the media and what information it gives them. The most major changes of note have been how different communication sources transmit important information, how violence and sex is demonstrated through the media, and the increased role of women as consumers of mass media. On Tuesday January 12th, 2010, a devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean country of Haiti. It destroyed the whole country and left around 239,000 people dead (Zebra Jacque Dawson). The survivors need medical attention and food in order to thrive. Many large humanitarian organizations are raising money to help the citizens of Haiti restore their country. The media is playing a huge role in helping advertise and raise money for Haiti. The news and television networks such as CNN and CBC have donated their assistance by providing air time to run Haiti relief commercials and also air â€Å"Hope for Haiti† programs where celebrities contribute their talents to raise money towards rebuilding the country. During this show audience embers could call in, donate online or send a simple text message to make a contribution. Through this one event, the media used three sources very efficiently and it demonstrates how much technology has advanced to mobilize action. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s Government statistics â€Å"Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. † These rates were high even before the earthquake occurred, and after the disaster, this rate has increased plunging even more people into poverty. It is somewhat ironic that this tragic event has led some people to think of it in two ways, either as a tragic misfortune or an opportunity to rebuild and make the country of Haiti a better community than it was before the quake. There is hope that all the relief efforts in support of Haiti, will allow the poverty rate to decrease and stimulate the economy of Haiti for its citizens. This has been a great cause to make people aware of their surroundings. This event shows positive aspects and it portrays the media as a profound and legitimate source. But the mass media also takes its toll on young adults in a negative way as they are influenced by drugs, sex, alcohol, violence and body image. The average youth in the United States watches television 25 hours a week and plays computer games an additional 7 hours as well also listens to music around 10 extra hours (Facts and TV Statistics). Forty-two hours out of the 168 hours is used up on their computers, television or iPod which means 25% of their time is spent on these products. Concerns of parents are increasing as they worry that their teenaged children are being negatively influenced by television and music. In a sample of programming from the 2001-2002 TV seasons, sexual content appeared in 64% of all TV programs. Those programs with sexually related material had an average of 4. 4 scenes per hour. One out of every seven programs includes a portrayal of sexual intercourse (Facts and TV Statistics). These statistics are at an all time high. Sex, drugs and violence displayed on television is influenced more than ever on teenagers through the media. As these stats show, 46% of high school students in the United States have had sexual intercourse. Although sex is common, most sexually active teens wish they had waited longer to have sex, which suggest that sex is occurring before youths are prepared for its consequences (Facts and TV Statistics). Though music, many artists are portraying the themes of violence and drugs. According to Stats Canada, there were 2,452,787 violent and gang related crimes reported in 2006; most of the users of these illegal firearms are youth in their teens and early 20s. Therefore, drugs, sex, and violence portrayed through the media is sending mixed messages to teens all around the world. Dieting, eating disorders and plastic surgery are some of the ways women try and boost their self esteem. Women are told by the media that they need to be sexy, chic, and thin. Toy manufacturers set this expectation by developing and marketing the Barbie doll, whose measurements are almost impossible. However, with increased availability of plastic surgery, today’s women are faced with unrealistic expectations every time they open a fashion magazine. Celebrities are not perfect they have their flaws as well. Usually when celebrities are photographed for covers of magazines the reality is that most magazines airbrush photos and use expensive computer technology to correct blemishes and hide figure flaws. Twenty-five years ago, the average fashion model was 8% thinner than the average woman. Today that number has risen to 23% (Food and Weight Preoccupations). Such celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Heidi Montag have resulted in plastic surgery. Nearly 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007 (Description of Plastic Surgery). Furthermore, appetite suppressants and meal replacements have become a multi million dollar business. These products are essentially the first stepping stone to eating disorders. Mary-Kate Olsen is one of the many celebrities who have been affected by the disease of anorexia, one of the many eating disorders and these celebrities should not be considered as role models. Women need to have self confidence and need real role models to emulate. With these messages given to women they are put in a situation where they feel pressure to look or act a certain way. The media is a formidable force, and one that is not going to change easily, but it is a woman’s decision to either be influenced by it or to ignore it and live a healthy lifestyle. There are several negative media effects on teenagers. Media is responsible for creating ideals about body image. The amount of excessive violence in media through television, movies or video games tends to increase aggressive tendencies in teenagers. The amount of celebrity hype created by the media glorification of unhealthy habits like smoking, drug abuse, unprotected sex and alcohol can encourage these habits in teenagers, which can permanently impact their lives. All of these aspects create social change throughout the world. The most major changes of note have been how different communication sources transmit important information, how violence and sex is demonstrated through the media, and women’s increased role as consumers of mass media. Media has also contributed to increase the overall awareness of teenagers about their surroundings. How to cite Media Bring Social Change, Essay examples

Do You Have a Well-Designed Organization free essay sample

Do You Have a Well-Designed Organization? What are the main ideas of the article that you find important (insightful, relevant, practical) in managing people in organizations, and why? When I saw the topic of this article, I was attracted by it. Because when I worked in Sung-Yi Motor Corporation, a dealer company selling Mitsubishi motors in Taiwan, I sometimes feel my company is not a well-designed organization. Because I do not have the standards or right criteria to evaluate my corporation I can not definite that my corporation is a not well-designed organization. I am so exciting that I have the method and standards to evaluate it. The first sentence of this article â€Å"for most companies, organization design is neither a science nor an art; it’s an oxymoron. † I like this sentence very much. Because when I proposed the restructure project, I bumped into this kind of challenge. When my company set the branches in mainland China, we needed to support and control these branched. We will write a custom essay sample on Do You Have a Well-Designed Organization? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first way we adopted is just add the responsibilities on my group, the result was that we can not support and control them effectively. We faced the difficulty and we need to adjust our structure to improve the situation. This article provides nine tests to evaluate the structure of organization. The nine tests can be categorized to two kinds of standards; four of them called fit tests are used to evaluate an existing structure, and the others called good design tests are used to create a new one. These tests help a company inspects its outside and inside situations. By the result of these texts, an organization can change its original not proper structure to a better one. Next paragraph I will use these tests to evaluate my previous company.

International market segmentation (economics, national culture and time) Essay Example

International market segmentation (economics, national culture and time) Essay International market cleavage Economicss, national civilization and clip European Journal of marketing vol. 48 No.7/8, 2014 pp. 1209-1293 We will write a custom essay sample on International market segmentation (economics, national culture and time) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on International market segmentation (economics, national culture and time) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on International market segmentation (economics, national culture and time) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In this essay I propose to critically measure the above research paper: â€Å"International market cleavage ( economic sciences, national civilization and clip ) † published late in the European Journal of Marketing. The paper aims to look into the influence, economic and cultural factors have individually and in combination over international state cleavage and besides seek to uncover the stableness of these factors and state sections over clip. Cleavage can be described as the scheme of spliting market in homogeneous group ( Goyat, 2011 ) . The growing of planetary competition has established international cleavage as a cardinal issue in developing, positioning and merchandising merchandises throughout the universe ( Ter Hofstede et al. , 1999 ) quoted by ( Budeva and Mullen, 2014 ) . International cleavage has therefore become a cardinal extension of the traditional selling construct, as deficiency of acquaintance with diverse foreign environments tends to take to generalisation of demand status in abroad market. This can organize national stereotypes. Thus a policy of cleavage will assist relieve jobs originating from such misconceptions, as it acknowledges the magnitude and relevancy of differences and similarities between foreign states. However ( Budeva and Mullen, 2014 ) suggests that if a company can accomplish competitory advantage as a consequence of planetary standardisation, a â€Å"standardization oriented approach† is in order. International cleavage besides provides a figure of advantages from the organisation point of position, one of it being that organisations find it easier to come in states in the same bunch in which they have been successful ( Budeva and Mullen, 2014 ) Therefore if one accepts this premiss, the inquiry is non whether to section the international market but when to section and how to section ( what footing for cleavage should be considered ) ( Wind and Douglas, 1972 ) . In the evaluated research paper a longitudinal analysis ( 1990-1999 ) is undertaken and as a consequence, supply an penetration into whether economic A ; cultural features change overtime. The influences of economic and cultural factors are examined individually, and so combined. The survey includes economic and cultural variables for 30 states measured at two periods ( 1990-1999 ) . The research is designed to capture the effects of state specific variables on section rank and alterations overtime to measure our hypotheses. Hypothesiss of the research are mentioned in the undermentioned paragraphs. The writer argues, when companies enter new markets research on economic development entirely can non adequately predict firm’s opportunities of success in these markets. The viability of this statement can be supported by the fact that economic development of a state is merely an index of its populations purchasing capacity and what should be the monetary value scope of the merchandises marketed in that specific state nevertheless the consumer penchants and rational/motivation behind consumer’s merchandise choice is ignored. Neither do consequences of research undertaken with lone economic development as a base can assist organisations plan or choose selling schemes for their merchandise in that market. As a consequence the success of the house can non be predicted accurately. Therefore, it is of import that alternatively of state cleavage based wholly on economic informations or wholly on cultural informations, we combine the two in general cleavage model. Therefore t he first two hypotheses are: H1 Country sections formed from purely economic variables will be different than state sections formed with purely cultural variables. H2 Country sections formed from economic and cultural variables will ensue in different sections than those formed from either economic or cultural variables entirely. The consequence of this research indicates that both hypotheses H1 and H2 are found to be true. Hypotheses1 can be confirmed as when economic factor entirely is taken into consideration USA has a different section and does non portion this section with any other state nevertheless, when civilization is made the base of cleavage USA. Is clustered with other states such as Canada, Austria, Ireland and Italy. The bunch alterations for many states included in the survey, while switching the footing of cleavage from economic factors to civilization. H2 is besides found to be true and can be confirmed by the fact that while states were evaluated individually on economic growing and civilization a 4 four section solution appeared to be most appropriate for the same set of states whereas when evaluated in combination a six bunch solution seems to be most appropriate. Besides the construction of the sections is different from solutions based merely on economic or cultural variables. Another statement made by the writer is that states differ in economic development but they are non inactive. Example of China is given to back up this statement. This statement in my point of view is really strong as explained by the writer by giving china’s illustration, that states may see rapid alterations in economic indexs such as GDP ( it jumped from 3 % in 1990 to 9 % in the undermentioned twelvemonth and once more jumped to 14 % in 1992. This statement can be verified non merely by looking at fluctuating GDP rates of China but besides of many other universe economic systems with fluctuating GDP rates such as India. The writer argues that civilization alterations as a effect of economic development, and some states develop faster than others ( Budeva and Mullen, 2014 ) . However this statement in my point of position is non wholly true as in my sentiment non merely civilization gets influenced by economic development but civilization besides influences economic development. As a state which scores high on self look in comparing to endurance will by and large hold a batch more little investors and enterprisers will be much more willing to take hazards to raise themselves to a criterion of better life thereby forcing the wheel of economic growing in that state. However a state driven by more traditional cultural values will look for safety in every investing and concern dealing they make, and as a consequence may non take appropriate timely hazards and may free out on chances to increase net income borders. In support of my statement â€Å"The extent of corruptness besides varies aggressively bet ween different states and different fiscal civilizations, and this can do profound difference to economic performance.† ( Sen, 2008 ) . Amartya sen in his article civilization and development besides talks about a great sociologist Max Webber’s thesis on the important function of Protestants moralss on in the successful development of a capitalist industrial economic system. The writer besides assumes, people will be more immune to cultural alterations than economic development the 3rd hypotheses is: H3 Changes in economic development will ensue in motion of states across sections more frequently than alterations in national civilization. The consequences of this research finds this hypotheses to be true as a seeable alteration in state bunch can be seen over the decennary based on economic development as the bases of cleavage. Shifts in state constellating with economic growing, as base is much more in comparing to constellating on the bases of civilization. The writer argues that civilization may alter easy, in incremental stairss but it does alteration. The writer argues that alteration in civilization is triggered by the economic system. In the last hypotheses of this research the writer assumes that with the economic development, civilization besides changes, and this leads to reconstituting in sections that we obtain from one period to the other, based on this the concluding hypotheses of this research is: H4 Countries that move from developing economic systems to higher income position will see cultural alterations ensuing in changed cleavage forms. The consequences of this research shows that merely two states show a displacement in state constellating based on cultural factors whereas for state constellating based on economic factors there were a batch more alterations. Thus we can state that cultural factors change really easy in comparing to economic factors. Besides the two states Czech democracy and Spain which changed state sections moved off from economically backward state and became portion of bunchs of economically advanced states illustration Spain joins the section with other European states. As these two states moved from less developed state bunch to a good developed one economically a considerable displacement can be seen in there constellating with civilization as the bunch base. This proves the above stated hypotheses. The sample used in this research paper by the writer includes states surveyed by WVS in both 1990-1991 moving ridge and 1999-2001. The initial sample covered a sum of 34 states but three of them were eliminated due to losing informations and besides west Germany and east Germany is treated as one. The sample used in my sentiment is thorough in itself and can besides be assessed by looking at the consequences of this research paper as it includes states runing variedly in economic development with gross national income ( GNI ) per capita ranging from 380 dollars ( India ) to Sweden with GNI 34,280 dollars. The sample is non merely thorough of economically varied states but besides covers a full spectrum culturally varied 1s ; it covers states all the manner from Japan and Sweden which score high on secular rational values to states like Ireland and Chile. However, one can reason though the study samples used in the WVS survey’s is big and thorough but the figure of states s a whole is little. The writer tries to warrant his pick of utilizing this little figure of states due to fiting demands across two periods and losing informations. Thus we can state that the sample used in this research paper is equal and good informed about the assorted dimensions. But it is deserving giving a idea that had the figure of states used in this research been much more than it is right now, what consequence it would had on the current findings of the research? Is at that place a possibility that some of the hypotheses in the research would hold been dismissed? From the above analysis of the research article we can state that it covers merely a little figure of states due in this research can be seen as one of the restrictions of this research. Besides as secondary beginning of information is used to transport out this research the fact that handiness of economic informations of the states is much more in comparing to the cultural informations and no specific step is present to verify whatever sum of cultural informations is available, could hold lead to some divergences in the consequences of this research matching to the usage of civilization as the base of state bunch. Besides this there is a deficiency of theoretical bases to steer the choice of variables and development of sections. And in conclusion categorization of states on the footing of state sections provides really weak indexs of marketing behaviour in a state. ( Wind and Douglas, 1972 ) . This is because every person is different and generalisation of consumers so widely on the footing of state can supply merely a glance of the expected consumer behaviour in that state. On the other manus this research has some really positive penetrations First, this research makes it possible to prove whether cultural values alter under the influence of certain environmental forces such as economic development. Second, this research piece fills the spread in old literature. The writer explains in the literature reappraisal that traditional researches on international selling cleavage have been criticized for concentrating on economic and cultural variables individually and non on both together. â€Å"a successful cleavage program must bring forth market sections which meet the four basic criteria† sustainability is one of them ( Goyat, 2011 ) . The longitudinal analysis of this research has the possible to cover the sustainability of these two factors and besides tests the kineticss of these two factors overtime. Besides this research peace examines market cleavage utilizing both these bases together and besides tries to happen a nexus between the two. Third, critically it can be stated that demographic may turn out as good bases of cleavage but the mind of the consumers play a important function in finding consumer behaviour. Something to believe about Every consumer has particular demands from the merchandises and services he/she consumes. Segmenting market every bit widely as state sections and generalising even those sections by grouping states with certain economic and cultural factors therefore poses a inquiry whether such broad cleavage would really turn out utile in guaranting an organization’s selling success? If yes, to what extent? Mentions 1. Budeva, D. , G. A ; Mullen, M. , R. 2014, International market cleavage,European Journal of Marketing, vol. 48, no. 7, pp. 1209-1238. 2. Goyat, S. ( 2011 ) The footing of market cleavage: a critical reappraisal of literature, European Journal of Business and Management, Vol3, No.9, 2011, pp.45-54 3. Sen, A. ( 2008 ) ‘Culture and Development’ , [ Online ] , Available at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.scribd.com/doc/6699222/Culture-Development-by-Amartya-Sen. [ Accessed: 1 November 2014 ] . 4. Wind, Y. A ; Douglas, S.P. 1972, International market cleavage,European Journal of Marketing, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 17-25.

IT and Web Term Paper Writing Tips to Make Your Paper Shine

IT and Web Term Paper Writing Tips to Make Your Paper Shine Information technology is a broad subject area with interrelated topics focusing on data management and analytics, digital and embedded systems, cyber and network security, management information systems, networking, information, and communications technologies, etc. Let’s say this semester’s units in information technology focus on management information systems. Your professor is likely to assign you term paper assignments that require you to analyze information technology from a specific angle or examine the dynamics of information systems management. Therefore, your IT paper should focus on choosing the right theme for the term paper to ensure you come up with an excellent term paper. The term paper assignment aims at assessing your ability to grasp the content taught, your level of IT concepts understanding, your ability to synthesize theories in computer informatics and related technologies, and your level of using concepts for applicability purposes. IT term papers focus on different aspects, which means you have a great scope of content from which you can select a term paper topic. Term papers involve a wide range of mechanics and dynamics that should be met in every piece. This IT term paper writing guide provides you with significant insights and tips on the way to select topics for your IT term paper, basic pre-writing tips, the way to create thesis statements, and the recommended overall term paper structure. Follow the recommendations to meet your tutor’s expectations and attain a high grade. Prewriting Strategies for Your IT Term Paper The three essential prewriting strategies include freewriting, clustering, and outlining. Freewriting. The hardest part of the writing process is starting your assignment. You have little information or no idea about what should be written in your term paper even when you have the topic at hand. Freewriting is an important tool for minimizing thought congestion and developing coherent ideas that can be translated into well-organized text. The process involves writing without concern for correctness or quality. Its main aim is to help you transfer ideas from your head onto paper in a creative way without minding about technical writing processes. A single rule that should guide you in the process is â€Å"Don’t stop!† In this case, keep your thoughts running and transfer them onto paper for synthesis. Clustering. Clustering is also known as mind-mapping, bubbling, and webbing. Clustering is an easy and graphic way to capture your ideas on paper while illustrating how each idea is related to the others and the term paper topic. You can begin clustering by placing your chosen or prospective topic at the center of a page and drawing a circle around it. Then, as related words, phrases, and ideas come to your mind, write them, circle them, and connect them to the circles that enclose related ideas. Clustering helps to deviate your mind from the usual thinking in straight lines. It enables you to understand how different ideas are interconnected and enables you to create the themes that can be explored from various perspectives. Outlining. Outlining involves coherently organizing thoughts. For a good term paper, you need to diligently outline your paper ideas even before you write your first draft. Basic outlining is known as a skill every student should have. An outline will help you to categorize the main points, to put the paragraphs in a logical order, and to make sure that each paragraph/idea can be fully developed. An outline helps prevent you from encountering obstacles that may hinder the actual writing process. No prewriting strategy can be more helpful than outlining. Approaches such as freewriting and clustering can help you loosen the clogged ideas in your brain and finally complete the blank page. Notably, the outlining process will help put those scattered ideas into a manageable order. You may use one strategy or combine them to enhance the writing process and boost the accumulation of ideas in a coherent manner. Selecting a Topic for Your IT Term Paper: A Few Ideas from Our Writers You may be faced with two possible situations. Your lecturer may provide you with a topic to investigate, or you may be allowed to choose one yourself. On the one hand, you may visit the school library and find sources with IT content. In the latter case, you have to brainstorm ideas and take over the responsibility for choosing the proper theme. There are numerous avenues you’re free to use to find an appropriate topic if you are given the freedom to select a topic. Use the following approaches to formulate and select an appropriate topic. Brainstorm. Brainstorm through writing down all ideas that come to your head concerning various issues in the IT area. Every idea that crosses your mind should be noted down in no particular order. Once you have a collection of ideas that can build a term paper, organize them logically to develop common themes and a topic for your paper. Research background information. Once you have generated your ideas, it is time to conduct research on background information related to them. You can read journal articles on two or three topics you are considering. You may also search for information on the Internet or discuss with peers the current issues affecting chosen aspects in IT. Research provides you with an overview of several topics that you can explore and allows you to visualize the way your generated ideas relate to the broader issues. Select a topic that interests you. Once you find the ideas that interest you in the field, it is advisable to explore them to develop interesting topics you can write about. You may need to respond to the following questions to generate ideas for your special IT topic. Do I have a strong opinion on a current issue affecting IT area? Have I encountered recent news feeds that have piqued my interest or made me anxious about certain aspects of IT? Am I interested in the subject that I’m about to discuss? Which topic may be useful for me in the future? Is the subject likely to be covered in articles and books? Do I have a personal issue or interest that I would explore in the field of study? Is there an aspect in the IT class that I am interested in learning more about? If the answers to the above questions are mostly ‘yes then you have a topic you can focus on and write about. Focus on the topic. Once you have settled on a specific IT issue, keep it manageable to ensure that it is not too narrow or too broad. If the topic is too broad, you can use geographic, time, discipline, or population limiters to narrow it down. Conversely, use expanders based on timelines, specific areas of study, population, or region to broaden the topic. Possible topics in the IT field include: User Acceptance of Information Technology in Schools; Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology among Professionals in the Medical Field; Methods Used by the Banks to Leverage Information Technology to Transform Their Institutions; How Can Information Technology Be Used to Redesign Businesses? Why Do People Use Information Technology and in What Ways? How to Formulate a Thesis Statement for Your Information Technology Term Paper A thesis statement should be placed in the last sentence of your introduction. It presents your argument and provides evidence for it. Your term paper should contain a thesis statement to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two, to organize and develop your argument properly, and to provide the reader with a guide to your term paper arguments. The thesis you develop will meet the noted objectives if you think of it as the answer to the questions your term paper explores. A thesis statement should squeeze your entire paper into a single question. Your initial step should involve distilling the given assignment into a particular question. For instance, if your topic involves explaining the potential benefits of using computers in first and second grade, you may transform the topic into the following question â€Å"What are the potential benefits of using computers in second and third-grade classes?† After you have chosen the question your paper will answer, com pose one or two complete sentences answering that question to come up with a thesis statement. Use the format below: Q: What are the potential benefits of using computers in second and third-grade classes? A: â€Å"The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .† The response to the noted question is the thesis statement for your IT paper. A good thesis statement includes the following four attributes: Takes on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree. In this case, it should be refutable; Deals with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment; Expresses the term paper’s main idea; Asserts your conclusions about a subject. How to Structure Your Information Technology Term Paper The main elements that make up a term paper structure include the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Introduction. Many students, even the seasoned writers, struggle when writing an introduction part of their works. The question that lingers in their mind is ‘How do I write a term paper introduction properly?’ This is an important question since the introduction is an essential part that captures the interest and provides an overview of the paper. The most important aspects you should consider when writing your introduction are as indicated below: The background information for your term paper and the appropriate literature review if needed; The general statement of the research and discussion issue, as well as the objective of your work; The thesis statement, which is the last and the most significant sentence of the introduction part; Working definitions for terms that may not be common in the IT field of study. The introduction should provide general background information that provides a brief summary of the issue you are about to discuss, as well as information concerning what has already been written on the chosen topic. In most cases, it is important to show the gap in research that you intend to fill with your term paper content. The introduction should be clear and precise and should constitute at least 10% of the term paper. However, the length may vary depending on the term paper topic, its scope, and its length. Body. The body section is the most extensive part of the term paper that occupies about 80% of the entire paper. The body is organized in paragraphs and presents the paper’s arguments, provides facts, statistics, and information that serves as supporting evidence for the provided claims. The logical organization of the body paragraphs is of uttermost importance in a term paper. Each paragraph presents an important idea and should begin with a topic sentence. Moreover, you should provide supporting data for the claims you make, while they should link to the topic sentence and the thesis statement. If your term paper is long, the body section can be subdivided using subheadings based on thematic topics. However, the subheadings should not be abrupt. Instead, they should provide a smooth transition from one section to another. Conclusion. The conclusion is the last part of your term paper that provides a summary and evaluation of the whole piece. You should restate your thesis statement using different words and make all necessary inferences that conclude your paper. If your paper requires recommendations, you can input them at the conclusion section. The conclusion should form at least 10% of your term paper content. Post-Writing Tips to Make Your Piece Look More Appealing The IT term paper post writing tips refer to a review of the paper to ensure it is free from errors. You should conduct your review at the word, sentence, and paragraph levels to ensure you have accurate wording, appropriate sentence structures, and effective presentation of paragraphs. The format should also be in line with the term paper requirements to ensure you do not lose points. Follow your assignment writing instructions carefully to ensure you capture every point in it.

Hydrogen Bond Definition and Examples

Hydrogen Bond Definition and Examples Most people are comfortable with the idea of ionic and covalent bonds, yet unsure about what hydrogen bonds are, how they form, and why they are important. Key Takeaways: Hydrogen Bonds A hydrogen bond is an attraction between two atoms that already participate in other chemical bonds. One of the atoms is hydrogen, while the other may be any electronegative atom, such as oxygen, chlorine, or fluorine.Hydrogen bonds may form between atoms within a molecule or between two separate molecules.A hydrogen bond is weaker than an ionic bond or a covalent bond, but stronger than van der Waals forces.Hydrogen bonds play an important role in biochemistry and produce many of the unique properties of water. Hydrogen Bond  Definition A hydrogen bond is a type of attractive (dipole-dipole) interaction between an electronegative atom and a hydrogen atom bonded to another electronegative atom. This bond always involves a hydrogen atom. Hydrogen bonds can occur between molecules or within parts of a single molecule. A hydrogen bond tends to be stronger than van der Waals forces, but weaker than covalent bonds or ionic bonds. It is about 1/20th (5%) the strength of the covalent bond formed between O-H. However, even this weak bond is strong enough to withstand slight temperature fluctuation. But the Atoms Are Already Bonded How can hydrogen be attracted to another atom when it is already bonded? In a polar bond, one side of the bond still exerts a slight positive charge, while the other side has a slight negative electrical charge. Forming a bond doesnt neutralize the electrical nature of the participant atoms. Examples of Hydrogen Bonds Hydrogen bonds are found in nucleic acids between base pairs and between water molecules. This type of bond also forms between hydrogen and carbon atoms of different chloroform molecules, between hydrogen and nitrogen atoms of neighboring ammonia molecules, between repeating subunits in the polymer nylon, and between hydrogen and oxygen in acetylacetone. Many organic molecules are subject to hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bond: Help bind transcription factors to DNAAid antigen-antibody bindingOrganize polypeptides into secondary structures, such as alpha helix and beta sheetHold together the two strands of DNABind transcription factors to each other Hydrogen Bonding in Water Although hydrogen bonds form between hydrogen and any other electronegative atom, the bonds within water are the most ubiquitous (and some would argue, the most important). Hydrogen bonds form between neighboring water molecules when the hydrogen of one atom comes between the oxygen atoms of its own molecule and that of its neighbor. This happens because the hydrogen atom is attracted to both its own oxygen and other oxygen atoms that come close enough. The oxygen nucleus has 8 plus charges, so it attracts electrons better than the hydrogen nucleus, with its single positive charge. So, neighbor oxygen molecules are capable of attracting hydrogen atoms from other molecules, forming the basis of hydrogen bond formation. The total number of hydrogen bonds formed between water molecules is 4. Each water molecule can form 2 hydrogen bonds between oxygen and the two hydrogen atoms in the molecule. An additional two bonds can be formed between each hydrogen atom and nearby oxygen atoms. A consequence of hydrogen bonding is that hydrogen bonds tend to arrange in a tetrahedron around each water molecule, leading to the well-known crystal structure of snowflakes. In liquid water, the distance between adjacent molecules is larger and the energy of the molecules is high enough that hydrogen bonds are often stretched and broken. However, even liquid water molecules average out to a tetrahedral arrangement. Because of hydrogen bonding, the structure of liquid water becomes ordered at lower temperature, far beyond that of other liquids. Hydrogen bonding holds water molecules about 15% closer than if the bonds werent present.  The bonds are the primary reason water displays interesting and unusual chemical properties. Hydrogen bonding reduces extreme temperature shifts near large bodies of water.Hydrogen bonding allows animals to cool themselves using perspiration because such a large amount of heat is needed to break hydrogen bonds between water molecules.Hydrogen bonding keeps water in its liquid state over a wider temperature range than for any other comparable-sized molecule.The bonding gives water an exceptionally high heat of vaporization, which means considerable thermal energy is needed to change liquid water into water vapor. Hydrogen bonds within heavy water are even stronger than those within ordinary water made using normal hydrogen (protium). Hydrogen bonding in tritiated water is stronger still.

ICT Consolidation using Virtualization Technologies a Cost Effective Research Paper

ICT Consolidation using Virtualization Technologies a Cost Effective Approach - Research Paper Example way of thinking about it is that virtualization provides a way for a company to invest in fewer physical machines and replace them with virtual machines. Virtualization can be thought of in terms of a way to create hardware through the use of software that mimics what the hardware will do but without the actual machine being used. Through this use, one physical machine can hold within it numerous virtual machines that can be more flexible in the ways in which they can be used. Virtualization provides a streamlining of the way in which IT is handled within a business. Virtualization is not a new idea in Information and Communication Technology as it is has been around for more than a decade. Technologies like Microsoft Terminal Services, VMware and Citrix Metaframe have been available in the industry for many years. Microsoft Terminal Services, VMware and Citrix Metaframe have been in use in small segments of implementation of business technology. These technologies have also proven to be excellent solutions for many IT problems, appearing impossible to solve at first, but a large scale deployment could not happen in the past due to the unjustified high costs of communication links. The industry lacked consolidated strategies and an implementation approach of Virtualization whereby the ICT Management did not focus on the holistic picture of its benefits to the business at strategic levels. The concept of virtualization has also been in conflict with the interests of a large number of ICT vendors; hardware vendors as well as software vendors. As a result of this the vendors have been grossly discouraged to use virtualization to ensure that they are able to push their own technologies to Companies. The spurt of continuous disuse of hardware at a high rate and poor justification of the Return of Investments in ICT hardware and software every year, has compelled the modern ICT Management to re-look at virtualization for possible implementation at larger scales.

CRM Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

CRM Model - Essay Example Consequently, the medical industry has not been left behind in implementing CRM especially in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) operations, Shortell SM. et al (1994). It analyses the human factors in high-stress and high risk environments. All available resources, information and people are used to achieve safety and competence. It involves team training and simulation of emergency situations. Though there are wide variations in the specific designs and implementation of CRM programs in different organizations, the aim remains the same. There are several similarities between the aviation industry and the healthcare industry. One obvious one is that both have highly specialized experts operating with high-tech equipment. Secondly, both have large numbers of people working in different areas in pursuit of differentiated objectives that lead to a common goal attainment; running efficient flights and delivering effective healthcare respectively. Another similarity is the inevitable interdependency of the different departments involved so as to attain the set goal. However, when it comes to risk factors, healthcare has a much higher occurrence of real emergency situations compared to aviation. Patients with complicated, life threatening ailments are rushed in several times a day and have to be attended to immediately. The possibility of human error in these high speed operations is a definite possibility. When such errors occur, they are attributable to poor teamwork in terms of communication, coordination and split second decision making. In a nutshell therefore, healthcare needs CRM even more than aviation. Modern healthcare organizations have no choice but to apply CRM models. This is because they have to do whatever is possible to ensure that they operate with the highest level of efficiency at all times. One of the numerous available CRM models focuses on primary

Childhood disorders Essay Example for Free

Childhood disorders Essay CHILDHOOD DISORDERS While children can have similar mental health problems that adults have, like anxiety or depression, childrens problems often have a different focus. Children may have difficulty with changes associated with growing up, such as beginning school. They may lag behind in comparison to how other children their age are progressing, or during stressful times, they may behave like a younger child would do. Even when children do have problems that also appear in adults, the problem tends to look different in a child. For example, anxious children are often very concerned about their parents and other family members. They may want to be near loved ones at all times to be sure that everyone is all right. This site covers the following topics: Childhood Anxiety, Encopresis, Enuresis, and Oppositional Behavior. Childhood Anxiety Childhood anxiety occurs when a child is overly anxious, experiences separation anxiety, or avoids certain situations, people, or places. Usual signs of childhood anxiety include excessive distress when separated from home or from family members, worry about losing a loved one, worry about being lost or kidnapped, fear of going to school or away from home, difficulty sleeping away from home, and nightmares. Physical complaints such as stomachaches and headaches are common when the child is anticipating being separated from parents or other family members, such as spending the weekend with grandparents. These symptoms sometimes develop after an upsetting event in the childs life, such as the death of a loved one or a pet, beginning or changing schools, moving, or being ill. Some evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is beneficial for treatment of childhood anxiety disorders. While other psychotherapies may be helpful for treatment of childhood anxiety, they have not been evaluated scientifically in the same way as the treatment listed here. The Anxiety Disorders of Association of America: Anxiety Disorder in Children and Adolescents site has specific information about how anxiety disorders appear in children that  may be different from adult anxiety. Encopresis Encopresis is the inability to control bowel movements, resulting in defecation (bowel movement) in clothing, in the bed, or on the floor. Encopresis is diagnosed in children who are at least 4 years old, although frequently children younger than 4 also cannot control their bowels. Encopresis more commonly affects boys than girls. Some evidence suggests that behavior modification is beneficial for treatment of encopresis. While other psychotherapies may be helpful for treatment of encopresis, they have not been evaluated scientifically in the same way as the treatment listed here. The Childrens Medical Center at the University of Virginia (Kids Health) has an excellent website with more information about normal bowel habits and facts on encopresis. Enures:Enures is, commonly known as bedwetting, is repeated urination during the day or night into bed or clothes. Enuresis is diagnosed in children who are at least 5 years old, although younger children often do have difficulty controlling urination. Behavioral treatment is well-established as a beneficial treatment for enuresis. Behavioral treatment usually involves the use of a urine alarm device and parent education. While other psychotherapies may be helpful for treatment of enuresis, they have not been evaluated scientifically in the same way as the treatment listed here. Click on the Fact Sheet on Bed-Wetting (PDF) for more facts on enuresis and some tips on helping your child with this problem. If you are interested in obtaining a urine alarm device, use your web browser to search forurine alarm device to find companies who sell these products on the internet. Oppositional Behavior Oppositional behavior includes things like losing ones temper, arguing with parents or teachers, refusing to follow rules, being mean or seeking revenge, deliberately annoying people, being angry and resentful, blaming others for ones own mistakes, and persistently being stubborn and unwilling to compromise. Usually oppositional behavior occurs at home, but it may also occur at school or in the community. Oppositional behavior is common in both preschool children and in adolescents. Parent Management Training is well-established as a beneficial treatment for oppositional behavior in  children. Parent Management Training involves helping parents learn new skills for dealing with oppositional and defiant behavior. While other psychotherapies may be helpful for treatment of oppositional behavior, they have not been evaluated scientifically in the same way as the treatment listed here. The Not My Kid site has links with information on oppositional behavior, parent guides, anger control tips, and support groups. PAGBASA ang pagbasa ay isang proseso o paraan ng pagkuha ng ideya, informasyon o kahulugan sa mga simbulong nakalimbag. ito ay nkktulong rin sa ating kaalaman upang lumawak ang ating isipan. Ano ang salik sa pagbasa at proseso ng pagbasa? Ang mga salik na nakakapekto sa pagbasa ng isang tao ay pisyolohikal, sikolohikal, pangkaisipan, pangkapaligiran, panlipunan at panlinggwistika. Ano ang salik sa pagbasa at proseso ng pagbasa? Ang mga salik na nakakapekto sa pagbasa ng isang tao ay pisyolohikal, sikolohikal, pangkaisipan, pangkapaligiran, panlipunan at panlinggwistika. Teorya ng pagbasa: teorya ng pagbasa a. Teoryang Bottom-Up- Ito ay isang traditional na pagbasa. Ito ay bunga ng teoryang behaviorist na higit na nagbibigay pokus sa kapaligiran sa paglinang ng komprehension sa ang mga uri ng pagsulat ay ang mga sumusunod: 1. akademik 2. teknikal 3. jornalistik 4. reperensyal 5. propesyonal 6. Malikhain Mga Layunin sa Pagsulat Ekspresiv Transaksyunal  © Isa itong impormal na paraan ng pagsulat.  © Gumagamit ito ng unang panauhan naako, ko, akin, at iba pa, sa pagsasalaysay.  © Sarili ng manunulat ang target nitong mambabasa.  © Naglalarawan ito ng personal na damdamin, saloobin, ideya at paniniwala.  © Nakapaloob din dito ang sariling karanasan ng manunulat at pala-palagay sa mga bagay-bagay na nangyayari sa paligid.  © Malya ang paraan ng pagsulat dito at walang sensura. Hindi gaanong mahalaga rito ang gramatika at pagbaybay ng ga salita bagkus mahalaga rito na mailabas kung ano ang talagang naiisip at nararamdaman ng isang tao.  © Halimbawa nito ay dyornal, talaarawan, personal na liham at pagtugan sa ilang isyu.  © Layunin nito na maipahayag ang sariling pananaw, kaisipan at damdamin sa pangyayari.  © Ito ay isang pormal na paraan ng pagsulat na may tiyak na target na mambabasa, tiyak na layunin at tiyak na paksa.  © Karaniwang ginagamit dito ang ikatlong panauhan na siya, sila, niya, nila, at iba pa sa paglalahad ng teksto  © Ibang tao ang target nitong mambabasa.  © Hindi ito masining o malikhaing pagsulat bagkus itoy naglalahad ng katotohanan na sumusuporta sa pangunahing ideya.  © Nagbibigay ito ng interpretasyon sa panitikan, nagsusuri, nagbibigay ng impormasyon, nanghihikayat, nangangatwiran, nagtuturo o kayay nagbibigay ng ensahe sa iba.  © Kontrolado ang paraan ng psagsulat dahil may pormat o istilo ng pagsulat na kailangang sundin.  © Halimbawa nito ay balita, artikulo, talambuhay, patalastas, liham sa pangangalakal, papel sa pananaliksik, ulat, rebyu, sanaysay na pampanitikan, sanaysay na naghihikayat, sanaysay na nangangatwiran, interbyu, editorial, dokumentaryo at iba pa.

Personal Information in a modern, Digital Age :: Internet Privacy Essays

Personal Information in a Modern, Digital Age In the past when you wanted to purchase goods you could go to the store, pick up your items, pay and leave. While these activities are still possible, more and more today we find ourselves pressured to get â€Å"savers cards.† Modern businesses, like never before, track who you are and what you are burying in an effort to be able to better serve you and become more efficient. While great for the companies implementing these policies, what does it mean for your privacy, and your wallet? Now more than ever our lives are electronically based. People can access their banking information over the Internet, setup all kinds of funds transfers, as well as purchase and sell items. Our consumer lives are being tracked, and that information sold to other businesses. Business communicate and sell their consumer lists with each other. Data is one of the most important corporate assets of companies, governments and research institutions. It is now possible to have fast access, to correlate information stored in independent and distant databases, to analyse and visualise data on-line and use data mining tools for automatic and semi-automatic exploration and pattern discovery. (acs) This opens the door for a new kind of scam for a new age, identity theft. If someone were able to pass themselves off as you, they could effectively become you, for the purposes of getting credit, making large purchases, or even committing crimes. After collecting this data it is entered into what is called a data warehouse. Companies and governments store all of their accumulated in their data warehouses. Data warehousing is defined as A collection of data designed to support management decision making. Data warehouses contain a wide variety of data that present a coherent picture of business conditions at a single point in time. Development of a data warehouse includes development of systems to extract data from operating systems plus installation of a warehouse database system that provides managers flexible access to the data. The term data warehousing generally refers to the combination of many different databases across an entire enterprise. (webopidia) Today businesses accumulate all the data they can gather into a data warehouse, from which they can do data mining. This means that when you go to the grocery store and use your saver card, to get the tiny percent off, that store tracks what you buy and enters it into their data warehouse.

Causes and Consequences of World War 1

The causes of World War I, which began in central Europe in July 1914, included many intertwined factors, such as the conflicts and hostility of the four decades leading up to the war. Militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism played major roles in the conflict as well. However, the immediate origins of the war lay in the decisions taken by statesmen and generals during the July Crisis of 1914, casus belli for which was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife by Gavrilo Princip, an irredentist Serb. The crisis came after a long and difficult series of diplomatic clashes between the Great Powers (Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain, Austria-Hungarian Empire and Russia) over European and colonial issues in the decade before 1914 that had left tensions high. In turn these diplomatic clashes can be traced to changes in the balance of power in Europe since 1867. [2] The more immediate cause for the war was tensions over territory in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary competed with Serbia and Russia for territory and influence in the region and they pulled the rest of the Great Powers into the conflict through their various alliances and treaties. The topic of the causes of World War I is one of the most studied in all of world history. Scholars have differed significantly in their interpretations of the event. Consequences of the War During and in the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order was drastically changed in Europe, Asia and Africa, even outside the areas directly involved in the war. New countries were formed, old ones were abolished, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideologies took a firm hold in people's minds. There were some general consequences from the creation of a large number of new small states in eastern Europe as a result of the dissolution of the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, and the regional disturbance of the Russian Civil War. Internally these new states tended to have substantial ethnic minorities, which wished to unite with neighboring states where their ethnicity dominated. One consequence of the massive redrawing of borders and the political changes in the aftermath of war was the large number of European refugees. Economic and military cooperation amongst these small states was minimal ensuring that the defeated powers of Germany and the Soviet Union retained a latent capacity to dominate the region. In the immediate aftermath of the war, defeat drove cooperation between Germany and the Soviet Union but ultimately these two powers would compete to dominate Eastern Europe. Perhaps the single most important event precipitated by the privations of World War I was the Russian Revolution of 1917. A socialist and often explicitly Communist revolutionary wave occurred in many other European countries from 1917 onwards, notably in Germany and Hungary.

Examine The Advantages Of Unstructured Interviews In Sociological Research

In this essay I will be examining the advantages of unstructured interviews; unstructured interviews gain qualitative data, which is data which cannot be analysed for patterns or trends. One advantage of unstructured interviews is it produces valid data; valid data is data that is true to life, opinionated and cannot be analysed. This is an advantage because qualitative data is received, anti-positivists prefer qualitative data as it gives motives behind actions. However, valid data is not reliable as if you repeat the interview; you will not get the same results as human behaviour is unpredictable.Another advantage of unstructured interviews is it gives the researcher access to sensitive topics, for example domestic abuse. It’s an advantage because anti-positivists get access to emotions the participant is feeling and can build a rapport with them and they will therefore be more open. An example of this is Dobash and Dobash’s study, in which they interviewed a woman ab out her experience with domestic violence. However, the participant talking about their sensitive information can cause emotional distress to either the participant or the researcher especially in the case of domestic violence.A third advantage is the fact that unstructured interviews the participant can be interviewed with their friends or family, which is known as a group interaction. This is an advantage because the participant will be more relaxed and at ease when answering the researchers questions. However, group interactions can lead to demand characteristics in which the participant behaves unnaturally and may even lie during the interview, therefore reducing the validity of the interview.A final advantage is that unstructured interviews can be flexible, in which the researcher has no set questions and as the interview progresses more questions are answered. This is an advantage because the interview will be unique and provides new data which hasn’t been reshaped by a hypothesis. However, it’s unreliable as you can’t repeat the whole interview word for word when there are no set questions. To conclude, four advantages of unstructured interviews are they’re flexible, the participant can be interviewed with friends or family members, it allows access to sensitive topics and it produces valid data.

The road to war essays

The road to war essays On March 19, 2003, United States and British forces began military operations in Iraq. While addressing the nation about the purpose of the war on the day the bombing began, President George W. Bush said, The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. In order to grasp a better perception of the situation in Iraq, it is necessary to understand and examine some of the key figures and events leading to our current occupation of Iraq. Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, had the notorious distinction of being the worlds best known and most hated Arab leader, who was willing to sacrifice his own country rather than relinquish power in Baghdad. His invasion of Kuwait triggered a United States response resulting in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s. The September 11th attacks on US soil led the United States into the war on terrorism, which later brought attent ion to the violation of UN regulation in Iraq. Through out this paper I hope to reflect how Saddam Hussein, Desert Storm, and the terrorist attacks on 9-11 all led us to our current conflict with Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the man who became known as the enemy of the Western world, was born on April 28, 1937, in a village just outside Tikrit, Iraq. Although his parents were poor farmers, Hussein was inspired by his uncle Khayrallah Tuffah, an Iraqi army officer, to pursue a career in politics. In 1956, at the age of 19, he joined the Arab Baath Socialist Party (A.B.S.P.) and attempted to assassinate Iraqi Prime Minister Abudul Karim Qassim three years later in 1959. During this failed attempt, Hussein was shot in the leg and was forced to flee the country for several years in order to avoid a death sentence. Hussein first escaped to Syria then to Egypt, where he completed his secondary schooling in 1962. He was admitted into the...

A Series Of Unfortunate Events English Literature Essay

A Series Of Unfortunate Events English Literature Essay â€Å"Although he said he was the executor, Violet felt like Mr. Poe was the executioner.† The Bad Beginning is the first book in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events written by Lemony Snicket. The Bad Beginning marks a tragic start to the series with the Baudelaire children becoming Baudelaire orphan to the series of unfortunate events that is to follow. The story began with the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus and Sunny) playing by the beach when the executor of their parents’ affairs, Mr. Poe, suddenly appears and tells them that their parents perished in a horrible fire. Depressed and lonely, the children who were now orphans were told that they would live with their closest relative, a man by the name of Count Olaf. Count Olaf treats the children poorly and forced them to perform chores every single day whilst cooking up a plan to steal their fortune. The Baudelaires soon come to realize this and made an attempt to find out about his plan. Count Olafâ €™s plan of marrying Violet during the play The marvelous marriage in order to obtain the Baudelaire fortune was known to the three Baudelaires. In an attempt to continue his plans, Count Olaf threatens to take the life of Sunny, the youngest Baudelaire, by dropping her from a 30 ft tower should the other two â€Å"misbehaves†. In a desperate attempt to escape this horrible fate violet signed the paper with her left hand instead of her right and waited to reveal this secret only after Count Olaf have released Sunny. However, Count Olaf escapes and vows revenge on the children. In the story, the main protagonists, the Baudelaire children, are a very talented bunch of children. Violet, who had â€Å"a real knack for inventing and building†, constructed a grappling hook from dirty cloths and a curtain rod. Klaus, â€Å"the middle child and the only twelve† have â€Å"read a great many books and had retained a lot of the information from his readings†. Su nny, who was only a baby, likes to bite things and is tiny in size. â€Å"What she lacked in size, however, she made up for with the size and sharpness of her teeth.† Count Olaf, whose name sounds like that of a vampire, is the main antagonist. He is a villain that tries to take the Baudelaire fortune. He is best characterized by the following thought from violet; â€Å"The really frightening thing about Count Olaf, she realized, was that he was very smart after all. He wasn’t merely an unsavory drunken brute, but an unsavory, clever drunken brute.† The Bad Beginning focuses clearly on one pessimistic theme; the theme of this novel is that the world can be tough and cruel, often getting worse as time progresses. The story first starts with Mr. Poe informing the children about the loss of their parents and gets worse with the introduction of Count Olaf as the Baudelaire orphan’s new guardian. The Baudelaire’s luck then gets even worse when Count Ola f becomes hell-bent on taking their fortune. Then the story reaches its climax (ironically the part with the Baudelaire orphans in the worst situation possible) when Count Olaf threatens to kill Sunny Baudelaire. Finally, at the end of the novel, even when Count Olaf’s plot has been revealed, he still manages to escape with all his assistants from the authorities vowing revenge against the Baudelaires.

JFK's Influence on the Civil Rights Movement Essay

JFK's Influence on the Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example The movement was more or less non-violent in nature. The civil rights movement of the people of America was a success as the protest was resultant into changes in attitude of the people of America mainly the upper class towards the African-Americans. From a broader perspective not all who stressed for racial fairness between 1954 and 1968 did so in the expectation of endorsingpeaceful social change. A noteworthyshare of the civil rights drive was, however, dedicated to the idea of diplomatic challenges, rather than bloodstainedconfrontation or attack, to change racist establishments. Historian does believe that USA President John F. Kennedy was a significant character associated with the civil rights movement in the USA. The paper is critically analyzing the role played by USA president John F. Kennedy during the 1960s civil rights movement in the USA. The thesis associated with this paper is: Is John F Kennedy is the most influential president of the USA in terms of implementation o f Civil Rights and other policy implementation. John F Kennedy was considered as one of the key player in the successful implementation of civil rights movement in the USA.As a matter of fact his role in the civil rights movement of 1960s was considered as of his greatest legacies. His speech during 1963 while framing the civil rights as both legitimate and moral authoritative force helped to a great extent to form the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and made him an icon of the movement. During 1960, there was a President election scheduled to be held in the USA and candidates for that post John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The movement was so intense that neither of them was able to ignore that. John F. Kennedy was the winner of that election and his sympathy for civil rights leader Martin Luther King when he was in jail was a great step taken by him which created an image of his

Management and Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Management and Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example By not offering any type of training, the company has struggled. In order to help with this scenario, the advertising agency needs to begin offering more training for its employees. However, this is not the only leadership issue that needs to be changed. Management does need to address a few more issues, and this has to do with their overall attitude towards their employees. There is also an uneven distribution of work in the environment, and this can also hurt employee morale. Those with more work feel overworked, and those with less work feel that they are being overlooked. This often also creates the problem of self-serving bias, and this can greatly harm the view of management toward employees. It is also important for management to begin trying to apply the concept of Theory X versus Theory Y when approaching their employees (Denton, 1999). McClelland's Theory of Needs should also be considered by management, because these employees have a need for achievement and achievement would also help to increase employee morale. Another problem in this scenario is the lack of group dynamics in the company. Most of the employees are too frightened to speak up or go against management, and/or they are not motivated to do so. This means that they hide, and do not share their ideas, and that they simply go along with what management states, whether they want to or not. This also hurts employee morale, and thus management needs to change their approach to group meetings (Employee Productivity Increases Morale, 1999). Analysis of Scenario Leadership Approach Several leadership approaches could be used to help increase employee morale in this situation. Making sure employee morale is functioning properly is very important as far as the company's long term goals are concerned. If employees are not happy, turnover rates will increase and productivity will decrease. In order to have management use effective leadership to solve the problem, it is important to have them consider Chris Young's "Eight Strategies for Improving Employee Morale." Young gives a very complete list with excellent definitions and ideas of how leadership can improve morale by using a few effective ideas. These concepts could be applied to the management at the advertising agency in order to help increase employee productivity and employee morale (Ginzbert, 1985). Young first mentions the concept of "negative energy." What is this concept and what causes it Several items actually cause it, and negative energy is an overall feeling of disgust towards certain aspects of the job. This negative energy hurts employee morale, and thus also hurts the company. Therefore, the advertising agency, which is clearly suffering from this concept, can use Young's ideas to overcome this problem. Management Strategies According to Young, the first item to consider is that of the job fit. Basically, the problem could be as simple as this being the wrong person for the job-the job itself is not what the individual expected, or he or she just does not have the personality, drive, or interest to complete the job tasks (How Low Staff Morale Can Have Serious Consequences, 2007). Management needs to be able to assess individual's abilities and personalities in order to make sure that

Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise in Markets Essay - 5

Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise in Markets - Essay Example This essay focuses on Google company that is a very successful modern and innovative company because it excels in the three fields of innovation, entrepreneurial skills, and developing opportunities. Its business success is probably unprecedented, that's why the researcher explored the company in the essay. Google has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry in just over 13 years. The researcher investigates Google’s business history and their key strategies from the perspective of three ways, such as their innovative strategies, their partnerships, and acquisitions. This strategies have given them an edge and made this organisation such an amazing success story. It is hard to squeeze Google into management theories because it only innovates; that is how it runs its operations and finances. Marketing theories are based on creating/selling products that people demand, whereas at Google, employees work hard to create something new that is good enough to create its own demand. Additionally, when a multi-billion dollar company such as Google hunts for venture capital investment from anywhere and everywhere around the globe, it shows it operations by its own rules and does not fit into any orthodox management theories. No one can contest its business operations because of the entrepreneurial achievements for which it is known. After discussing Google from the three aspects stated above, this essay draws solid conclusions as to what can be deduced from the discussion and analysis.

Effect of Water to Cement Ratio on Concrete

Effect of Water to Cement Ratio on Concrete Introduction In construction projects, concrete, along with steel, wood, glass, etc, is one of the most essential materials that are needed for a successful manufacture of a structure. It one of the most common materials on a construction site and accounts for billions of pounds everywhere across the world. Due to ever-increasing machinery and technological advancements concrete can now be made of a mixture of compound materials, nevertheless the necessary components of concrete are course or fine aggregates, Portland Cement and water. In the current times, concrete structures are manufactured every day and to sustain a safe environment for people, so it is vital that that the structures that are built are sturdy, durable and do not cause any hazards to people. It is therefore a huge task for construction companies to guarantee that the structures that are built are done so to meet all the specific safety codes, British Standards or the Euro Code Standards. The properties of concrete are very vit al as they provide the necessary stability that structures are dependent on to maintain their sturdiness. As a result it is essential to research and be aware of the distinctive components of concrete and its properties, and how in this experiment these might affect the way that concrete performs when changing some variables.  (Richardson, 2002). The workability of a concrete mix gives a measure of the ease with which fresh concrete can be placed and compacted. The concrete should flow readily into the form and go around and cover the reinforcement, the mix should retain its consistency and the aggregates should not segregate. There are four factors that can affect the workability are: Consistency: The degree of consistency is depended on the nature of works and type of compaction. Water/cement Ratio or Water Control of a concrete: Water/cement ratio is the ratio of water in a mix to the weight of cement. The quality of water that required for a mix is depended on the mix proportions, types and grading of aggregate. Grading of Aggregate: The smooth and rounded aggregate will produce a more workable concrete than the sharp angular aggregate. Cement Content: The greater workability can be obtained with the higher cement content. Aims The aim of this experiment was to establish the effects of water to cement ratio on the  fresh properties of concrete (workability), and its effect on the hardened properties  of concrete (strength). Furthermore to increase the understanding in making a concrete mixture and working out the water content that needs to be added to the mixtures. And last to expand on the understanding of the importance of fresh and hard properties of concrete. Objectives The objectives of the experiment were to make three concrete mixtures by altering their water/cement ratios (0.47, 0.55 0.65) and to find out the water content to use for the three mixtures. To do a variety of tests such as the slump test, compacting factor test on fresh concrete and to carry out compressive and flexural strength tests of hardened concrete. Then finally to discuss how features such as variation in the water/cement ratio affects the workability  and strength of concrete. Theory Concrete Production, concrete is a mixture that is made up of three components, cement, water and aggregate. The water and cement are mixed together to produce a thick paste, to which then measured out aggregates are added to. The aggregates that are added are mainly composed of usual materials such as sand, gravel and crushed rocks, however due to the latest advanced technology; it has been known that other materials such as car tyres and crushed glass to be also used as aggregates. The cement is produced by blending limestone and clay, and burning it in a rotary kiln, this results in the formation of a clinker, to which gypsum is added. The mix is then ground down to fine powder cement, in which the most common is called Portland Cement. The cement/water slurry solidifies through a chemical reaction called hydration, the reaction produces immense heat so fresh concrete must by no means be handled with unprotected bare hands. During the winter season, temperatures drop below 2Âà ‚ °C, so the chemical hydration reaction may be very slow as heat is needed as a catalyst to speed up the collision of the particles. Therefore concrete pours during these seasons are not suitable as the concrete will not set. Initially this reaction is slow to start with, so this allows for the concrete to be transported and poured before it is hardened, and the theory states that complete 100% hydration takes place after 28 days. Properties of Concrete: There are four key properties that are desired in fresh concrete i.e.  good workability, compactability, mobility and stability. The most desired properties for  hardened concrete are strength and durability. The concrete should have compressive strength  (resist squeezing), tensile strength (resist stretching) and flexural strength (resist bending). All these strengths are highly dependent on the water/cement ratio and aggregate used in the  mixture, the degree of compaction and the age of the concrete. Curing concrete under water  over time allows hydration to continue hence giving it strength. The concrete used in this experiment was a C30 concrete grade and according to B.S. 5328  the compressive strength for this grade at 28 days is 30.0 N/ sq mm which can also be written  as 30 MPa which is adequate for use in beams, however this is only an estimation as there  are other factors (mentioned above) that affect concrete strength. In this experiment the slump  test and the compacting factor test were used to assess the workability and uniformity of  concrete. The deflection/ flexural strength test was carried out to evaluate the strength of the  concrete beam (mini beam sample) and find the failure load of the mini beam (100mm by  100mm by 500mm). The compressive strength was carried out to determine the maximum  failure load of the cube samples (150mm by 150mm) and the cylinder samples (150mm by  300mm) (Barnes 1992). MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT Casting Equipment Concrete mixer Bucket (average size) Measuring Cylinder Shovel Wheel Borough Scale Figure 2: Shows Compaction Factor Apparatus. (used to determine workability of concrete  mixture) Figure 3: Slump Test Apparatus B.S. Slump cone (300mm high, tapering from a 100mm diameter top to a 200mm  diameter bottom) Slump rod (or steel tamping rod) (16 mm diameter, 600mm long, with rounded ends) Flat metal base plate (600 sq mm) (K0837225) Page 5 9. Metal Rule (300mm long) 10. Metal Scoop 11. Levelling Trowel 12. Waste rag 13. Vibrating Table 14. Moulds 6 no. Cube Moulds (150mm by 150mm) 3 no. Cylinder Moulds (150mm by 300mm) 3 no. Mini beam Moulds (100mm by 100mm by 500mm) 15. Materials Course Aggregates (Stones) Fine Aggregates (Sand) Cement Water (Tap) *Note: Aggregate used was natural aggregate used was from London. Therefore no need for  determining aggregate moisture content as aggregate is assumed to be laboratory dry to  SSD. Hence no considerable effect on water-cemet ratio. Striking Equipment 1. Pressure pipe (for striking cubes and cylinders) 2. Brushes (Soft and Hard metal brushes) 3. Oil, oil brush and rugs (for cleaning moulds before storing) 4. Crayon (for labelling concrete samples) 5. Curing room Testing Equipment 1. Compressive test machinery Figure 4: Shows the Compressive test machine used to apply loads on cubes and cylinder  samples 2. Deflection test machinery (Picture shown in figure 3. Load reader/display 4. Concrete samples 5. Digital Camera *Personal Protective Clothing was worn on all days of the experiment (Safety boots and Coats, individuals handling concrete wore protective gloves). METHODOLOGY Concrete Production: 1. Aggregates were readily weighed and placed into buckets. Quantities (constants) used in  all Concrete Mixes are shown below: Material Quantitative Weight (Kg) Cement (CEM1) 6.50 Fine Aggregate (Sand) 16.55 Natural Course Aggregate (Stones) 26.00 2. The amount of water required was determined by using the formulae shown below. Water content = (water/cement ratio) x cement weight. 3. Water was measured into a bucket using measuring cylinders. 4. The water/cement ratio was set as the variable between 3 Concrete Mixes (to determine  the effect of water/cement ratio on the strength and workability of the concrete). Water  content quantities used are shown on table 1. Table 1: Water/Cement Ratio (variable) for Concrete Mixes 1, 2 3 Concrete Mix Water/Cement Ratio Water Content (litres) 1 0.47 3 2 0.55 3.6 3 0.65 4.25 *See Appendix 1 for Actual Calculations Carried Out. 5. The concrete mixer paddles and pan were lightly dampened before aggregates were  placed in the mixer. 6. Course and fine aggregates were placed into the mixer and mixed for 30seconds. 7. Half the water required for the mix was added to the mixture and the contents were  further mixed for 1 minute. 8. The contents were covered and left for 8 minutes, to allow aggregates to absorb water,  (because aggregates are porous therefore they should soak in water into voids to get a good  mix and bonding with cementious (water/cement) paste). 9. Cement was spread evenly over the aggregates and mixed for 1 minute. 10. The remaining water was added and the contents were mixed for 2 minutes ensuring  homogeneity of the mix. 11. Workability tests were then carried out, in the order shown below. *Note; immediately after each test the used concrete was returned into the mixer and the contents were remixed for 30 seconds. FRESH CONCRETE TESTS Compacting Factor Test: 1. Trap doors of all hoppers were shut prior to beginning the test. 2. Sample of freshly mixed concrete was scooped from the mixer into the upper hopper, the  concrete sample was filled up to the brim of the upper hopper. 3. The trap-door of upper hopper was opened, to enable concrete to fall into the lower  hopper. 4. After all concrete had been collected onto lower hopper, the trap-door of the lower hopper  was then opened and the concrete allowed to fall into the cylinder. 5. Excess concrete remaining above the top level of the cylinder was then cut off using a  plane blade. 6. The concrete collected in the cylinder was then weighed. (This weight is known as the  weight of partially compacted concrete). 7. The concrete filled cylinder was vibrated to obtain full compaction, and more concrete  was added to the cylinder as required to ensure the vibrated/compacted concrete was  filled to the brim of the cylinder. 8. The now fully compacted concrete in the cylinder was weighed. 9. The compacting factor was then obtained using the formulae shown below. Compacting factor = (Weight of partially compacted concrete)/(Weight of fully  compacted concrete) Figure 5: Shows steps followed during the compacting factor test. 1) Compacting factor equipment. 2) Partially compacted weight is taken on a scale, 3) The concrete is vibrated/compacted  on a vibrating table and then the contents are toped up and vibrated to the rim container and the  partially compacted weight was taken. Slump Test: Concrete was thoroughly mixed in the concrete mixer. The slump cone was dampened to prevent concrete sticking to it. The slump cone/mould was placed on the centre of the metal plate and one individual was  asked to stand on the foot pieces on both sides of the mould. The mould was filled in 3 equal depth layers and each layer was rod 25 times using the  steel slump rod (ensuring even spread of blows covering over the whole area). Concrete was heaped over the top of the cone and with a rolling motion of the rod over  top of the mold the concrete was levelled thus removing the excess concrete. The spillage was carefully removed from the sides of the mould and the base plate   The mould/cone was carefully and slowly lifted vertically upwards. The slump cone was turned upside down and placed next to the molded concrete and the  rod was laid across the slump cone and the distance (slump) between the underside of the  rod and the highest point of the moulded concrete were read using a metal rule. There are different kinds of slump a collapsed slump, sheared slump and a true slump. The first two slump types indicate bad workability and a true slump indicates good  workability. Concrete Beam Casting Curing: Concrete was scooped out of the mixer into oiled moulds on the vibrating table (ensuring  even spread). Concrete was vibrated throughout the pour to eliminate voids and to enable compaction  of concrete by switching on the vibrating table. The vibrating motion also levelled the concrete. The concrete was left to set on the mould for 24 hours After which concrete was struck and placed in the curing room over 14 days. HARDENED CONCRETE TESTS Concrete Sample Testing: Compressive Strength Tests; were carried out on cube and cylinder samples. Flexural Strength Tests; were carried out in the mini beams. The machines where loaded with concrete sample and load applied was set to zero  before running the test. Base and top plates (spacers) were used to determine to provide platforms for the  concrete specimens and to also help provide even distribution of load. The load was applied by the machine till maximum failure load was reached. This reading was taken and the machine cleaned off concrete debris before running tests  for other samples. *Note the loading Pace Rates varied for different sample shape as shown below: Cylinders loading Pace Rate was set at 5.30 KN/s Cubes loading Pace Rate was set at 6.80 KN/s Mini Beams loading Pace Rate was set at 0.200 KN/s RESULTS 1. FRESH CONCRETE PROPERTIES TEST RESULTS Compacting Factor Test Results: Mix 1 Observations: The Concrete Mix appeared to be dry and did not pass through when the trap  door of the upper hopper was opened. The concrete mix was helped through the trap door to  the lower hopper by pushing it with a metal rod through the first trap door. The same was  done in order to get it through the second trap door into the container. This showed that it  was a bad mix with bad flowability, mobility and workability properties due to low water  content. Mix 2 Observations: The concrete mix was passed through the hopers with better ease than mix 1,  however only  ¼ of the contents went through, the rest was forced through both trap doors  with a metal rod. Therefore the flow ability and workability properties of this mix were bad,  but better than mix1, owing it to the increased water content in mix 2. Mix 3 Observations: The obtained concrete mix was a wet mix (a bit too wet) with what would  appear to be good flowability properties as all contents went through the hopers and trap  doors with one sweep and much ease. Therefore the flowability and workability properties  were the best observed for all 3 mixes, but too much water content is not good either. The compacting factor test was worked out for all the 3 Concrete Mixes and results are  shown in table 2 below. *The calculations were carried out on Microsoft Excel using the formula shown below. Compacting factor = (Weight of partially compacted concrete)/(Weight of fully  compacted concrete) BS 1881: Part 103 states that concrete is deemed unsuitable if its compacting factor is  below 0.70 or above 0.98. For normal concretes the compacting factor normally lies  between 0.80 and 0.92 (Jackson Dhir 1996). Apparent workability shown below was determined by using Compacting factor table in There was no slump as  the mix was too dry  therefore indicating  poor mobility,  flowability and  workability Collapsed slump was  obtained and the slump  exceeded the allowable  tolerance stated in BS  5328. The slump cone  was 300mm high and  the concrete mix  slumped by half that  value to 150mm. This  indicates that the mix  was too wet and this  affected its cohesive  properties. Very high *Apparent workability shown above was determined by using Slump Results Table shown  in Appendix 2 (Kew 2009). (K0837225) Page 12 Mix 1 Dry Mix/ Zero Slump Mix 2 Wet mix /13mm True Slump Mix3 Mix too wet/ collapsed slump Figure 7: Shows the Slump Results Obtained for concrete mixes with varying water  cement ratios. (Mix 1 w/c ratio 0.45, Mix 2 w/c ratio 0.55 and Mix 3 w/c ratio 0.65). 2. HARDENEDED CONCRETE PROPERTIES TEST RESULTS Figure 8: Shows the cube specimen being loaded into the compressing machine and on the right,  the classical cube hour glass failure mode on one of the cube specimen. Figure 9: Shows the cylinder specimen being loaded into the compressing machine and on the  right, the failure mode on 3 of the cylinder specimens. Figure 10: Shows a mini beam failing when subjected to Flexural Loads. This is the classical failure  mode of beams. The beam undergoes tensile and flexural strain resulting in bending and snapping of  the beam. Concrete is generally brittle and this makes it weak in tension. Hence the need for  reinforcement of concrete, steel is good in tension so it lends that quality to concrete, resulting in  better stronger structures. The results above are indicative of the effects of w/c ratio on the strength of concrete. At  0.45 w/c ratio the strength was 630.4 (Influence of test conditions. Table above show that specimen shape and size is also  influential on the compressive strength. Therefore measured strength of concrete is also  affected by height diameter ratio. This is to just show that test conditions can also affect the  determination of concrete strength. In BS 1881: Part 116 specifies that 150mm cube test are  only used for quality control purposes. Whereas BS 1881: Part 120 indicates that cylinder  test specimens are used to carry out compressive strength tests for in situ concrete and  precast members. A correction factories usually applied to the cylinder strength to obtain an  equivalent cube strength, it takes into account the specimen height /diameter ratio (i.e.  300mm/150mm = 2.). This explains the high compressive strength results obtained in  cylinder specimens than in cube specimens despite the being made off the same batch of  concrete. It should also be considered that the loading Pace Rates for c ubes (and cylinders  were varied. The trend obtained from the results shown above indicates that increasing w/c ratio increases  flexural strength. Af hydration strengthens the bonding between the cementious material and  the aggregates. However like all other factors, too much of anything is not good. If the mix  has excess water it will result in reduced flexural strength and results in bleeding of concrete  thus a weakened structure with pours in them. Again the normal distribution curve can me  expected with extremes. DISCUSSION One type of test is not enough to indicate the workability of the concrete as a whole. Use of  various tests bring out various properties that determine workability, for example, the  compacting factor can indicate how workable in the concrete will be in terms of how easily  can the concrete be vibrated and compacted. It is also a good indicator of the mobility and  flowability of concrete. It Shows how easily the concrete can be pumped from a concrete  skip into shutters, how easily the concrete will pass through the skip trap door when on  casting real structure on site. On the other hand the slump best indicates how workable the  concrete is in terms of its cohesive nature and segregation of its aggregates. It is important to  carry more than one of these tests to indicate various workability factors. These tests can also  be carried out at various stages between concrete production and casting. The common  construction site test (In situ test) is the slump tes t, it serves as the last point of quality check  prior to casting, and all other workability factors are normally carried out on the concrete  production sites. For example, the compactability factor will be most useful on production as  other mobility enhancing admixtures may be added prior to transporting concrete to site,  hence saving time, money and other complications that may arise from delaying site  programmes. From table 2 the results obtained from all mixes had compacting factors  between 0.70 and 0.98 hence indicating that all the tested concrete mixes would be  acceptable under the BS 1881. This certainly does not mean that all mixes had good  workability properties. Jackson Dhir (1996) state that some of the basic assumptions for  the test are not correct and should not be solely relied upon extensively as they can be  misleading. As concrete mixes can have same compacting factor but may not always require  the same amount of work to reach full c ompaction as compaction cannot be justified in the  true sense. From the results in table 2 it shows that changing the water/cement ratio affected  the compacting factor. Increasing the water cement ratio increased the compacting factor  therefore the workability of the concrete. All these tests have limits, for example placing  more water would have resulted in decreasing compactability factor as increasing the water  content will result in lowered compacting factors. (Compacting liquid materials do not result  in changes between partially compacted weight and fully compacted weight, hence if more  excess water is added the mix will have lower differences between partially compacted  weight and fully compacted weight. Hence giving rise to normal distribution curves for the  compressive tests. This also applies to flexural strength and durability of the concrete. CONCLUSION In conclusion it is clear that too little w/c ratio reduces the strength of concrete just as well as  too much w/c ratio will result in porous concrete. Therefore adequate amounts need to be  used to gain the best results. The best way of getting accurate assumptions on concrete is to  consider various factors. Increasing the water content ratio generally increases the strength  but may also result in shrinkage of the concrete hence altering durability and permeability  factors. Q1: Report all the results fresh properties (slump value and the shape of the slump) and  hardened properties (strength) of the concrete and comment on the results. See Results  Section for Answers. Q2: Why the need to measure the fresh and hardened properties of the concrete? Fresh properties are only of much importance in the stages of the concrete mix. These  help concrete producers spot problems early on the stage before structures are cast thus  potentially saving money, time and preventing unstable structures form being built by  spotting and correcting problems with concrete at an early stage. Also this helps prevent  the need to strike down newly built structures due to instability of concrete mixes used. Fresh properties can help indicate how much work labours will have to do on site and  consequently the energy and money that will be required when casting concrete on site. On the other hand hardened concrete properties are important in determining and the life  span of the concrete in the form of s concrete structure. The hardened properties are  important in observing and maintaining the strength of the structure and its durability. Other hardened factors are permeability and shrinkage of the concrete structures after  being built due to harsh weathers and conditions. The latter factors are of much  importance in structures like dams which require high water retaining properties.   Therefore both properties help in the development and maintenance of a good quality  structures and ensuring long life span. Whilst providing adequate safety to the habitats of  those structures. Q3: Concrete is usually tested at 28-Days for its compression strength. Why at 28-Days? The specimens should be cured under water and for normal concrete they should have  reached maximum strength at 28 Days. Concrete hardening process (Hydration) is  thought to reach its final strength in 28 Days as the reaction slows to a halt and adding  more water or curing concrete past that stage will sure minute or no further significant  changes in concrete strength. Q4: As for reinforced concrete beam, describe the need to place reinforced steel in  concrete beam, the purpose of cover/spacing, the diameter of the steel used and why  concrete beams need to be reinforced? Concrete is good in compression meaning it has high resilience to compressive forces but  is very weak in tension. As noted in the results the beams failed at much lower loads than  both cubes and cylinders, although there are other factors that play a role here that is the  general observation. Hence concrete reinforcement is required, it has good tensile  resilience and when concrete and steel are combined they result in components strong in  both tensile and compressive properties. The purpose of concrete cover is to protect steel  from corrosion, due to air reacting with steel and prevent rust formation due to water. Corrosion and rust results in weakened concrete structure as may result in loss of  resilience to tensile forces. So the concrete cove4r provides protection and a neutral  environment for steel. Concrete cover usually ranges around 500mm from the steel bars. Excess cover is not good as it makes the structure more susceptible to chipping and hence  weakens the cover itself and increases chances of steel corrosion taking place. The  diameter of steel used can vary according to the purpose of the structure but over  reinforcement can also bring about imbalances to the structural stability and may result in  a weakened structure. The normal diameter used ranges between 10-30mm, this makes it  easier to bend and alter on site as well as provide ease of manual handling for steel fixers.