Motivation in Supervision

The term motivation is derived from the Latin verb movere (to move). The idea of movement is reflected in such commonsense ideas about motivation as something that gets us going, keeps us moving, and helps us get jobs done. Conversely, we know we are not motivated when we cannot seem to get out of bed or off the sofa.Despite these commonly held ideas, definitions of motivation are numerous and varied, and there is much disagreement over the precise nature of motivation. Although there is disagreement about the precise nature of motivation, this paper offer a general definition of motivation that is consistent with the cognitive focus of this paper on learners’ thoughts and beliefs and hat captures the elements considered by most researchers and practitioners to be central to motivation. Motivation is the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained.Motivation involves goals that provide impetus for and direction to action. Cognitive views of motivation ar e united in their emphasis on the importance of goals. Goals may not be well formulated and may change with experience, but the point is that individuals have something in mind that they are trying to attain (or avoid).Motivation requires activity—physical or mental. Physical activity entails effort, persistence, and other overt actions. Mental activity includes such cognitive actions as planning, rehearsing, organizing, monitoring, making decisions, solving problems, and assessing progress. The activities that students engage in are geared toward attaining their goals.Finally, we highlight that motivated activity is both instigated and sustained. Starting toward a goal is important and often difficult because it involves making a commitment to change and taking the first step. But motivational processes are critically important to sustain action. Many major goals are long-term, for example, earning a college degree, obtaining a good job, and saving money for retirement. Much of what we know about motivational processes comes from studying how people respond to the difficulties, problems, failures, and setbacks they encounter as they pursue goals over time.II. DiscussionA. Motivation Research paradigmsResearchers employ different research paradigms to investigate motivational processes. For example, there is a distinction between correlational and experimental studies. Correlational research deals with relations that exist between variables. A researcher may hypothesize that motivation is positively correlated with (related to) perceived capabilities such that the more confidence individuals have in their learning abilities, the higher is their motivation. To test this relation, the researcher might measure individuals’ perceived capabilities and their motivation as demonstrated on a task. The researcher could statistically correlate the perceived capability and motivation scores to determine the nature and strength of the relation.Pintrich and D e Groot (2000a) conducted a correlational study that explored the relations among motivational, cognitive, and academic performance variables. The motivational beliefs component assessed three factors: self-efficacy, (perceptions of capabilities), intrinsic value (importance), and test anxiety. The learning strategies component comprised two factors: cognitive strategy use and self-regulation.Correlations among intrinsic value, self-efficacy, strategy use, and self-regulation were positive and significant. Test anxiety showed a significant, negative correlation with self-efficacy; correlations of test anxiety with all other variables were nonsignificant.The researchers also computed correlations among these five variables and measures of academic performance: in-class seatwork and homework, quizzes and tests, essays and reports, grades. Intrinsic value, self-efficacy, and self-regulation correlated positively with academic measures except performance measures; strategy use correlate d positively with all academic performance measures; strategy use correlated positively with academic measures except   for seatwork (nonsignificant); test anxiety was negatively correlated with grades and quiz/test scores.This study was correlational because Pintrich and De Groot looked at the existing relations among variables and did not attempt to alter them. The results show that motivational variables relate in important ways to cognitive factors contributing to classroom success (strategy use-self-regulation) and to measures of academic performance.In an experimental study, the researcher actually alters one or more variables and determines the effects on other variables. A researcher interested in the effects of perceived capabilities could conduct an experimental study by systematically altering these perceptions and gauging the effect on individual motivation. For example, the researcher might have a teacher systematically praise love-achieving individuals to raise their perceptions of capabilities and determine if this increase enhances motivation.Schunk (2002) conducted an experimental study that investigated how forms of effort attributional feedback influenced individuals’ achievement outcomes during learning. Individuals in lower years who lacked subtraction skills received instruction and practice opportunities over sessions. While individuals solved problems individually, an adult proctor periodically walked up to each individual and asked on what page in the instructional packet he or she was working.For some individuals (prior attribution), after they replied with the page number; the proctor linked their progress with effort by remarking, â€Å"You’ve been working hard.† For others (future attribution, the proctor stressed the value of future effort by stating, â€Å"You need to work hard.† Those in third condition (monitoring) were queried but the proctor departed without comment after the individual replied. Individuals in a fourth (control) condition were not monitored.This study was an experiment because Schunk altered the type of feedback individuals received and looked to see whether differential effects on achievement outcomes resulted. Schunk hypothesized, that prior attribution would be the most effective because it supports individuals’ perceptions of their progress in acquiring skills and conveys that they can continue to improve through effort. This prediction was supported.Prior-attribution individuals outperformed individuals in the other conditions on measures of self-efficacy and subtraction skill. Prior-attribution individuals also displayed higher motivation than did future-attribution and control individuals as assessed by the amount of problem solving during the independent practice portions of the sessions. The results of this study suggest that it is better to link individuals’ past success to effort than to stress the future benefits of hard work.Each type of research has advantages and disadvantages. Correlational research helps clarify relations among variables. Correlational findings often suggest directions for experimental research. The positive correlation obtained by Pintrich and De Groot between intrinsic value and academic performance suggests further research exploring whether increasing intrinsic value leads to higher achievement. A disadvantage of correlational research is that it cannot identify cause and effect. The positive correlation between intrinsic value and academic performance could mean that (a) intrinsic value affects academic performance, (b) academic performance influences intrinsic value, (c) intrinsic value and academic performance are each influenced by other, unmeasured variables (e.g., home factors).Experimental research can clarify cause-effect relations. By systematically varying type of feedback and eliminating other variables as potential causes, Schunk (2002) could specify how changes in attrib utional feedback affect achievement outcomes. Clarifying causal relations helps us understand the nature of motivation. At the same time, experimental research is often narrow is scope. Researchers typically vary only a few variables and try to hold all others constant, which is difficult to do and somewhat unrealistic.B. Qualitative/Interpretative ResearchIn recent years, another type of paradigm has gained currency among researchers. The theories and methods used are referred to various labels, including qualitative, ethnographic, participant observation, phenomenological, constructivist, and interpretative (Erickson, 2003).   These approaches differ from one another characterized by intensive study, descriptions of events, and interpretation of meanings. Such a research model is not new in the social sciences, but only recently has it been applied increasingly in supervision.Interpretative research is especially useful when researchers are interested in the structure of events rather than their overall distributions, when the meanings and perspectives of individuals are important, when actual experiments are impractical or unethical, and when there is a desire to search for new potential causal linkages that have not been unearthed by experimental methods, (Erickson, 2003).Moreover, qualitative/interpretive research yields rich sources of data that are much more intensive and thorough than those typically obtained in correlational or experimental research. This research paradigm also has the potential of raising new questions and new slants on old questions that often are missed by traditional methods. Because this approach is not concerned with the aggregation of usable knowledge for teaching practice, it is not a means for providing practical answers to teaching problems (Shulman, 2004).Studies usually are conducted with few participants, which raise the issue of whether findings are reliable and representative of the population being studied. Another c oncern is that if researchers do not attempt to interpret data in light of a theoretical framework, findings may not seem linked and interpretation may prove difficult. Nonetheless, as a research model, this tradition has provided much valuable data in the study of motivation, and its influence will continue to grow.III. ConclusionIn conclusion and in addition to the differences among experimental, correlational, and qualitative research, another distinction exists between laboratory studies conducted in controlled settings and field studies conducted where was conducted in laboratories using such infrahuman species as cats, dogs, and rats. Such research was appropriate given the influence of conditioning theories which contended that common processes occurred in animals and humans and that controlled experiments could help isolate these processes and eliminate extraneous influences. Motivation research also has employed human subjects in controlled laboratory environments. With the increasing emphasis on schooling and other applied settings, however; most current research is conducted in field settings. The Pintrich and De Groot (2000a), and Schunk (2002) studies are examples of field studies.Reference:1.Pintrich, P.R. & De Groot, E. (2000a). Individual differences in early adolescents’ motivation and self-regulated learning. Journal of early Adolescence, 14, 139-161.2.Schunk, D.H. (2002). Extended attributional feedback: Sequence effects during remedial reading instruction. Journal of Early Adolescence, 6, 55-66.3.Erickson, F. (2003). Qualitative methods in research on supervision. In M.C. Wittrock (ED.), Handbook research on supervision (3rd ed., pp. 119-161). New York: Macmillan.4.Shulman, L.S. (2004).   Paradigms and research programs in the study of teachings: A contemporary perspective. In M.C. Wittrock (ED.) Handbook of research on supervision (3rd) ed., pp. 3-36). New York: Macmillan.

An Investigation of the Gender Gap of Boys’ Underachieving in Literacy Essay

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender gap, especially of boys’ underachievement in literacy, and discover if there are particular strategies that schools can implement in order to raise the attainment levels of boys. As the issue of the gender gap is so wide I selected literature to review which covered a wide range of theorists and existing studies. Specifically I wanted to identify some of the suggested causes for the underachievement of boys and any already proposed effective strategies which I could execute in my own study. The data I collected from the study was both qualitative and quantitative in order to give a more valid outcome; these included an open-ended, semi-structured interview, which I felt would enable the respondent to provide a wider range of ideas; questionnaires, observation and existing data. The results showed that there is in fact a close correlation between boys who do not read for pleasure/enjoyment and boys who underachieve. However it also showed that there are specific strategies that can be applied to meet the learning needs of boys in order to raise their achievements. However due to the scale of the topic this small study cannot provide a definitive outcome for the causes and solutions of boys literacy, it has merely suggested some probable reasons for and some possible remedies. HYPOTHESIS During the past twenty years there have been rising concerns over the achievement gap between boys and girls, particularly with boys underachieving in literacy. The aim of this investigation is to identify if reading is the main factor for the achievements of boys in literacy, or if there are other strategies that can be implemented to raise the attainment levels of boys and therefore close the gap. To complete this study, I will undertake the investigation at an all boys’ school (for ethical reasons of anonymity, the school will be known as School A) located in a leafy suburban area in the North West of England. School A is a high achieving school compared to other mixed and same sex schools in the Local Area. The current Head of English (HoD) is driven, ambitious and highly motivated towards pupils’ achieving the best results possible. During the research I expect outcomes to show that there is a correlation between high achieving boys and enjoyment of reading for pleasure. I also expect to find that particular classroom strategies can effectively impact the attainment levels of boys, particularly in those who do not read for pleasure. LITERATURE REVIEW In 1993 Ofsted reported that boys do not perform as well in English as girls (cited in Bearne, 2004), and more recently the National Assessment of Education Progress (2009) has found that ‘female students consistently score higher than boys on average in both reading and writing’ (Watson et al., 2010: 356). However this concept is not a new one; researchers for the Gender and Education Association noted that in the 1950s and 1960s the pass rate for the eleven plus examinations, taken by almost all eleven year olds at this time, were different for boys and girls; Epstein et al. (1998 cited in Watson et al., 2010) claims that the pass rate for boys was lower than girls because girls supposedly matured earlier than boys. Gareth Malone, writing for the Telegraph in September 2010 stated that nationally ‘boys lag behind girls in reading by 6 percentage points and in writing by 15 percentage points’ (Malone, 2010). Despite this, Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 20 07) believes that, the panic about the gender achievement gap is exaggerated; he blames the concept on lack of sufficient data, which until recently had not been available, and believes that a lot of the assumptions regarding boys underachievement is based on statistical misinterpretation. Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) conducted the first UK analysis of national data set over a six year period; he found that the gap only appeared amongst high-ability pupils and that the number of boys and girls failing exams was similar. His conclusions found that the gender gap was, if anything, decreasing. Regardless of Gorard’s (2001) analysis, there are many who still feel that the performance gap is a concern. In 1993 the Ofsted report offered some insight into differing perspectives and explanations for boys’ underachievement, including the lack of male literacy role models, classroom strategies, curriculum literacy content, perceptions of behaviour, social class and ethnicity (cited in Bearne, 2004). Solsken (1995, cited in Bearne, 2004) added to this list claiming that literacy is associated more with females and femininity and believes that this possibly has a negative effect on boys and their attitudes towards reading. Solken’s (1995) argument links very closely with Watson et al.(2007) who proposed that popular explanations often focus on boys’ ‘biological make-up’. They claim that evidence shows that ‘hegemonic masculinity is central to †¦ the struggles boys face as literacy learners’ (Watson et al. 2010: 357). Rowan et al (2002) also believes that ‘boys are biologically different to girls and that this biologically difference is the cause of behavioural differences’ (Rowan et al. 2002, cited in Watson et al. 2010:357). He believes that due to these biological differences, boys and girls are defined by inherent masculinity and femininity characteristics and in order for educational success this must be acknowledged and accommodated for. This is an important assertion to consider for this particular case study; due to the domination of boys in School A it is important to understand how masculine characteristics are catered for in an all boy s’ school. One of the suggestions to improve literacy for boys is to make education more ‘boy friendly’ by including more reading materials that boys enjoy, such as action and graphic novels, which will motivate boys to read. Hornton (2005) believes that adolescent boys could rediscover the magic of books by using texts that appeal to their interests. Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) deem that encouraging boys and actively helping them to find access points into literacy and reading should be made priority by teachers. During this particular study the idea and notion of actively promoting literacy through any route possible is addressed by School A’s English department head in the interview, and shows that it is essential for boys be aware that reading does not have to be confined to specific genres and authors. Furthermore Cole & Hall (2001, cited in Taylor, 2004) claim that boys read less fiction than girls, preferring to opt for texts that contain more facts and less narrative, such as magazines or texts that are analytical. Similarly Millard (1997) claims that boys tend to opt for genres such as action and science fiction whilst reading as little as possible in school that they think they can get away with. Due to these preferences, boys’ are at a disadvantage in academic literacy as their motivation towards school texts and curriculum texts is affected. Probst (2003, cited in Taylor, 2004) believes that if boys are to engage with reading, the texts that they are asked to study need to be significant to them. In other words it seems that in current literacy education, there is not enough stimulating material which addresses the needs or interests of boys. Millard (1997) relates the findings of boys’ apparent lack of interest in reading as significant to low achievement in English, while Holland (1998) attributes lesson style and strategies as some of the other causes for underachievement. Both of these arguments are valid for this particular study and will be investigated further by studying the reading habits and the predicted GCSE grades of boys in a high set and a low set, and by exploring particular teaching styles implemented in School A. Holland’s study (1998) showed that boys can spend any amount of the day, stemming from 25 percent up to 75 percent, passively listening to the teacher rather than actively engaging. When trying to reason why boys had a tendency for this she found that the boys preferred lessons which were practical, had a range of different activities (such as personal research, groups work or discussions), or involved competition. If boys are passive during English lessons they are not learning the essential literacy skills required to help them achieve results. Taking this into consideration it seems then that pedagogical practice needs to be addressed. Taylor (2004) suggests that teachers contemplating their own practice could reflect on whether they are meeting the individual learning needs for each boy through learning pace and style, and innovative strategies which build on boys’ existing interests to maximise their potential, development and emotional needs. Pollack (1998, cited in Taylor, 2004) agrees with this theory suggesting that numerous opportunities should be presented to boys for hands on, interactive learning. METHODOLOGY My approach to research was identified by the nature and context of the question. After considering the purpose and desired outcomes for the investigation I decided that the research would take the form of a case study, incorporating a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data to ensure validity and reliability; ‘qualitative methods may supplement the findings by identifying gaps from the quantitative study’ (Bryman & Bell 2007:650). The decision was made to collect evidence using a multi-method approach including interviews, questionnaires and analysis of existing recorded data. According to Gillham (2000) ‘different methods have different strengths and different weaknesses’ (Gillham 2002:13), and so ‘triangulation†¦ to strengthen your findings’ (Greetham 2009:184) was implemented to strengthen the validity of the study. To form part of the qualitative data I arranged an interview with the head of the English department. The purpose of the interview was to gain a deeper understanding of the context of the department and of the strategies which have raised attainment and achievement within the subject. Jones (1985) claims that ‘In order to understand other persons’ constructions of reality, we would do well to ask them†¦ and to ask them in such a way that they can tell us in their terms (rather than those imposed rigidly and a priori by ourselves)’ (Jones cited in Punch 2009:144). Taking this into consideration I decided that the interview should be open-ended and semi-structured for flexibility; Cohen et al. (2007) claim that semi-structured interviews gather ‘more intangible aspects of the school’s culture, e.g. values, assumptions, beliefs, wishes, problems.’ (Cohen et al., 2007:97). A semi-structured interview then would enable me to gather more in-depth information regarding the Head of Department’s ideas and beliefs surrounding School A’ s successes. To understand boys and literacy, and whether reading habits have an impact on GCSE results, a questionnaire was compiled to collect primary data and distributed to a top set and a bottom set year 11 English class. According to Gillham (2002), questionnaires are not typical of case study research; however they can be used to obtain simple, factual information. For the purpose of this part of the study I felt that a questionnaire was a practicable way to acquire important facts regarding the reading habits of a group of high ability boys and a group of low ability boys. These would then be compared to analyse and identify any correlation between reading habits and English predicted exam results using samples from the furthest range on the ability spectrum. During the research I also decided to collect additional data through participant observation. The aim of this was to gain an ontological perspective of the pupils enabling me to observe interaction, relationship and actions performe d by pupils. I felt that this would help me to make sense of the data collected in both the interview and the questionnaire. In regards to validity and obtaining accurate results from my observations, I first needed to develop a relationship with the classes I intended to observe to ensure that my presence was unobtrusive and did not affect their normal behaviours and create a bias observation. To achieve this I regularly participated in classroom observation at the back of the room in attempt to become a participant in the classroom context. Trochim (2001) claims that ‘the researcher needs to become accepted as a natural part of the culture to ensure that the observations are of the natural phenomenon’ (Trochim, 2001: 161), therefore I attended certain classes as an observer over a series of months to ensure that the pupils were comfortable with my presence and so acted within normal behaviours. The final set of data collected was secondary data compiled of the school’s GCSE results since the Head of English was appointed, including results form 2008, 2009 and 2010. The data also provided average GCSE results for the rest of the Local Authority enabling me to compare the school’s results against average achievements in the LA. The purpose of this data was to compare the information obtained from the interview with the head of department, about strategies implemented to raise attainment, against the GCSE results. ANALYSIS The Interview: The aim of the interview with the English Head of Department (HoD) was to discover if GCSE results had improved since being appointed Head of English at School A, and if so to discuss the strategies and provisions which had been implemented to raise the achievement levels in literacy at School A. The current HoD had taken over the English department in April 2008; the English GCSE in the Local Authority that year was 64.5 percent of students achieving A*- C; School A achieved 58 percent, more than 6 percent less than the LA average and 2.1 percent less than the national average. However in 2009 the following year, after just one year as the department head, School A had improved their results by 20.7 percent. The LA’s average results in English in 2009 was 66.7 percent achieving A*-C, the national average was 62.7 percent, while School A’s results were up to 78.7 percent. In 2010 the GCSE results at school A dipped slightly to 76.8 percent due to the school’s wea ker cohort for that particular year; however the results were still higher than the Local Authority’s average of 70.4 percent and the national average of 64.8 percent. Due to the weaker cohort that year the HoD considered this result to be an excellent achievement. Strategies implemented in the department were a crucial factor for the improved attainment levels across the Key Stages at School A. In September 2009 a centralised, uniformed English curriculum was introduced to Key Stage 3 aiming to â€Å"drip-feed† appropriate skills and assessments to pupils that prepares them with relevant GCSE experience before they enter Key Stage 4. Pupils in Key Stage 3 are assessed each half term (part of Assessing Pupils’ Progress) and are assessed in relatively the same way as the new Specification GCSE, ensuring the identification of weakness areas for improvement. Despite the success of raised attainment across the Key Stages, these strategies cannot be considered as part of School A’s GCSE progression; the first year group from Key Stage 3 in September 2009 are due to sit their GCSE exams in the summer of 2011, only then will it be pos sible to determine if this strategy attributes to the departments achievements. There are, however, specific strategies in place which can be measured against the department’s raised achievement results. These are those that have already been applied at Key Stage 4, including a uniformed teaching curriculum incorporating, for example, all of the same poets and clusters in the GCSE specification; personalised revision packages which identify individual’s weakest areas combined with personalised intervention to improve these weaker areas and ensure pupils’ achieve highest marks possible; ceased timetables for year 11 pupils close to exams and new timetables put in place to prioritise learning for the nearest exam. The Head of Department believes that all of these are essential contributing factors for the departments improved results. Other elements, which the Head of English believes help pupils at School A to maximise their achievements, are more innovative and practical activities for example the employment of production companies to perfor m GCSE texts such as Of Mice and Men; and school trips to events such as Poetry Live, an event hosted by poets from the GCSE anthology. Pollack (1998) argues that ‘we need to develop and implement innovative teaching approaches†¦ this may mean providing numerous opportunities for hands-on†¦ as well as interactive teaching’ (cited in Taylor, 2004:294). The English Head felt that these opportunities expanded the boys learning and understanding by developing them outside of the classroom context. Bearne (2003) claims that ‘There is a tendency for boys to draw on visual sources for their writing’ (Bearne, 2003:3) and so visual performances such as Of Mice and Men help the pupils to draw on their experiences through vision and memory. In addition to those already mentioned, the Head of Department also felt that the ethos created in the department combined with class room methods were an essential factor in the development and attainment of the pupils at School A. The department has a strong focus on literacy which is promoted broadly amongst all pupils, including reading groups and book clubs, as well as spelling and reading lessons delivered to pupils on a weekly basis. Pupils are encouraged to read regularly, regardless of material, to ensure positive enjoyment of reading. In contrast, Brozo (2002, cited in Taylor, 2004) felt that teachers were more likely to choose texts with narratives that did not appeal to boys. The HoD however regularly promoted the reading of any materials, whether it was comics, newspapers, information books or autobiographies; she felt that if pupils were to enjoy reading and increase their confidence with literacy, they should feel that any text that they enjoy to be suitably considered. In terms of classroom strategies the department endorses well paced positive learning in an environment of mutual respect between pupil and teacher; clear personal targets which are monitored explicitly; strong Assessment for Learning to test and extend pupils’ understanding and learning through challenge, feedback and routes to improve; short, sharp activities; a strong focus on reading; regular homework; and clear learning objectives which are reviewed during the plenary to ensure all pupils know the direction of learning. These techniques are consistent to that of a survey which was conducted of fourteen schools in 1997. The survey was performed by former HMI Graham Frater; he concluded that the most successful schools in regards to boys and literacy were the ones that paid a lot of focus towards teaching methods. Particular methods that he felt where important for success included: prompt starts to lessons with clear learning objectives shared; a challenging pace sustained throughout the lesson; lesson endings which reflected on the learning objectives and achievements within the lesson; a variety of activities; high expectations of the pupils combined with a non-confrontational attitude towards discipline; and effective modelling. It seems quite clear then that pupils’ achievements at School A can be attributed to the methods and strategies implemented consistently across the department. The pupils are suitably challenged with pace and activities, they know what the aims of their lessons are and how they have achieved these aims, they regularly assess their strengths and weaknesses and so understand what they need to do in order to raise their achievement levels. On the contrary, however, it is difficult to determine whether classroom and reading strategies are the most influential factor for raising attainment in boys and literacy. From observation of quiet reading lessons I discovered that many of the high ability pupils in the top set classes within Key Stage 3 welcomed the lesson as a chance to read an engaging book; however the lower ability groups were often much more difficult to set on task. Indecision over which books to read, reluctance to read quietly, and regular disruption amongst the pupils seemed a frequent occurrence in the low ability classes. When addressing reading, the HoD spoke about the issues regarding boys and reading, specifically in respect of boys’ loss of motivation of reading in their teenage years. She believed that possible causes in lack of motivation in boys and reading was due to their increased socialisation as they grew older, the introduction of more complex reading materials in preparation for GCSE, peer pressure from others that could overshadow pupils’ personal preferences, and she also felt that a lot of teenage boys only read to obtain information and not for pleasure. Taking these factors in to consideration she claimed that it is important to understand the reasons why boys do not enjoy reading but it is more productive to motivate and encourage them to read. The HoD considers the best way to encourage reluctant readers is by getting to know individual pupils and then gauge their interest levels and preferences as a starting point. Some of the suggested strategies, she felt were particularly useful, are to provide a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction with appropriate reading levels; to keep in touch with boys current interests and provide books that reflect them; respect reading interests of young people and don’t expect them to only enjoy books suggested by the teacher; allow pupils to self-select their own books; encourage an interest in short stories, graphic novels and magazines, working up to full-length books; and to give academic recognition and credit for books read. These ideas meet the suggestions put forth by Hornton (2005), who stated that boys’ motivation should be encouraged with texts that appeal to their interests, and Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) who find it important to aid boys to seek access points into literacy and reading. The Questionnaire: The questionnaire was distributed to a high ability top-set year 11class and a low ability bottom set year 11 class. There were 32 pupils in the high set and 13 in the low set. The aim of the questionnaire was to compare the reading habits and attitude towards reading from a range of pupils of different abilities. According to Hornton (2005) there is a correlation between individuals with low level literacy skills and those who dislike reading for pleasure, and so I predicted that an individual’s attitude toward reading would correlate with their predicted GCSE grade; the more pupils enjoy reading and feel that it is important, the higher I expected their grade to be. The predicted GCSE grades in the set one class ranged from A* – C while the set five classes’ grades ranged from B – G. The questionnaires revealed that in the top set group 84.38 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and 90.63 percent felt that reading was important for reasons such as expanding vocabulary, increasing knowledge and learning new things. There was a vast difference in comparison with the lower set where only 23.8 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and just 53.85 percent felt that reading was important. It appears then that there is indeed a correlation between literacy skills with enjoyment of reading, however other elements surveyed in the questionnaire aimed to establish whether boys and literacy could have a direct link to their parents’ relationship with reading. The survey asked pupils if their parents enjoyed reading and if they had been encouraged to read as a child. Sadowski (2010) analysed the literacy gap between working and upper class boys, he found that the gap for more affluent boys was not as large as those from working class backgrounds and attributed this to richer boys growing up with father’s who were readers. This suggests that pupils whose parents enjoy reading and encouraged them to read from a young age would achieve higher results than those whose parents either did not enjoy reading or did not encourage them. Surprisingly the results did not reflect this to an extent that one would have expected. In regards to pupils’ parents who enjoy reading, 76.92 percent of pupils in the lower ability set agreed that their parents enjoyed to read while 81.25 percent of pupils’ in the high ability group confirmed the same. Of parents who encouraged their sons to read as a child, 61.54 percent from the low ability agreed and 78.31 from the higher ability group. Despite a difference between the percentages for both groups’ parents who read and encouraged them to read when they were younger, the gap is not a remarkable one and does not qualify a distinct correlation between pupils’ ability in literacy and the relationship their own parents have with reading. The questionnaires revealed that in spite of 76.92 percent of their parents having an enjoyment of reading, only 23.08 percent of pupils in that class enjoy reading, which suggests that perhaps even if a higher percentage of parents had encouraged their son to read this would not necessarily have affected their attitude towards reading for pleasure and therefore would not affect their achievements in literacy. EVALUATION The outcomes and findings from this case study have, to some extent, complemented a lot of the existing research addressed in the literature review. For example Holland (1998) discovered that boys tend to spend a lot of time listening passively to teachers because they prefer lessons that are practical and involve a range of activities. From my observations in the classroom and confirmation from the Head of English in the interview, the boys at School A also learned best when lessons involved a series of different activities such as discussions, group work or practical tasks such as drama-based role plays. This outcome also corresponded with Malone (2010) who, in a venture to discover why boys where underperforming in literature, stated that he aimed to perform short, achievable tasks with the boys, he also suggested that giving explicit time frames focused the boys into completing their work. During the interview the HoD explained that by giving the boys at School A short time frame s to complete specific task, it kept the pace of the lessons challenging and rigorous and therefore engaged them in learning more effectively. However the problematic outcome for this particular study is that only one school has been investigated and so it is difficult to determine whether the observations, questionnaires and interview conclusions, pertaining to strategies and the improved GCSE literacy results for School A, are a true reflection of causes and solutions of underachievement. The English GCSE results were really poor at School A in 2008, just as the current Head of Department took over, and from the interview questions and answers it would seem that the department and classroom strategies implemented since then have helped to improve the pupils’ achievements. Nevertheless it is certainly impossible to verify whether these are the sole reason for improvement; one particular reason is that it was never established what mode of departmental and classroom strategies were in place before the current HoD took over from the previous. Another reason is that School A’s GCSE results prior to 2008 were not obtained for this study and so results before this year have simply been generalised based on the last available statistics. It could be assumed that the 2008 result may have been an isolated case and so accessing results prior to 2008 would have endorsed whether or not the results had improved substantially. Gorard et al (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) believes that the gender gap is exaggerated and to some extent it is possible from this research to argue in favour of this. Over the past three years School A has achieved excellent GCSE results, especially in English and particularly in comparison to local and national results. School A is an all boys’ school and so advocates that boys in this particular context are not underachieving as are others in other contexts. This suggests that if School A can produce results above the average mark, particularly in a year when the cohort was extremely weak, i t should be possible for other schools to raise the achievement levels of literacy in boys just the same. However it would be possible to prove or disprove Gorard’s theory of the gender gap, if the strategies implemented at School A could be put into action in a school of a different context. If successful this would validate the outcomes from this case study, it would also give rise to further research based on boys and literacy and whether these strategies could be used in a co-educational school or if they are too specific to the needs of boys’ learning and therefore not beneficial to girls’ learning. I felt that the findings made regarding boys reading habits and their attainment levels were significant. From the sample of questionnaires taken there seemed to be a direct correlation between predicted grades A*-C and boys who enjoyed reading or felt that it was important; 100 percent of the boys in the high ability group were predicted a grade A*-C (although three pupils were unaware what their predicted grade is, the school setting procedures ensured that only bo ys predicted A*-C would be allocated to set one). Of this a high 90.63 percent felt that reading was important and 84.38 percent enjoyed reading for pleasure. There were however exceptions to this; one pupil in the higher ability group stated that he did not think reading was important because ‘I do not read and I am predicted A’s at GCSE’. Another boy from the high ability group, who has been predicted a C grade, also felt that reading was not important because it ‘doesn’t do anything’, however this boy also claimed that he enjoyed reading and so regardless of whether he felt that it was important or not, reading is part of his literacy development. Despite the boys who did not feel that reading was important, the majority of the boys in the class felt that reading was important; this suggests that the highest achieving literacy pupils in School A were ones that enjoyed reading and so this would also be an essential contributing factor to the success of their achievements. It is difficult here to state whether the reasons for the boys’ enjoyment of reading is owing to the strategies for motivating reading encouraged by the HoD and so part of the questions on the questionnaire should have been more open ended to allow pupils to explain perhaps what motivates their enjoyment of reading. The lower ability results from the questionnaire were also significant for showing a correlation between literacy achievements and reading habits. Only 23.08 percent read for pleasure and only half the class felt that reading was important, this suggests that the reason for low ability achievers is possibly due to the lack of enjoyment in reading. Once again the problematic issue with these results is that the number of pupils in the low ability class was considerably less than the number of pupils in the high ability class. To gain a perhaps more informed result from the questionnaires a larger sample from low ability classes should have been obtained to match the number of pupils in the high ability class. This may or may not have produced different results, but, whatever the outcome, they certainly would have been more valid. One final evaluation to consider, in regards to the low ability group, is how effective the suggested motivation strategies have been in engaging boys in reading. With only 23.08 percent of pupils in this class finding an enjoyment in reading it would seem that the strategies have been ineffective in increasing motivation and achievement in these particular pupils. What would have been an interesting study if had been possible, would be to assess pupils attitude towards reading and predicted grades before the HoD had taken over and implemented strategies, and then to compare them to the results that have been found during in this study. CONCLUSION Returning to the hypothesis, my aim was to find out if reading for pleasure impacted on boys’ attainment levels; whether the achievement of boys who did not enjoy reading was affected. I also wanted to identify successful teaching strategies and whether these would raise the levels of those boys who again did not enjoy reading. The study has shown that there is a correlation between boys reading habits and their achievement levels’; it has also identified some strategies that can be used to raise their attainment levels. However from this study alone it is difficult to say if those strategies implemented in an all boys’ classroom would be equally effective in a mixed sex classroom. Due to this it would be interesting to expand the research on a larger scale to investigate the impact of those strategies, which are effective for boys learning, on a) girls learning in a mixed classroom and b) boys learning in a mixed classroom. The gender gap issue is such a broad topic that research can be extended to a greater degree of investigation. For example I have covered some possible causes of boys’ underachievement in this study; however on a wider scale other possible causes could be explored such as masculinity and identity, class or ethnicity. I feel that the most important route to take continuing from this particular investigation would be a focus on masculinity stereotypes in the single sex classroom and the mixed classroom. Holland (1998) states that: Boys do appear to be locked inside a stereotype which appears to make them succumb to peer pressure and which inevitably impacts on their attitude to work’ (Holland, 1998: 177). Therefore researching ways that can reduce or even prevent these macho stereotypes in the classroom would be an important factor for understanding boys and underachievement. Despite that there is no definitive outcome from this study; I feel that it is something that I will take forward into my professional development; whether it is through consideration of differentiation in boys learning style in a mixed classroom, or through a focus of raising attainment levels in my classes. Whichever way I incorporate consideration of gender into my teaching, it is certainly something that needs to be addressed. Gorard (2001) believes that concern over the gender gap is exaggerated; however it is clear through GCSE tables that boys tend to achieve lower than girls. In relation to this then, it is important for both newly qualified teachers and established teachers to consistently strive to meet the learning needs of their pupils. It seems the most important way is by adapting their style and approach to learning styles to ensure that both girls and boys have equal opportunities to work and achieve their highest potential. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Bleach, K. (1998). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Schools. Staffordshire: Trentham Books Ltd. Brozo, W. G. (2002). To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys In Active Literacy. US: International Reading Association. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research Methods 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press Cohen, L. , Manion, L. & Morrison, K (2007). Research Methods In Education. London and New York: Routledge. Cox, T. (2000). Combating Educational Disadvantage: Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Children. London and New York: Falmer Press. Frances, B. (2000). Boys, Girls and Achievement: Addressing the Classroom Issues. London and New York: Routledge. Frater, G. (1997). Improving Boys’ Literacy. London: The Basic Skills Agency. Gillham, B. (2000). Case Study Research Methods. London and New York: Continuum. Greetham, B. (2009) How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation. Palgrave Macmillan. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. London, Thousand Oaks, N ew Delhi: Sage. Millard, E. (1997). Differently Literate. London, Washington DC: The Falmer press. Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to Research Methods in Education. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage. Rae, T., & Pederson, L. (2007). Developing Emotional Literacy With Teenage Boys. London, California and New Delhi: Paul Chapman Publishing. Trochim, W. M. (2001). The Research Mothods Knowledge Base. Cincinnati, OH: Atomic Dog Publishing. Weeks, A. (1999). The Underachievement of Boys. Northants: First and Best Education. JOURNALS Holland, V. (1998). Underachieving Boys: Problems and Solutions. Support for Learning , 13(04), pp.174-178. Hornton, R. (2005). ‘Boys Are People Too: Boys and Reading, Truth and Misconceptions’. Teacher Librarian ,.33(2), pp 30-32. Malacova, E. (2004). ‘Effects of Single-sex Education on Progress in GCSE’. Cambridge Assessments UK , 33, pp233-259. Mills M. & Keddie, A. (2007). ‘Teaching Boys and Gender Justice’. International Journal of Inclusive Education ,11 (03), pp.335-354. Myhill, D. (2002). ‘Bad Boys and Good Girls? Patterns of Interaction and Response in Whole School Teaching’. British Education Research Journal , 28 (03), pp.339-352. Reichert, M. & Hawley, R.(2010). ‘Reaching Boys An International Study of Effective Teaching Practices’. Phi Delta Kappan ,91 (04), pp35-40. Sadowski, M. (2010, August). ‘Putting The Boy Crisis in Context’. Education Digest , pp 4-6. Taylor, D. L. (2004, December). â₠¬ËœNot Just Boring Stories: Reconsidering the Gender Gap for Boys’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy , pp290-298. Watson, A., Kehler, M. & Martino, W. (2010, February). ‘The Problem of Boys’ Literacy Underachievement: Raising Some Questions’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5) , pp356-361. WEBSITES Bearne, E. (2004, September). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Literacy. Retrieved March 2011, from RBA: www-rba.educ.com.ac.uk/PaperEB.Paf Boys’ Underachievement. (2005, November). Retrieved December 2010, from Teaching Expertise: www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/boys-underachievements-101 Gender and Achievement. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2010, from National Strategies: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46121?uc%20=%20force_uj Malone, G. (2010, September 2nd). Extraordinary School For Boys: helping boys love literacy. Retrieved April 11th, 2011, from Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/7976044/Extraordinary-School-for-Boys-helping-boys-love-literacy.html Mendick, H. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2011, from Gender and Education:

Political Systems in the Middle East and North Africa Essay

Political Systems in the Middle East and North Africa - Essay Example To this end, there is no single form of political rule that or political system that can be considered to be better than the other. What is generally important is how applicable the said political system is in the premise and setting in which it is being used. In most Middle East and North Africa countries, democracy and authoritarian rules are predominant. But within these key facets of political rules or systems, there is what seems to be a centralized inculcation of Islamic rule, where in some cases is referred to as political Islam. By implication, Islamic religious practice has been made to dominate in most contemporary political systems in the Middle East and North Africa. Historians and political analysts have sought to find the impact of political islam on contemporary political rule. There are several schools of opinion, two of which can be generalized as those who opine that Islam constitute a source of legitimacy to some Arab regimes, and others opining that Islam constitu te a source of illegitimacy to some Arab regimes. A very careful consideration of the claims may render the two opinions as both accurate, depending on the perspective from which the argument is taken. Generally, most Arab regimes come into play from two major perspectives. These perspectives are military and ideological perspectives of Arab regimes. The Iranian Revolution in 1979 is perhaps considered as the biggest military success in an Arab regime, even though some other examples of military regimes exist in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa (Ghalioun and Costopoulos, 2004). Saudi Arabia on the other hand can be viewed as an example of Arab regime that came into force as a result of ideological perspective. As far as Islam is concerned, both those who take up their regimes from military perspective and those who does so from ideological perspective use Islamic religious contexts to argue their reason for coming into power. The various forms of military revolutionar y movements which were experienced in the 1970s are examples of regimes that came into force with Islamic political persuasion that the corrupt and ineffective economic structures of existing regimes needed to be made better by use of Islamic principles. However, even though the military regimes in places like Iran was successful in their constitution, those in places like Sudan failed woefully in 1989. From this understanding, it can be said that the debate that Islam constitutes a source of both legitimacy and illegitimacy to some Arab regimes could be true, depending on the outcome of the regimes that are in place. Even with those who have taken political power through ideological persuasions, the fact remains that not all of them have legitimized their regimes because they failed woefully. A typical example of such regime is the Muslim Brotherhood style democratic take-over, which came with the argument that secularism could not be accepted because it was based on Western libera lism but ended up being a more oppressive and corrupt regime (Pape, 2003). How has the oil wealth affected the prospects of democratization in the Arab Gulf? Oil is a natural resource that accounts for a gross domestic product contribution for most countries in the Arab Gulf. Indeed, countries in the Arab Gulf benefit from oil as a contributor to their gross domestic product than any other source of wealth (Pupcenoks, 2012). It is for this reason that the term, oil wealth

What happens after we die Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What happens after we die - Essay Example In the modern times, people became interested with its occurrence that they applied science to test about the life after death. Some peer-reviewed studies had found such memories in children but they remained non-conclusive because no tests were sufficient to measure it.It was even doubted greatly by skeptic scientists. The life after death seems to be hard to be proven. It may or may not exist. Some naturalists may just say that life will just cease once biological death approaches and consciousness will fade too. It only means that the concept of the soul is even under debate if it truly exists or not. Personally, I may think of the concept of life after death as subjective because various people have different notions regarding it. It is still not proven by science until now. For the paper regarding the life after death, the focus would be on the work of Joseph Pieper, the author of Leisure: The Basis of Culture. Pieper was a philosopher from Germany who was the primary proponent of the New Thomistic wave as a philosophy since he is part of the Catholic Church. Joseph Pieper learned various fields in social science from sociology to philosophy from popular universities. He had worked as a writer and sociologist until he pursued being a professor in the University of Munster where he also studied. His perspective was influenced greatly by the ways of Thomas Aquinas together with the ideologies of the Greek philosopher Plato. In the first chapter which is entitled The Philosophical Act, Pieper was very philosophical. The meaning was so deep in the chapter where he talked about the common good and the common need (Pieper 78). He might want to tell something about how philosophy can cause disturbance but it was left to the reader to identify what kind of disturbance did Pieper want to convey to the readers. Probably he tried to connect the philosophy of common good and common needs as people go for the utilitarian world filled with work to satisfy the needs to s urvive. I can see his point regarding the philosophy that he promotes. Nowadays consumer culture is prevalent and sometimes it goes beyond the necessity. As a result, crimes increase, imbalance in nature is observed and destruction of the environment is noticeable and all of them happen in the name of greed. People live on the outside world and I may not say that I am not part of it. Sometimes being too busy with the supply and demand, people become accustomed to the materialistic world where all that matters is the functional basis of living and things are compartmentalized. Probably Pieper did not say that it is bad to engage in such a world or system but he wanted to also point out the importance of the oneness or the unity of people despite of differences. It is even linked to the practice of spending the seventh day of the week as a break from work and worship God. For him, it is also an essential component in life that even transcends beyond the common needs which the utilitar ian world provides. It only shows that the common need is a subset of the common good because the latter is more complex which requires something beyond the physical and material needs. December 1, 2012: Leisure: The Basis of Culture Chapters One and Two Another thing that Pieper pointed out was the definition of leisure. Sometimes culture had dictated what leisure is but actually the roots of leisure is seen when people are at work. They are busy. He also pointed out that leisure should involve not just the mechanistic or functional way of doing things without having time for rest or not serious activities. Sometimes work becomes not so engaging and people just do what they are doing for the sake of doing it. It is in contrast with what Pieper had said that work can be leisure if people have the time to reflect or contemplate. He pushed the idea of having enjoyment and appreciation on what is being done. Personally, the writer of the reaction paper thinks of it as an art

Age estimation based on pubic symphysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Age estimation based on pubic symphysis - Essay Example This paper illustrates that amongst other techniques to estimate the age of the skeleton dentition is also frequently used to estimate age and at times this might be the last resort, given the complete mutilation or decomposition of the corpse This is because in such a situation   it is impossible to base any conclusions pertaining to age or identity upon other parts of the anatomy. Age estimation based on the changes within the surface of the pubic symphysis   is another method which has come to be regarded as as a reliable criterion for the estimation of age which has received much attention with in the field of forensic osteology which relates to the observation of the changes in pubic symphysis, particularly pertaining to the age related changes in adult humans between the ages of   20-50 years, which is a time when the skeleton itself goes through rapid growth related changes. Therefore morphological changes in the symphyseal surface of pubic bones have been evaluated by t he forensic anatomists through methods like Todd’s phase system for White Males McKern and Stewart’s three-component system with five active developmental stages for males Hanihara and Suzuki’s multiple regression analysis and quantification theory model be consistent in the way you list these. Suchey–Brooks phases which are more detailed for the examination of the male pubic symphysis. Based on the above this paper explores these methodologies pertaining to age estimation using morphological features of the pubic symphysis and goes onto evaluate their precision in the light of academic opinion.. Introduction As mentioned above, at the culmination of the growth process which also brings about the full eruption of the dentition growth it is possible to experience complications in the estimation of age , relying on evidence of degenerative processes. (Gilbert and Mckern 1973) .However, age estimation at death can be made from multiple methods out of one of which will be discussed below to be the symphyseal formula technique where as it has been â€Å"found that age estimates based on this single event are more dependable than similar age estimates from other bones. This technique has made age estimation from unknown skeletal remains more realistic, more accurate and more dependable.† (Parikh, C. k., 1990). There a number of techniques available with in the forensic osteology to estimate the survival, social adjustment and age of the populations based on the patterns of morbidity and mortality and these have included techniques like pubic symphysis morphology, auricular surface morphology, age-related size distribution, tooth wear, epiphyseal closure, dental eruption patterns. All these techniques are well utilized if the skeleton is still in its period of growth and development and their use may give very precise results However as soon as the growth and development process ceases. it becomes more and more difficult to give a precise assessment of the age based upon the evidence of the degenerative processes.Thus public morphology provides a good way of establishing consistent findings for the determination of age at death (mostly) of the corpse. Age is thus determined by

Alcohol Abuse in Men and Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alcohol Abuse in Men and Women - Essay Example Epidemiologic evidence suggests that the problem with alcoholism lack the stereotypical features of other substance abuse disorders mainly due to the fact that alcohol drink is considered a socially acceptable beverage, although society does not accept the excess and abuse. That which starts as a social norm may eventually turn out to be an addictive behaviour. Psychiatric manifestations apart, a history of alcoholism provides the explanation of many other health conditions that a nurse may come across, and from that point of view, awareness that many other organ system disorders are secondary to alcohol abuse is an absolute necessity for the nurse who cares for the patient (WHO, 2002). The effect size and effect count of alcohol abuse on other health conditions appear enormous and numerous, and these patients would require care for these other health issues eventually, and the impact on the nursing management and management plan consequently become numerous (Goldacre et al., 2004). In this literature review, current evidence would be sought as to how alcohol abuse in both the sexes affect the baseline health status of the individual, setting aside the problem of alcoholism per se. The literatures that would be reviewed would deal with all the parameters of health, such as, pathologic processes involving other organ systems, morbidity, mortality, and quality of life issues for adult men and women. In the short span of this review, it should be admitted that, it is not possible to discuss in detail all the studies to extract the specific health implications (Rehm et al., 2003b); however, it is presumed that it would serve the purpose of an overview so it can generate awareness about alcohol abuse health effects in both the sexes from the angles of impact on care, so the reader can ultimately make an informed decision about the management of such cases from the available evidence from literature. The common causes of death among persons with the alcohol-related disorders are suicide, cancer, heart disease, and hepatic disease. Apart from these, alcohol abuse has been implicated in many other pathologic processes in the body to contribute to mortality and morbidity of the individuals who misuse alcohol. Current research indicates that drinking level rather than drinking pattern bears the strongest relationships to alcohol-associated problems. At low drinking levels, frequent drinkers would be expected to have highest levels of problems. There are certain gender differences in relation to health issues between adult men and women. At lower levels of drinking women have a slightly lower drinking frequency and fewer problems than men. Research has shown that the Whites have the highest rate of alcohol use, and men are much more likely than women to be binge drinkers and heavy drinkers. Although alcohol misuse appears to be prevalent in higher socioeconomic classes, alcohol-relate d disorders appear among persons of all socioeconomic classes. In the past few decades, alcohol consumption has increased substantially in the population. Expressed as liters of pure alcohol per year per capita, the current

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 11

Case Study Example This paper explores this question with reference to the Wal-Mart’s adoption of a computerized scheduling system from the Kronos. Wal-Mart is faced with the ethical dilemma of adopting a computerized scheduling system for its employees, which will speed up the scheduling of its employees’ work shifts. The advocates of the rights of workers were strongly against the move arguing on the impacts the adoption of the computerized system would have on the lives of the workers. It is imperative to point that the store managers, who manually carried out the schedule arrangement, traditionally carried out the intended work of scheduling workers at the Wal-Mart’s big box stores. The store manager’s decisions were based on previous year’s weekly sales data and the store promotions. The process of scheduling the employees was traditionally a time consuming process that took the store managers a full day. It is significant to note that the manual scheduling of the employees by the store managers was an expensive endeavor given the fact that Wal-Mart operates a number of stores. The labor intensi ty that was required to schedule the Wal-Mart employees manually produced marginally beneficial results to the company, thus expensive. The use of the computerized system of scheduling employees in Wal-Mart the overall productivity of the scheduling process was achieved within a short time for all the stores. The adoption of the Kronos scheduling system is of great benefit to the company due to its flexibility, cost efficiency, cost effectiveness, as well as improved productivity. It is also significant to note that the store managers, with the adoption of the computerized scheduling system, can now concentrate on the effective management of their respective stores. The computerized employee scheduling system by the Kronos has an efficient system of tracking transactions, sales by individual stress, customer traffic, and

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I - Research Paper Example The paper presents the environmental analysis regarding the current situation of the organization or firm to the marketing environment (target market). The environmental analysis mainly considers the external factors influencing the market. There are a number of external factors they are, economic, competitive, political, legal (regulatory), technological and socio-cultural factors. These factors are also known as macro environmental factors. This study analyzes the strategic decisions for doing the market research. The competition among the computer training centre is strong in Cochin. The company faces competition from many online education organizations. The main competitors for the company are Gtech and Aptech and 30 to 40 percent of market share are holded by them. But the new courses like I phone and I pad applications are only provided by the Applet-I. So at the initial stage we are not expecting much competition. The economic factors are used to reduce the overall cost, like promotion expenses and other expenses. Economy force is an important macro environmental factor because, these forces effectively make decisions how to operate the business. Most of the new generation business largely invests the amount to the promotional activities. APPLET-i, introducing the specialty in promotion. There are some new techniques are used with low cost comparing with the competitors. The main promotion tool is social networking sites such as face book, orkut etc. No political influences is expected to affect the smooth operations of Applet-I. 4. Legal Forces: By paying more attention in advertisement through Medias and through the direct contact of targeted customers, the company can reach upto the target groups. So we are keeping ourselves aside from distributing advertisements through mails (junk mails). 5. Technological Forces: In this most modern world technologies are changing second by seconds. The technological forces include the aspects of research and develo pment, automation, the rate changes in technology etc. Technological forces influence the outsourcing decisions. The changes in technology can effects the cost, quality and make innovation like products, process, new technologies, services and ideas. In APPLET-i using the modern technology for its services. 6. Socio Cultural Forces: Today the people have a positive attitude towards the computer education. They find it as an easy  and convenient way for  attaining any certified course within a very short duration. They can learn it as a part course too. This is less time consuming and cost effective too. Company Analysis: APPLET-i is based

COURSEWORK IN FOUNDATION IN LAW AND PROPERTY Case Study

COURSEWORK IN FOUNDATION IN LAW AND PROPERTY - Case Study Example The cause of action arises from the nuisance can be put forward before the Court. Section 106(b) of Rent Act 1977 says that or that the lessee or any person residing has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance or annoyance to adjoining occupiers. The law allows the tenant to use the property for what ever purpose they choose, unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise. It's therefore wise to restrict the property's use to that of a single private dwelling. Also impose an obligation on the tenant not to: cause nuisance or annoyance to neighboring occupiers. The tenant of cottage 1 faces difficulties in using the path through his garden by the other tenants. Since the cottage 1 and its surrounding area is within the exclusive possession of the tenant 1, it is obvious that the using the path through the cottage 1 by tenant 2 and tenant 3 amidst of protests of the occupier is unlawful and illegal. But it is to be remembered that there should be continuous interference over a period of time with the claimant's use or enjoyment of land. ... Now we shall look into the given case and shall decide how these three tenants liable to each other. Cost cottage 1 The tenant of cottage 1 faces difficulties in using the path through his garden by the other tenants. Since the cottage 1 and its surrounding area is within the exclusive possession of the tenant 1, it is obvious that the using the path through the cottage 1 by tenant 2 and tenant 3 amidst of protests of the occupier is unlawful and illegal. But it is to be remembered that there should be continuous interference over a period of time with the claimant's use or enjoyment of land. This aspect is well explained in the case of British Celanese v Hunt (Capacitors) Ltd (3). Cost cottage 2 The same aspect which is mentioned in cottage 1 can be applied here. If the tenants of cottage 1 and cottage 3 faces the problem of wandering the chickens of tenant 2 and it causes nuisance to these tenants ,their complaint should be considered. Cost Cottage 3 The general principle in the common law that anyone can build or use whatever he likes upon his land. If the effect is to interfere with the light, air or view of his neighbor, that is his misfortune. The owner's right to build can be restrained only by covenant or the acquisition of an easement of light or air for the benefit of windows or apertures on adjoining land. This point is explained in the case Hunter v Canary Wharf Ltd. Here in ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. British Celanese v Hunt (Capacitors) Ltd [1969] 2 All ER 1253 3 this case the tenant of cottage 3 has the right to buy anything

Critically discuss the key factors influencing protein requirements in Essay

Critically discuss the key factors influencing protein requirements in adults - Essay Example Together, these form the dynamic system of the body which contains the functional and structural aspects that help in nitrogen exchange to the environment (Joint, W. H. O., 2007). Thus the amount of protein that has to be consumed to meet these conditions of the body is termed as the protein requirement. Protein is the next bigger component of body tissues after water (Subar, et al., 2003). They are large molecules made of amino acids and are bonded together by peptides (Richards & Richmond, 2009). It is therefore important to take in proteins as they are used to maintain body tissue, which is constantly tearing and wearing out. A model on the protein needs is defined in terms of the organism metabolic demand and a demand of the diet that satisfies those needs for example efficiency of utilization (Elango, et al., 2010). The issue of protein intake in older adults is however controversial because some specialists warn that too much of it could cause toxicity while others argue that is important to take moderately high proteins to offset age related low energy intake and to maintain nitrogen balance (Millward, 2001). It is estimated that adults should take 0.75g (Young & Borgonha, 2000) of protein per kilogram of body weight to be on the safe side of nutrition deficiencies. These proteins should have a high digestibility and enough amounts of amino acids (Campbell, et al., 2008). These requirements can be satisfied by eating eggs, milk, fish and meat. Additionally legumes have a high amount of protein (Duranti, 2006). Since aging is associated with different physiologic and metabolic changes, the dietary pro tein requirements might also change. These changes may include decline in physical activity, changes in body composition due to loss of muscles, increased disease frequency in the older adults, decline in food intake, and decline in physical function capacity (Massey, 2003). These changes

The elasticity of copper investigation Essay Example for Free

The elasticity of copper investigation Essay In my preliminary experiment I learned that I needed a wire which could withstand the weight of at least 1kg, but also would effectively extend enough to see the significant change. I decided to use the wires with a diameter of 0. 31mm and 0. 27mm. I also decided to use at least 1kg of weights because some parts of the wire may not be all the same so they could be thicker and hold more weight or thinner not take that much weight at all. I think the temperature will be almost the same always, so there is no need to worry about it. I will need to repeat the experiment twice for each wire for greater accuracy. Specialist Apparatus These are equipment, which make the experiments results more accurate and in turn the youngs modulus. Uncertainties I had uncertainties because, I could not control or keep constant the temperature, so the wire may have extended or contracted. To calculate the strain I had to measure very small extensions of less than 1mm, this was quite difficult, because I did not have specialist equipment to measure length so I had to rely on human decisions, which meant there were always going to be errors. I also had to calculate the stress, therefore I had to use a micrometer to measure the diameter of the wire. Analysis The table shows that more mass or Newtons means that there will be more extensions to the original length. To get youngs modulus I used y = mx+c so I could get an average of it for each ruler. I used the equation: stress over strain to get youngs modulus, which was the gradient in the graph. E. g. 4. 11E+03/5. 82E-04=7. 06E+06 To get the other equations, I used theory from secondary data, which is above in the background information. To get my results I used specialist equipment; such as the micrometer, which is accurate to 0.01 of a millimeter, the uncertainty is 0. 005mm. I also used a metre ruler with mm marking for accuracy, the uncertainty is 0. 5mm. The graphs show that stress is proportional to strain as the points are near the line of best fit, also going through the middle. My graphs show that stress is proportional to strain, also stress is proportional to force and strain is proportional to the extension. As you can see from my prediction I drew a graph of stress against strain and this is correct because as you can see from the real graph it basically follows the same curve. From my stress-force and strain-extension graphs I do not need to draw error gradients because they are so accurate and because their R2 value is very close to 1. Trend line: A graphic representation of trends in data series, such as a line sloping upwards to represent the average. Trend lines are used for the study of problems of predictions, also called regression analysis. R-squared value: An indicator from 0 to 1 that reveals how closely the estimated values for the trend line correspond to your actual data. A trend line is most reliable when its R-squared value is at 1 or near 1. It is also known as the coefficient of determination. Evaluation The uncertainty of the extension is 0. 01cm (0. 01/1. 7)*100 = 1. 7% The uncertainty of the length of wire is 0. 001m (0. 001/1. 760)*100 = 0. 05% The uncertainty of the diameter of the wire is 0. 01mm (0. 01/0. 31)*100 = 3. 1% To ensure I had a safe experiment I wore safety goggles, also setup the experiment in the centre of the table. I made sure that the clamp stand was firmly placed on the floor so that it wouldnt wobble and affect the results taken down. I tried to keep my eye level in line with the marker measurements to rule out parallax error. I took many results down to have accurate results and averaged them. The reason for the line of best fit not going through the origin there may have been due to systematic error. This may because there was friction on the pulley, to remedy this problem grease could be used. Also the ruler was not long enough for the whole wire to be measured so the 2 rulers may be disjointed, so to remedy this problem I would need a longer ruler. Also the taught wire may not be horizontal to the pulley when tied to the clamp so the wire is longer than it can be measured, to solve this problem I used a wooden block, but it wasnt enough. The main two measurements that contributed to youngs modulus were the diameter and the extensions as they were used to calculate the stress and strain. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Death Rituals In American And Egyptian Society

Death Rituals In American And Egyptian Society The term burial refers to the practice of disposing of dead bodies or remains of the dead. Though there are other ways of disposing of dead bodies as practiced by people following different religions, the term burial particularly means the act of placing a body into the dug into the ground. Once the digging has been done, the body is placed inside, followed by the replacement grave of the soil to fill the hollow again. Though the term burial may refer to burying of any object or body, it usually refers to the burial of the body of dead person. It is sometimes also used for the placement of a body into a tomb. Burial of dead bodies prevents the release of stink as a result of gases discharged by bacterial putrefaction after a body starts to decompose (Bodiford, 1992). History tells us that burial is an old custom and the first instances in history are found during the Paleolithic period in European caves. Research method The approach used for data collection relied on both secondary and primary sources. Data were gathered according to two complementary techniques: * Documentary research and * Personal interviews With respect to documentary research, the internet served as the primary tool for research. Relevant journals, articles and books provided the information. For more scholarly sources online libraries and research databases such as Emerald and Ebsco were used. Personal interviews were conducted from a number of local residents from different areas selected randomly. The majority of these interviews were personally conducted at or outside their residences; a few however were interviewed on the phone. Informal, conversational interviews were taken where Death and Burial Rituals were discussed. In most of the cases no predetermined questions were asked. This strategy kept the discussions open and adaptable. Almost all the interviewees discussed how they have seen changes in these rituals with passage of time. They also shared their personal experiences. Introduction Many communities all over the world bury their dead in keeping with their religious beliefs and social customs. Usually the body is carefully handled and buried with respect. In some cultures it is believed that the physical remains continue to be important to the person who has passed into the next world. In other cultures, a ceremonial burning frees the spirit to go up to its new abode in the next world. Many variations in the burial customs are found especially in early Asian communities. Though, burial usually refers to burying in ground, history tells that amongst the Vikings water burials were common. Later, they started to burn the bodies followed by scattering the ashes in water (Wahl, 1961). In India, outdoor funeral pyres were common by the side of rivers and the ashes were frequently thrown into the holy Ganges River. Nonetheless, these customs are transitory and have changed to a great extent over time. As societies have evolved, their ways of burying their dead and grave markings evolve too only to provide an interesting area to be studied by archeologists of the future generations. This essay aims at comparing and contrasting the death and burial rituals of the contemporary American society with the ancient Egyptian society and their primitive ways of burial. The essay would talk about how the ancient Egyptians would preserve the dead bodies (mummies). It would also talk about how in modern America and in modern Egypt bodies are buried in the natural form to signify death as a rite of passage. Egyptian rituals of burial and death: Ancient Egyptian society believed in rebirth and this is what reflects in the burial rites that they practiced. For them, death was not the end of life but only an interval. They believed that eternal life could be ensured by leading a pious life and by preserving the bodies of those that passed away by mummifying them. For the Egyptians, every human body consisted of the ka, the ba, and the akh (name, body and shadow) (Spencer, 1988). The name and shadow were also considered to be living things that had to be sustained and shielded from harm along with the body so as to enjoy eternal life. Bodies that are buried in desert pits are naturally preserved by aridity. Therefore, the poor Egyptians who could not afford a ceremonial burial were usually buried in deserts. Rich people would bury their dead in stone tombs making use of non-natural mummification methods. This involved doing away with the internal organs, followed by covering the body in linen. The body was finally buried in a stone tomb in a wooden coffin. By the New Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians had mastered the art of mummifying dead bodies. The best method took as many as 70 days and involved removal of the internal organs including the brain which was removed through the nose. The body was then dried out after the application of a mixture of salts called natron. The body was then covered in linen with protecting amulets placed in between layers and placed in an ornamented anthropoid sarcophagus. The original preservation practices declined during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras as greater importance was now given to the outward appearance of the mummy, which was bejeweled. Rich people were buried with a lot of luxury items. Nonetheless, all burials, not considering the social status, included goods for the departed soul. After burial, the family and friends of the dead were expected to occasionally bring foodstuff to the tomb and offer prayers for the departed soul. Egyptians assumed that preserving the body by mummifying it was the only way to have an eternal life. A special constituent of the death and burial ritual was a carved mask, put on the face of the dead. This mask was thought to make the spirit of the mummy stronger and protect the soul from evil spirits on its way to the next world. Egyptians believed in the flimsy state of transition thinking that the dead would have to successfully surpass in their physical and spiritual flight from this world to the next. Burial and Death rituals in American culture: The United States has a loaded history of burial and death rituals and traditions that have merged with the incursion of Evangelical and Catholic customs to form fascinating and at times strange contemporary practices. The present century has observed a number of remarkable changes in death customs of the United States. Some of these changes, perhaps, represent improvements in the long established rituals; others do not. Customs of burial were completely different a century ago than they are at present. Mr. Peterson, a local resident, shared his fathers early life experiences of death rituals with us. While giving details, he told us that his father grew up in a countryside area of south-central Kentucky. When an old lady in his neighborhood died, female members from his family went to her cottage, bathe the dead woman and made her wear the best dress from her wardrobe. The next day a wooden coffin was brought and was loaded in the rear of a wagon drawn by a mule and towed to a small graveyard a few miles away. The members of her family had a small gathering near her grave and stayed there for a brief service. Routine work was resumed quickly. Another local interviewee, while talking about his own experiences, told us that his grandfather died when he was only nine year old (five decades ago). They transported the dead body to their old family home for a family gathering. He recalled that there was already a small funeral parlor in the close by city by that time. His grandfathers body was placed in one of the bigger rooms. The adult of the family stayed up late talking of the past and about the good deeds of the dead man. The body was buried in the little graveyard the following day. The death culture of the United States has changed significantly over the last few decades and even at present a variation can be seen in these practices in different localities of the country. In southern America, burials and funerals, predominantly, continue to be extremely sanctified events. Residents of southern America still give way to the passing burial procession and pull to the side of the streets. Things are fundamentally different in the Western part of the country. A funeral, according to an interviewee belonging to the West, takes a completely worldly atmosphere. He, while giving details of his personal experience, recalled that he had attended many funerals where there was no insinuation of the spiritual or religious words, no talking about of God, no interpretation from the Bible, no sacrosanct signs, and no holy hymns. A number of funeral processions even took on an almost celebratory atmosphere. Another interviewee talked about the playing of popular music in the burial and funeral processions of the Western America. Residents of the West are also seen as too busy to be attending these services. They have a very casual attitude towards these services. A few interviewees also mentioned about attending some funeral services in with even fewer than a dozen people came for the service. The present Burial and funeral practices of the United States correspond to the emotional, economical and symbolic facets of their lives (Spencer, 1988). A few people, with respect to the economic explanations, affirms that funeral practices of America indicate the nature of materialism and capitalism. Others, however, believe that these Death customs symbolize the core beliefs of the social system; that life is sacred. Almost all the funeral services in America are characterized by a relaxed and normal public show of the dead body on his last day before burial. The main rationale behind this is that people want to show an acceptance of the verity that dead bodies will decay with passing time and that no one is making an attempt to spell out that they have been nauseated with this (British Humanist Association website, 2003). Dead bodies On the other hand, are represented as simple as possible so as to display that no manipulation has been done as normally carried out by capitalist systems. American Fascination of Egyptian Mummies and modern Egyptian burial practices The culture of ancient Egypt and the mummification of their dead bodies have been a source of great inscrutability and attraction to the people of United States. The Egyptian belief that mummies and their spirits are capable of flying out of the burial place and come back to it is also a bit terrifying to a number of Americans. Although the burial and funeral practices of the Egyptians and Americans were extremely different in the ancient times, Egyptian culture has drastically changed with passing time. They have given up the mummification of the dead bodies and burial of Gold and other worldly things with the dead. The most prevailing religion in Modern Egypt is Islam so their current burial and funeral practices are completely in accordance with the teachings of their religion (Andrews, 1994). When a Muslim Egyptian is close to death, the family members are called upon to console, and remind him/her of Gods compassion and amnesty. Verses from the Quran may also be recited by some encouraging the dying soul to recite words of commemoration and prayer. When the person is dead, the family members are encouraged to stay peaceful, pray for the deceased, and start arrangements for funeral. The eyes of the departed should be closed, and the dead body is temporarily covered with a clean sheet. Egyptian Muslims try hard to bury the dead body as early as possible. The family members, relatives or other members of the society, in preparation for funeral, will bathe and shroud the dead body. The body is then carried to the place of the funeral prayers. These last prayers are usually held in the open air. All the people gather there, and the prayer leader (imam) stands at the front of the dead body. After the final prayers, the dead body is transported to the graveyard for burial. Although funeral prayers are attended by all members of the community, only the male members go with the dead body to the graveyard (Faure, 1991). The dead body is peacefully laid in the grave facing the holy city of Mecca. Putting flowers or other momentos is strictly discouraged by the Islamic teachings. Now that we have read about the modern Egyptian burial and funeral practices more closely, we can see that it is very similar to the modern American burial rituals. Conclusion Rituals regarding burial and funeral cremation represent the beliefs, holy cosmology and rational growth of people and their customs. Today, the average individual is likely to disregard studying or exploring about traditions of burials and funerals. The reason behind this is that the present world is more about young life and life with an entrenched apprehension of death buried in one side of the mind. Death is an inescapable part of living. Archaeologists search and investigate the history of ancient civilizations by discovering burial and funeral practices that different cultures have left behind. These findings disclose more and more about the way societies have lived and from where our current cosmology around the world has come from.

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits Abstract Cesare Lombroso’s (1960) Criminal Man led to a new discipline in criminology, placing a link between physical anomalies and crime. Certain attributes were said to be the result of a biologically inferior presence which led to a life of crime (Ellwood, 1912). An observational study interpreted a number of ‘mugshots’ made up of criminals and Psychology staff from Canterbury Christ Church University. Independent t-tests revealed that there was no difference between the two groups in terms of physical characteristics and ‘criminal’ rating. These findings tie in with previous research in the field (Goring, 1972; Saladin, Zalman Breen 1988). COMPARING THE PREVALENCE OF ‘CRIMINAL TRAITS’ BETWEEN CONVICTED CRIMINALS AND PSYCHOLOGY STAFF Cesare Lombroso (2006) is best known as the founder of the discipline criminal anthropology; the study of mental and physical traits associated with the ‘born criminal’. Lombroso published Criminal Man (2006), a famous study in which he attributed criminal behaviour to ‘Atavism’, an inherited condition in which offender’s demonstrated evolutionary throwbacks to more primitive humans. According to Lombroso (2006) the criminal was fundamentally a living anomaly concerned with pathological and atavistic characteristics (Ellwood, 1912). After studying 66 deceased criminals, Lombroso (2006) compiled a list of physical features assumed to be associated with criminal behaviour. Traits included asymmetrical faces and excessive body hair. A person was thought to be a criminal if they processed 4 or more traits. Charles B. Goring (1972) subjected 37 of Lombroso’s (2006) characteristics to empirical testing and compared 2,348 London convicts with a control group of young Englishmen. Goring (1972) found little support for Lombroso’s work, instead suggesting criminal behaviour is simply an inherited lack of common sense. Support for Lombroso comes from a study by Hooton (1939), in which 13,873 male prisoners were compared with 3,023 males from a general sample. Hooton attributed criminal behaviour to biological inferiority, assigning a number of features such as sloping foreheads to criminals. Hooton was, however, criticised for his circular reasoning. Criminals were assumed to be physically mediocre and those features which distinguished criminals from others could be classified as precursors of biological inferiority. Only a small number of modern studies have tested the relationship among attractiveness and criminal behaviour. Saladin, Zalman and Breen (1988) invited students to judge the physical attractiveness of a selection of male photos. Other students assessed the same photos and judged the likelihood that those pictured would commit a crime. Those rated as less attractive were more likely to commit crime. Similar results were also found in other related studies (Cavior Howard, 1973; Kurtzberg, 1978). The current study is building upon the previous contradictory evidence, and much like Goring (1913), the study will focus upon comparing Lombroso’s (2006) original anomalies within the criminal and general population. As a result of previous evidence my hypothesis states that there will be no difference between Lombroso’s (2006) ‘criminal traits’ amongst convicted criminals and the general population. Method Design The design of the experiment consisted of independent measures as both groups were separate from each other. Participants There were 30 participants in total, 15 were Psychology staff members from Canterbury Christ Church University and the other 15 were convicted criminals. Materials and Apparatus Materials required for the experiment included the 15 criminal mugshots, 15 staff mugshots and finally a criminal characteristics coding sheet. Procedure The procedure involved going through each photo and deciding whether each person had Lombroso’s (2006) original ‘criminal characteristics’. These characteristics consisted of: asymmetric head, flattened/twisted nose, large ears, fat lips, enormous jaw, high cheekbones, narrow eyes and excessive skin wrinkles. Each photo was judged upon these criteria and whether they were present or not. The final part involved deciding whether each person was a criminal or not which was based on Lombroso’s (2006) ideas that if you perceived more than four characteristics then you were a criminal. In terms of ethical considerations the use of photos from the staff members would have required consent as well as the right to withdraw from the study at any point. Results Overall frequencies for the ‘criminal characteristics’ identified in both sets of photos are given in Table 1. This data reveals that in terms of the ‘non- symmetrical face’ and ‘twisted nose’ characteristics these were marked as being present in the staff photos (4 and 8 time respectively) more so than for the criminal photos in which they were reported 2 and 6 times. All the other traits were identified more on the criminal photos however ‘enormous jaw’ and ‘high cheekbones’ were equally coded for at 7 and 9 times. Table 2 provides data showing the frequencies of the total numbers of ‘criminal characteristics coded for in each group of photos. Both groups receive more total ratings in the middle of the scale, with the majority coded for 2 or 3 criminal traits. An independent t test yielded t(28) = .756, p > .05. The hypothesis was accepted: there was no difference between the criminal classification of ‘st aff mug shots’ and ‘criminal mug shots’. Discussion Overall there was no difference between the criminal classification of the ‘staff mugshots’ and the ‘criminal mugshots’ which replicates similar findings obtained in studies by Goring (1972) and Kurtzberg et al, (1978). This implies that Lombroso’s original ideas and theories about certain characteristics leading to criminality have been undermined by this study. The data presented in table 2 can be described as normally distributed as the ends of the scale are sparsely occupied; however the majority of participants from both groups were coded as having between 2-5 criminal traits. According to Lombrosso a criminal was said to have four or more traits, therefore based on results obtained it can be said that the distribution of seemingly ‘criminal’ characteristics is actually very normal. One limitation to this study is that it is entirely subjective as one person is judging the photos on whether they are ‘criminal’ or not bas ed on a set of perceived traits. This may lead to a lack of reliability as the same result cannot be guaranteed if the study is repeated. A further limitation concerning subjectivity is the classification of the criminal traits, for instance what constitutes as ‘enormous’ when describing the jaw or ‘excessive’ when labelling skin wrinkles. Further in depth classification is required to establish whether a particular trait is present. Although the results from this study and others suggest that Lombroso’s (2006) method of criminal profiling is out of date, it has led to the use of similar methods using information such as upbringing or substance use to establish whether a person is likely to commit a crime. References Cavior, N., Howard, L. (1973). Facial attractiveness and juvenile delinquency among black and white offenders. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1(2), 202-213. doi:10.1007/bf00916114. Ellwood, C. (1912). Lombrosos Theory of Crime. Journal Of The American Institute Of Criminal Law And Criminology, 2(5), 716. doi:10.2307/1132830. Goring, C. (1972). The English convict. Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith. Hooton, E. A., (1939).Crime and the Man, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Kurtzberg, R. L. (1978). Plastic Surgery on Offenders. In N. Johnston L. Savitz (Eds.), Justice and Corrections, New York: Wiley. Lombroso, C., Gibson, M., Rafter, N. (2006). Criminal man. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Saladin, M., Zalman S., Breen, L. (1988). Perceived Attractiveness and Attributions of Criminality: What Is Beautiful Is Not Criminal,Canadian Journal of Criminology30(3), 205-215. Table 1 This table illustrates the present frequencies of each criminal characteristic as well as the total number of those classified as criminals in the ‘staff’ and ‘criminal’ mugshot categories. Face Nose Ears Lips Jaw Cheekbones Eyes Wrinkles Criminal Criminal 2 6 9 7 7 9 8 3 6 Staff 4 8 6 2 7 9 3 4 4 Table 2 Listed in this table are the total numbers of criminal traits identified for each type of mugshot, ranging between 1-6 characteristics. Number of ‘characteristics’ present after coding 123456 Criminal 045321 Staff 164220