Online role-playing games Essay Example

Online role-playing games Essay Online role-playing games facilitate communication with fellow players to encourage players to talk and establish social networks. The most popular online games such as World of Warcraft and EverQuest impede group efforts such as guilds and group quests, so that players make several online friends and communicate for a significant part of the time, working together for team battle and competition purposes. Online computer game players that used to bring their friends to their rooms to be able to play together no longer have to do so. All they have to do now is create an account in an online game and log in to talk to people who they are close to or people who theyve never even seen before. The online communication factor is particularly attractive because online players already all share a common feeling: they all love online games very much. This shared feeling gives other players a sense of ease in their communication with other players because they share a common interest. Since so many players can be found online at any given time, other players will not get lonely and can always socialize with other online players if they cannot find their usual acquaintances. We will write a custom essay sample on Online role-playing games specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Online role-playing games specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Online role-playing games specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This ongoing socialization between other players is one aspect of the game that makes it so immersive for players. Players can ignore their real lives and concentrate on their online characters and his social relations instead of their own. This is one of the many reasons why online game players that build social networks inside the game would extend their subscriptions to the game and play longer. Players that are part of guilds or other social gatherings play to be part of their group. Since they do not want to fall behind in their status, they would be required to play for longer periods of time to advance in level and catch up to the other players in their group. Guild leaders, especially, would have a large amount of pressure to play because of their numerous responsibilities. One female player says, I worry about my game life as much as I worry about my real life. If I am late getting on, I feel like people will be disappointed with me. As a guild leader, when conflicts arise people come to me to resolve them. People look to you to have events, help them get things, quest, etc I try to please everyone, but it is unrealistic to think you can be everywhere for everyone, keeping them all happy. It gets to be a heavy burden to bear, and sometimes I end up in tears out of frustration. I am an addict. Will I quit? No. Why? Because I love it. 4 Females, especially, have been found to be interested in a game mostly because of the social interactions between players. 5 Males, on the other hand, mostly seemed to be interested in popular MMORPGs because of the attraction of a status of high power. The leveling of their players to become more powerful drove males to play for longer periods of time. Extensive online gaming is only recently being seen as a serious issue. Because of some extreme cases involved in players who play extensively, China has implemented control regulations of the time that players can remain online in their games. 7 Chinese players can now remain online for three hours before their in-game benefits will be cut down. In terms of the games, this would mean reducing the value of equipment found within the game, or lowering the power of the players character. After five hours, players will be warned that their in-game benefits will be cut down to zero and their avatars health will be damaged if they continue to remain online. The most popular online games agreed to the playing curbs; although they did not have much choice as they need the governments support to offer online games. However, many critics and moderate online players feel that the system is not enough. This is because of the significant loopholes in the regulations. Players can just play until their time is up and then switch characters to another profile. This is feasible for the large number of addicted Chinese players. Control of online video game addiction is essential for many caught up in the games. Many extreme cases of violence have occurred because the players were addicted to the games. For example, one child whose gameplay was interrupted by his little brother proceeded to kill his younger sibling with a hammer because he had interrupted his game play. 9 One man, Shawn Woolley, shot himself to death after a tragic loss occurred in his game. 10 These are not isolated cases. Reports of video game violence are frequent and are far from over. There are many reasons why players may resort to such extremes. Online games, perhaps, in their violent gameplay, may confuse players about the consequences of killing and death. Since addicted players tend to spend so much time away from reality and their friends and family, they may begin to forget about how important these people are to them, and when they become isolated from their games they lose sight of what to do and how to respond to others. One psychologist from Stockton became so wrapped up in the game in trying to study it, that he frequently entered all-night sessions with the game before forcing himself to quit. 11 He says, Here I was in a good position to understand the problem and yet I really did have to struggle to beat this thing I can imagine that somebody with less knowledge of these kinds of issues would really have a hard time understanding what was happening to them. Many players would become confused at the priority shift brought into by the games, and some react by ignoring their real lives and instead focus solely on the game. Many online video game players find themselves unable to lead the rest of their lives, even if they have made the changes necessary to rid themselves of the game. This is because of many reasons. Players who have become immersed in the games find themselves experiencing withdrawal symptoms when they are away from their games. Also, players have poor health and little to no social skills. It becomes very hard for gamers to lead social lives and develop platonic and romantic relationships outside of their online games. Players who have a history of extensive gaming find it hard to react to what others say to them and usually have little confidence. Most are unable or unwilling to develop romantic relationships because of commitment issues or a poor sense of self-worth. These gamers find it difficult to confront people face-to-face because they have not done so for such a long time. Gamers find it hard to attract others of the opposite sex because they do not feel confident talking to others if they are not on their computers. Some may even lose the ability to speak practically, because they have become so accustomed to speaking in terms of the game and with other online gamers who speak in the same style. Additionally, players in high school may lose the rest of their lives because their extensive gaming has ruined their chances to enter university or college. Some players lose the drive to do well academically and essentially squander their future by playing video games. One adult player explains the trouble that his addiction to the game has cause for his profession and life, I am addicted to EQ and I hate it and myself for it. When I play I sit down and play for a minimum of 12 hours at a time, and I inevitably feel guilty about it, thinking there a large number of things I should be doing instead, like reading or furthering my education or pursuing my career. But I cant seem to help myself; it draws me in every time. I have been out of work now for over a month and now find myself in a stressful, depressed state that is only quelled when I am playing EQ, because its easy to forget about real world troubles and problems, but the problem is when you get back to the real world, problems and troubles have become bigger, and its a bad, bad cycle. 12 This is another significant reason why so many players feel that their online games have ruined their lives. Some players may not get the chance to redo their years of high school and end up with a mediocre job. Others may not even attain to that level. Because so many players are able to immerse themselves in their games without other distractions, they tend to forget about the importance of their real lives. Players tend to neglect their friends and family, just so they can play their games for a few more hours. It is undeniable that online games have ruined millions of peoples lives and something must be done about it. However, the attitudes and behavior of the player prior to introduction to the game must also be analyzed. Players that suffer from ADHD and other psychological disorders may tend to become more involved in these kinds of games because it allows them to escape from their real lives. Players with poor self-image and low self esteem also react the same way. For some of the addicted players, the game may not be entirely at fault. This is the main reason why so many psychologists and addiction experts refuse to classify online video game addiction as the real thing. Many still believe it to be a joke that only happens in extreme cases. For now at least, they may be right. However, it is also important to consider the gaming culture of many countries. South Korea and China are two of the most heavily gaming countries in the world. China alone had a video gaming revenue of $633 million in 2005. 13 For many technology-oriented countries such as China and South Korea, gaming is a way of life. Thus, it seems obvious that most of the severe cases of online video game addiction would occur in these countries. In China, for example, skipping school to go to Internet Cafes is a regular habit for thousands of high-schoolers. 14 This kind of behavior starts social trends that escalate into bad habits for other students. It is not uncommon for adults to go to Internet Cafes after work to play online games. It may be even more unacceptable for adults and especially parents to be gaming online excessively. Parents may introduce their children or spouse to the game, creating a family-friendly environment for the child and spouse to play online together. This is especially dangerous for the child because then the child feels safe playing online, and feels that it is the right thing to do. Children at a young age can become easily addicted to online games because it is new and exciting to them. Children of a young age fantasize about being in charge, and having superhuman powers. Therefore, when the child gets both from a video game, the child generally becomes enthralled and wants to continually play the game instead of focusing on their life. This leads to bad habits later in life. If the child gets used to gaming on a regular basis, he will usually want to continue to do so later in life as his priorities change and his responsibilities increase. Given the issues at hand as a cause of extensive video game play, possible solutions should be considered as well. In the case of the Chinese effort to decrease addiction in online game players, a good effort was made. However, other countries have not fared so well in their attempts, if any, at facing this problem. One possible solution could be to change the dynamics of the online games slightly, so that the player finds it less rewarding or engaging. One way to follow through with this idea would be to decrease the value or number of rewards given to players, similar to the efforts made in China. According to an extensive study conducted by Nicholas Yee in 2001, the second most popular reason why Ever Quest (an extremely popular MMORPG) appealed to the player was because they were able to achieve goals. 15 Perhaps the game could alter their time structure such that players are not required to spend as much time to achieve goals or to gain items. This solution would be very effective, providing the player with the same rewarding experience within a shorter period of play, however, the player may simply choose to play even longer because they find it so rewarding. Therefore, an effective solution must include a way to restrain the time a player spends online. A more direct way of dealing with the threat of game addiction would be to involve parents or close family that could be educated about the game and how they can prevent the consequences of spending too much time online. This solution would coerce the player to spend more time in social interactions outside of the game. According to Nicholas Yees The Norrathian Scrolls: A Study of EverQuest, the third most satisfying experience for players of EverQuest was to establish a friendship with other online players. 16 A significant reason why players choose to play their game for so long is because they are lonely and want to make friends but do not have the self-confidence or social skills from real life so they would do so online, where it is much easier. Social interactions with family members and friends would improve their social skills and boost their self-esteem, giving them the chance to participate in activities with friends in real life. A solution that could be implemented through online gaming companies would be the monitoring of the activity of a computer, identified through its Internet Protocol address. In this way, the online gaming activity of each computer could be tracked by gaming companies, and used to limit the time to which players can stay online. This idea would not work for all players, because some may have more than one computer, or may change computers after their time is up for one computer. However, this would likely work for the majority of players, as the chance that a single person would own more than one computer is relatively small. This solution could help the Chinese government in lowering the online play time because addicted players in China would just log off their character and sign on through another account. One addicted Chinese player said, I have mixed feelings about the curbs. They might help me find different ways of passing the time. But you can get around the rules. When my time is up playing as one character, I can just continue playing as another character. So these rules wont affect the addicts. 17 Since this method involves tracking a computers IP sentence, it does not matter how many characters the player has, because the tracking of the IP address will identify the computer instead of the players current profile. After extensive research and analysis of the roles, attitudes, behaviors, and motivations of teenage online video gamers, a conclusion has been reached. The main social and ethical issues with respect to online computer gaming and teenagers are the players mental and physical health, reduced mental and physical stimulation due to addiction, financial insecurity and lack of social interaction. However, on reaching this conclusion, many unresolved questions have arose throughout the research. It is still unknown, for example, whether online gaming can be classified as a clinical addiction. Also, the debate of whether or not online gaming can be directly attributed to the game was not resolved. This is because it is undecided whether the player or the game itself has the larger role in the addiction.

U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essays

U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essays U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essay U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essay The purpose of this report is to analyze the reasons of the sub-prime crisis, which has created worldwide financial market problems in recent time. The main Sub-prime issue will be focused in the US, but global impact throughout the world and examples from the Australian Financial markets will also be discussed. Sub-prime lending originated in the US and had evolved with the realization of a demand in the marketplace and businesses providing a supply to meet it coupled with the unwillingness on the part of legislators at the national level to recognize the inherent risks to consumers (wikipedia, 2008). In recent years, sub-prime lending had increased significantly due to several factors. Such as the housing downturn-housing bubble, carelessness of financial institutions and credit agency when lending money to sub-prime borrowers, the increasing practice of securitizations and hedge funds. These factors contribute to sub-prime crisis problems faced by the world now. The impact of the sub-prime crisis causes great losses to financial institution and some had even filed bankruptcy. The economy now is also facing credit crunch, which decreases economic growth. Financial institutions and companies such as Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Macquarie Bank, Centro Properties Group and ABC Learning Centre are given as examples to demonstrate the impact of sub-prime crisis in Australia. Information for this report is taken from electronic newspapers, magazines and Internet articles. As a conclusion, due to the credit squeeze that results from the sub-prime loan issue, banks will increase interest rate for loan and will be more careful and strict in providing loans to the borrowers. Stock price will continue to decline, as investors will not want to invest their money in high-risk investment. However, investment in Australia will increase as investors see that Australia being a more stable economy is more attractive than US in the meantime. 2 Introduction 2.1 Background information Sub-prime loan is a type of loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans. The additional percentage points of interest often translate to tens of thousands of dollars worth of additional interest payments over the life of a longer-term loan (investopedia, 2008). Sub-prime lending originated in the US and had evolved with the realization of a demand in the marketplace and businesses providing a supply to meet it coupled with the unwillingness on the part of legislators at the national level to recognize the inherent risks to consumers (wikipedia, 2008). Having emerged more than two decades ago, sub-prime mortgage lending began to expand in earnest in the mid-1990s, the expansion spurred in large part by innovations that reduced the costs for lenders of assessing and pricing risks. In particular, technological advances make it easier for lenders to collect and disseminate information on the creditworthiness of prospective borrowers (Bernanke, 2007). The ongoing growth and development of the secondary mortgage market has reinforced the effect of these innovations. Whereas once most lenders held mortgages on their books until the loans were repaid, regulatory changes and other developments have permitted lenders to more easily sell mortgages to financial intermediaries, who in turn pool mortgages and sell the cash flows as structured securities. The growth of the secondary market has thus given mortgage lenders greater access to the capital markets, lowered transaction costs, and spread risk more broadly, thereby increasing the supply of mortgage credit to all types of households (Bernanke, 2007). The value of U.S. sub-prime mortgages was estimated at $1.3 trillion as of March 2007 (associated press, 2007), with over 7.5 million first-lien sub-prime mortgages outstanding (Bernanke, 2007). 3 Body 3.1 Reasons for the Sub-prime loan crisis 3.1.1 Housing downturn- housing bubble As shown in figure 1 and 2 in appendix 1, due to increasing stocks value and decreasing interest rates, since around 2001, house prices have soared way above the current housing price. Homeowners have seen their wealth climb due to the increase in selling price of the house (time magazine, 2005). Thus enabling them to buy a second home under a sub-prime loan, thinking that they will get a more favourable terms as rising house price usually occurs for a long period of time. The amount of outstanding loan secured by mortgages increased significantly (time magazine, 2005). After an amazing four-year boom in residential real estate, the housing market could finally be topping out and heading for a downturn (Coy et al, 2004), which is when the bubble burst, around 2006, the prices of the house fell. Demand for housing decline and there is an oversupply of housing, which results in low housing price. The borrowers, facing the risks of being unable to pay the monthly loans choose to default , which increase foreclosures, thus causing losses to the major lenders. As shown in figure 3 in appendix 1, the housing bubble reached its peak in 2005, and started to deflate in 2006 and accelerated since. According to Lahart (2007), In June 2006, sales of existing single-family homes were 9% below their year-earlier level, sales of new homes were down 15% and framing lumber prices were down 19%. 3.1.2 Roles of financial institutions Due to moral hazards and lack of supervisions by the regulators, the regulations of providing loans to sub-prime borrowers become less strict. Therefore, many major mortgage brokers, accepts borrowers with very poor credit risk in order to get bonuses as they steer borrowers to very high interest rates. As shown in figure 1 below, sub-prime mortgage originations grew from $173 billion in 2001 to a record level of $665 billion in 2005, which represented an increase of nearly 300% (investopedia, 2008). Figure. 1 Sub-prime mortgage origination Source: investopedia.com These mortgage brokers give loans to borrowers at an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) where interest rates are periodically adjusted based on a variety of indexes (Macdonald, 2004). In addition to considering higher-risk borrowers, lenders have offered increasingly high-risk loan options and incentives. One example is the interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), which allows the homeowner to pay just the interest (not principal) during an initial period. Another example is a payment option loan, in which the homeowner can pay a variable amount, but any interest not paid is added to the principal. Further, an estimated one-third of ARM originated between 2004-2006 had teaser rates below 4%, which then increased significantly after some initial period, as much as doubling the monthly payment (Trehan, 2007). Due to the decline in housing prices and inflation, the Federal Reserve increases interest rate. Thus, in order for the lenders to maintain profits, they set a higher interest rate (ARM) which results in people defaulting their mortgage, increasing foreclosures. 3.1.3 Role of credit agency Credit rating agency (CAR) mainly the Standard Poors (S;P), Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Group had assures collateral debt obligation (CDO) buyers the quality of the investments as each had blessed most of the CDO with the highest rating of AAA or Aaa (Tomlinson Evans, 2007). As shown in Figure 2, the value of the once rated AAA CDO had been decreasing below par value. Banks that had been underwriting MBS and CDO admitted $30 billion in losses. Citigroup estimates that big banks may be facing $64 billion write-downs, excluding its own figures- Citibank was one of the top two underwriters of CDOs (The economist, 2007). Figure. 2 credit rating on sub-prime performance in 2007 Source: economist.com 3.1.4 Role of Securitization In the mortgage market, securitization converts mortgages to mortgage- backed securities (MBS) (wikipedia, 2008). These MBS are sold to investors and the secondary market as securities so that the mortgage originators will be able to pool more funds thus can lend to many more borrowers, increasing profits. Investors now bear the related credit default risks of the mortgage payment. The MBSs are structured so that interest payments on the mortgages are at least sufficient to cover the interest payments due on the bonds. Principal payments on the mortgages are used to pay down the principal on the bonds. Since investors can invest in MBSs directly or indirectly (e.g., through mutual funds), these asset-backed securities allow a broad investor base to help fund home mortgages. In part for this reason, an increasing share of home mortgages have been securitized, with the ratio of MBSs to total mortgages now over 50% as shown in figure 3 below (wessel, 2007). Figure 3 Increasing share of securitized home mortgages Source: http://economistsview.typepad.com 3.1.5 Hedge funds Another party that added to the mess was the hedge fund industry. It aggravated the problem not only by pushing rates lower, but also by fueling the market volatility that caused investor losses. There is a type of hedge fund strategy known as credit arbitrage which involves purchasing sub-prime bonds on credit and hedging these positions with credit default swaps, it increases demand for Collateral debt obligation (CDO). Because hedge funds use a significant amount of leverage, losses were amplified and many hedge funds shut down operations as they ran out of money in the face of margin calls (investopedia, 2008). 3.2 Global impact The shock waves emanating from the sub-prime mortgage earthquake are now spreading around the financial world. The collateral damage is being unveiled so quickly that it is difficult keeping up with all the collapsed hedge funds, injured banks, and defaulting mortgage brokers (Numerian, 2007). 3.2.1 Credit crunch and the effect in the banking sector The credit crunch was sparked as a result of the housing slump, rising interest rates, and record defaults in the sub-prime sector of the United States, and over recent weeks the global repercussions of this crisis have become increasingly evident. The credit crunch affected the Northern Rock bank in Britain most. When the fact of the credit crunch was discovered, many of the banks 1.5 million savers queued at all hours of the day and night in order to withdraw their savings amidst fears that the bank might be on the verge of collapse (Kenny, 2007). The run on the Northern Rocks continued for days, despite the Bank of Englands intervention with a guarantee of deposits (Long, 2007). In the space of a few days, over two billion pounds was withdrawn from Northern Rock by worried savers. Not only did this damage the company financially but it also did not favours in terms of its reputation, and many experts predicted that even if the bank survived the financial losses it would not surviv e the damage to its reputation. Northern Rock also saw its share prices plummet at the start of the chaos, with over 80% being shaved of share values (Kenny, 2007). 3.2.2 Effect in hedge funds Bear Stearns, the New York investment bank, announced that two of its hedge funds had invested in these sub-prime bonds, and were now broke. Bear Stearns for one of its funds had raised about $600 million in cash from investors, but then borrowed over $5 billion more from banks to leverage up the profits in the fund. They lost $600 million immediately due to the accelerating price depreciation (BBC news, 2008). 3.2.3 Effect in equity markets Stock is a form of equity instrument. Due to the crisis and increase in interest rate, stock prices have fallen significantly. Causing loss to many financial markets and institutions. Stocks like Mizuno Bank of Japan have dropped 10% or more merely from announcing some losses in their investment portfolios. In the case of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., that stock has fallen 90% amid market rumors that the company is facing bankruptcy (Numerian, 2007). Another example was the Thornburg mortgage (TMA); a stock exchange company was forced to sell off $21.9 billion of assets to raise cash as its stock dropped 65% in two-and-a-half weeks in 2007. (Steverman, 2007). In 2008, within 3 months time, the share price had decreased by 85.10%. 3.2.4 Effect in financial institutions Due to the heavy investments in the MBS and CDOs in the US market, many financial institutions including banks, investment banks, hedge funds, mortgagers have suffered significant losses as a result of mortgage payment defaults or mortgage asset devaluation. As of April 3, 2008 financial institutions had recognized sub-prime-related losses or write-downs exceeding U.S. $210 billion (wikipedia, 2008). As shown in table 1, the top 3 banks that suffer the greatest amount of MBS and CDOs loans are the UBS AG ($37.77 bln), Citigroup ($24.1 bln), and Merrill Lynch investment bank ($22.5 bln), (BBC news, 2008). Table 1 Write-downs on the value of loans, MBS and CDOs MAIN CREDIT CRUNCH LOSSES UBS: $37.4bn Merrill Lynch: $22bn Citigroup: $21.1bn HSBC: $17.2bn Morgan Stanley: $9.4bn Deutsche Bank: $7.1bn Bank of America: $5.3bn Bear Stearns: $3.2bn JP Morgan Chase: $3.2bn BayernLB $3.2bn Barclays: $2.6bn IKB: $2.6bn Royal Bank of Scotland: $2.6bn Credit Suisse: $2bn Source: Company reports Source: ;http://news.bbc.co.uk; 3.3 Impact in Australias Financial Market According to analyst, the exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage market will not produce significant losses for the Australian banks, market conditions for credit have tightened in recent weeks. Australian banks are typically reliant on wholesale funding for a large part of their total funding requirements. The cost of accessing the wholesale market has also increased. If prolonged, the current liquidity crunch could impact the ability of Australian banks to do business through higher funding costs and, potentially, result in difficulty refinancing debt as it matures, particularly commercial paper. The latter is likely to be more of an issue for the smaller institutions (anonymous, 2007). However, not only banks are affected. Many companies are also exposed to the sub-prime crisis, as discussed in the examples below. 3.3.1 Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ) The Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ) has boosted its forecast provisions for bad and doubtful debt to $975 million, mainly due to a higher collective provision charge (herald sun, 2008). Due to the effect of the credit crunch, ANZ will bolster its variable lending rates by 20 basis points in order to cover the banks profit margins and protect earnings from the sub-prime fallout, analysts predict (Murdoch, 2008). The news sent ANZ shares tumbling. They closed down 6.6%, or $1.55, at $22.01. Rival banks were also on the slide, with National Australia Bank shedding 4.7%, or $1.46, to $29.64, Westpac falling 4%, or $1, to $24.13 and Commonwealth Bank losing 3.12%, or $1.42, to $44.06 (Zappone ; Saulwick, 2008). As shown in appendix 3, the ANZ share in the stock market have been declining since 2007, although there is a little variation in the increase and decrease of the share price. The ANZ share price have decreased from around $32.00 to $ 20.9400 as of 11 April 2008, however, there is a 1.8% increase in stock price compared to the previous day (the age, 2008). 3.3.2 Macquarie Bank Macquarie Securitization is Australias fourth-largest issuer of residential mortgage-backed securities, according to Standard Poors. The top three are St. George Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Challenger Financial Services. It has about 2.5 percent of outstanding housing loans in Australia (Thomas ; Lefort, 2008). Macquarie Bank Limited announced on 5 March 2008 that Macquarie Securitization Ltd would wind-back its Australian residential mortgage origination services for both retail and wholesale customers due to the significant increase in the cost of funding mortgages and current conditions in the global mortgage securitization market, but would continue to provide full service to Macquaries existing Australian customers who hold 95,000 loan facilities (Macquarie, 2008). Given the current conditions in the global credit markets and low investor sentiment, Macquarie Banks share price has suffered a similar fate to other big banks in Australia, falling nearly 40% since its high of $83.59 in January (Australasian Investment Review, 2008). As at 11 April 2008, Macquarie Group Limited share was $ 54.7900, which is a 4.5% increase since the previous day, as shown in appendix 4 (the age, 2008). 3.3.3 Centro Properties Group The global credit crunch broke out of the banking sector for the first time, sending Australias second-biggest shopping centre owner into crisis and wiping more than $50 billion off the stock market. Shares in Centro Properties Group collapsed by 76 per cent after the company admitted it had been unable to refinance $3.9billion worth of maturing debt in the risk-averse credit markets. Centro, which ranks second to Westfield in the Australian shopping mall market with 124 centres containing 7000 individual stores, said it had suspended withdrawals from its unlisted property trusts, freezing almost $2 billion worth of investors funds (Condon, 2007). The share price of Centro Properties Group is $ 0.46 as at 11 April 2008, with 0% change since the previous day (Centro, 2008), as shown in appendix 5. The share price had dropped significantly; causing great loss to investors and today, it is on the surge of bankruptcy. 4 Conclusion In conclusion, if the housing price continues to decline, many more banks and companies will face bankruptcies. Economic growth will also slow down due to credit crunch, thus many of the worlds central bank will cut off interest rate in an attempt to counter the credit squeeze. Prices of stocks will continue to decline, as people will not invest their money in high-risk financial market. Banks will increase rules and regulations in lending requirement, thus making it hard for prime borrowers to make a loan. Banks in order to lessen the default risks faced when providing loans will impose higher interest rate loan to borrowers. As Australia is not greatly exposed to the effect of the sub-prime crisis, the economic growth will not be much affected. In fact, domestic investments in Australia will rise, as foreign investors will see that investing in Australia more attractive, compared to the US. In the long run, will appreciate the rate of Australian dollar in respect to other foreign c urrency.

The Chemical Composition of White Gold

The Chemical Composition of White Gold White gold is a popular alternative to yellow gold, silver, or platinum. Some people prefer the silver color of white gold to the yellow color of normal gold, yet may find silver to be too soft or too easily tarnished or the cost of platinum to be prohibitive. While white gold contains varying amounts of gold, which is always yellow, it also contains one or more white metals to lighten its color and add strength and durability. The most common white metals that form the white gold alloy are nickel, palladium, platinum, and manganese. Sometimes copper, zinc or silver are added. However, copper and silver form undesirable colored oxides in the air or on the skin, so other metals are preferable. The purity of white gold is expressed in karats, the same as with yellow gold. The gold content is typically stamped into the metal (e.g., 10K, 18K). The Color of White Gold The properties of white gold, including its color, depend on its composition. Although most people think white gold is a shiny white metal, that color is actually from the rhodium metal plating that is applied to all white gold jewelry. Without the rhodium coating, white gold might be gray, dull brown, or even pale pink. Another coating that may be applied is a platinum alloy. Typically platinum is alloyed with iridium, ruthenium, or cobalt to increase its hardness. Platinum is naturally white. However, its more expensive than gold, so it may be electroplated onto a white gold ring to improve its appearance without dramatically increasing the price. White gold that contains a high percentage of nickel tends to be closest to a true white color. It has a faint ivory tone but is much whiter than pure gold.  Nickel white gold often does not require plating with rhodium for color, although the coating may be applied to reduce the incidence of skin reactions. Palladium white gold is another strong alloy that may be used without a coating. Palladium white gold has a faint gray tinge. Other gold alloys result in additional colors of gold, including red or rose, blue, and green. Allergies to White Gold White gold jewelry typically is made from a gold-palladium-silver alloy or gold-nickel-copper-zinc alloy. However, about one in eight people experience a reaction to the nickel-containing alloy, usually in the form of a skin rash. Most European jewelry manufacturers and some American jewelry manufacturers avoid nickel white gold since alloys made without nickel are less allergenic. The nickel alloy is most often encountered in older white gold jewelry and in some rings and pins, where the nickel produces a white gold that is strong enough to stand up to the wear and tear these pieces of jewelry experience. Maintaining the Plating on White Gold White gold jewelry that has a platinum or rhodium plating typically cant be resized because doing so would damage the coating. The plating on jewelry will scratch and wear over time. A jeweler can re-plate the item by removing any stones, buffing the metal, plating it, and returning the stones to their settings. Rhodium plating typically needs to be replaced every couple of years. It only takes a couple of hours to perform the process, at a cost of around $50 to $150.

Innovation and Managemnt of Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Innovation and Managemnt of Change - Essay Example Furthermore, structure is also a means to high-performing teams. Mindful awareness to structure and roles in teams will make the team much more successful. When it comes to leadership, structural leadership contributes a critical role in shaping organizations. It can be influential and stable, even though it is more restrained and less heroic leadership compared on other frames. Upon the entrance of Nardelli in Home Depot, there were major changes in hiring of new employees. Nardelli, wants to hire people with military background, ex militaries or even the wives of military officers (Pascual, 2001). Because for him they have a sufficient training and great leadership skills. For Nardelli, . A leader should be credible for him to lead. In addition to this characteristic, a leader should possess honesty, competence, aspiration, and a forward-looking approach. In the business point of view, good leadership proves to be quite beneficial. Good leadership aids in effectively meeting job-related demands, in creating higher-performing teams, in fostering renewed loyalty and commitment, in increasing motivational level and in reducing absenteeism and turnover of employees. Unfortunately, this so-called effective leadership is not that easy to attain; effective management is not as easy as writing down notes. Good leadership entails a lot of hard work, dedication, an d many other factors (Revelle, 2003). This is the reason why there should be proper management flow within the organization. Since an organization's culture is about how much members trust each other, about attitudes and emotions and their impact on team performance, organizations are defined best in these terms and in ideas like change, trust, cohesion, conformity and adaptability. The importance of high work life quality through good supervision, working conditions, pay and benefits as well as challenging and rewarding jobs. As such, it is apparent that the employees need to avail of the opportunities of developing their skills further and enriching their knowledge through the training programs and exercises that their company invests on (Maeir, 2003). As leaders and managers, managing the information that the company uses in its daily operations is crucial in any business organization. Information is the blood stream of every company on which every staff; employee and supervisor work on to be able to meet the demands of the clients and customers of the business. In addition, culture and environment of an organization tend to play a large role in determining structure (Scholosser, 2004). For example, more formal, bureaucratic organizations tend to have formal structures, while less formal organizations often choose flatter structures with dispersed responsibilities. Basically, social interaction is the main essence of living. People gain knowledge of themselves and those with whom they interact based on many characteristics that become salient based on their cultural framework. For example, to an American the car that one drives has symbolic significance, whereas to an Indian, schooling is an important sign of position and status. It is through various types of social interactions that all people define themselves within their social community, and this self-definition lies at the very heart of human endeavor. People struggle with a desire

Human Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Service - Essay Example Supported Employment is defined as integrated work environment offering competitive work to people with significant disabilities together with the support to enable them perform their functions (Anthony, 2005, Pg.2). Before the introduction of supported employment, people with significant disabilities had very few options for work such as special segregated workshops and work activity programs. Moreover, supported employment programs have enabled the disabled to access personalized and continuing support in competitive work setting, thus integrating the community workforce and presenting the disabled with opportunity to work in competitive employment. The introduction and development of the SE was very innovative and ambitious in that, first, placement into jobs was achieved faster without much job preparation found in sheltered workshops; secondly, support was assured for all the time needed in the competitive job; thirdly, there was general assumption that all people regardless of their disabilities can perform important and productive work in a normal work environment (Anthony, 2005, P.2). With these approaches, the SE introduced a rapid departure from the conservative services for the state VR agencies and permanent support agencies supporting persons with severe disabilities. The SE was a hybrid of the two systems aimed at supporting the severely disabled in community jobs. Moreover, the SE transformed the funding system of the VR agencies and the permanent services agencies, with the former starting to fund extensive work setting supports to more needy groups than previously catered for and the later started funding work related services in competitive work environments. The SE was originally crafted for people with developmental disabilities and later was incorporated into psychiatric rehabilitation program (Anthony, 2005. P.3). Research on early psychiatric vocational rehabilitation facilities implied need to establish vocational rehabilitation services , with the fundamental principles of psychiatric rehabilitation (PR) and those of SE sharing many similarities. With the research recommendations, the Center for Mental Services (CMHS) sponsored the SE implementation resource kit structured to support the implementation of SE as evidence based practice in psychiatric rehabilitation program (Anthony, 2005, P.4). The SE works through state agencies dealing with VR disabilities and mental health, utilizing several of purchase of service (POS) programs to secure employment from provider agencies. Many of the POS programs share similarities in their defined services, a purchasable unit for each service and a unit cost for each defined service (Novak, Mank, Revell & Zemaitis, n.d, P.3). The POS program has enabled the growth of hour-based POS agreement, based on personalized program information with defined units of services received by each customer. This has improved the number of VR agencies utilizing the result based funding strategie s to access SE services from the community. The impact that supported employment has had in the rehabilitation field The SE has impacted very much on the rehabilitation field especially in terms of cost effectiveness, societal integration and health benefits. Cost effectiveness Implementation of SE in rehabilitation programmes has proved to be more cost effective compared to other VR programmes.

Societys True Nature Essay Example for Free

Societys True Nature Essay In Franz Kafkas enigmatic novel The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa lives the life of a bug. The traveling salesman awakens one morning to find himself incredulously transformed into a â€Å"monstrous vermin.† At First, Gregor is apathetic towards his â€Å"metamorphosis† and immediately begins describing his room and slight discomforts in great detail. At the same time, Gregor incessantly comments on unimportant aspects of his – almost dismissing the fact that he is now a cockroach. When his family starts knocking on his door, Gregor immediately begins conjuring scenarios in which he imagines that his family genuinely cares for him. This illusion is soon shattered after the reader is exposed to the true nature of the Samsas. Gregors metamorphosis symbolizes what he is and has always been in society – a cockroach. Through Gregors physical transformation, Kafka communicates that people are oblivious to how alienated they are from society and humanity in its entirety. First off, in The Metamorphosis, readers are immediately exposed to the absurd atmosphere Kafka has created when he describes how â€Å"Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams †¦ [to find] himself transformed into a monstrous vermin† (1). At first glace this statement may sound normal, but after analyzing this and many other statements, it becomes apparent that Kafka has purposely placed the Samsas in an unreal environment. For example, in the sentence previously mentioned, the third-person narrator speaks casually of Gregors metamorphosis as if it were nothing. In his article, Johannes Pfeiffer says that Gregor â€Å"does not truly realize his new position in all its gravity† (55). Gregors inability to acknowledge his transformation might represent people and their apathy towards the more significant things in life. Throughout the story, the narration alternates between first and third person – suggesting that the narrator of the story constantly shifts from Gregor to an unknown entity. However, the baffling narration in The Metamorphosis is no mistake. Through this bizarre style of narration, Kafka brilliantly demonstrates how alienated people can be from themselves – for Gregor is alienated to the point where he must tell his story in a third-person perspective. Moreover, it has been speculated that society manipulates people by having certain ideals. As a result of his father being unemployed and his mother and sister not being able to work, Gregor is left with the burden of holding his family together by reluctantly taking a job as a salesman. The following excerpt describes the Samsas financial situation: In the course of the very first day his father explained the familys financial situation and prospects to both the mother and the sister. From the time he got up from the table to get some kind of receipt or notebook out of the little strongbox he had rescued from the collapse of his business five years before. . . In those days, Gregors sole concern had been to do everything his power to make the family forget as quickly as possible the business disaster which had plunged everyone into a state of despair (25). The excerpt is describing Gregor listening in on his family discuss the financial situation at hand. We learn that the Samsas massive debt is a result of Mr. Samsas failed business. Being the concerned son he has been brainwashed to become, Gregor – with good intention – took a myriad of jobs to appease his family and restore peace in the chaotic household the Samsas inhabit. The significance of this is that it identifies the reality people choose to live in – a reality where people abandon aspirations and conform to the desolate society that surrounds them. Lastly, Gregors transformation itself is ironic. A metamorphosis suggests ascension into a higher form; but in Gregors case, he has devolved into one of the most insignificant form that comes to mind – a cockroach. However, Gregors bug form is simply an illustration. After close analysis, it can be said that Gregors metamorphosis is his inner state surfacing into the physical world. With that said, one can come to the conclusion that Gregor has always been a bug and has been alienated from his family prior to his transformation. The Samsa family loses faith in Gregor recovering (as if they ever had any) and begins discarding remnants of his past. Gregor is addressed as â€Å"it† (Pfeiffer 55) later in the book when his family dehumanizes him. Reading about how Gregor and his family are so alienated from one another that they do not see it is powerful on its own, but seeing Kafkas message and understanding how people live in a world not too different from Gregors is a ha rsh truth that only a handful of people come to realize. All in all, Gregors metamorphosis symbolizes the alienation, which has always (and may always) exist. It is a powerful symbol that reveals how alienated people are from themselves and society in its entirety. After reading Kafkas The Metamorphosis, one cannot help but question whether his own life is real or a deviation that has spawned and thrived in the alienated society man has given birth to.

Does Free Speech Go Too Far? -- Essays Papers

Does Free Speech Go Too Far? Freedom of speech is perhaps the most important right that we have in the United States of America. The first amendment of the Constitution gives everyone in the country the right to express their opinions as they see fit. Without this right, African-Americans might not have been afforded the opportunity to gain racial equality. While this is one of the ideas that this country is founded on, at times it seems to go to far. When a group spreading hatred and prejudice wants to exercise their own right to free speech, many people have a problem with it. Free speech cannot just be for those who you agree with, it has to be for everyone. As I have seen firsthand, when the voice speaking out preaches intolerance, the true voice of the people will overcome. The First Amendment to the Constitution states: â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances (Rights).† Without these words, the civil rights movement of the 1960’s might not have proved successful. Using non-violent resistance such as marches, boycotts, and sit-ins, the discrimination was fought. In many places, people tried to block the African-American’s freedoms. One example of this was on May 3, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The police used dogs and high-pressure water hoses on the demonstrators, as well as arresting 4,000 people during a few days of demonstrations (Mayer). As they fought on, African-Americans were able to fight the good fight, and were successful in gaining their civil rights. Yet... ...-filled voices, the very march that I took place in proved that there are natural checks for those voices. The first amendment is there for those people whose voices might not otherwise be heard. Hopefully when the voice of the minority is that of prejudice, the greater, and righteous voice will overcome. Works Cited â€Å"Bill of Rights† Thomas Historical Documents. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/bor.html (30 November 2000). Herchel, Rabbi Jaffe. Personal Interview. 30 Nov. 2000. Mayer, Kurt Albert. â€Å"From Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to Martin LutherKing’s Dream of Being ‘Free at Last’: African Americans and their Drawn-Out Struggle for Civil Rights,† http://mailbox.univie.ac.at/~mayerk3/Civilrights.htm (30 November 2000). Strum, Phillip. â€Å"Human Rights Organization in Civil Society,† http://www.civiced.org/schwerin_strum.html (30 November 2000).

History of Mathematics Essay

â€Å"Mathematics – the unshaken Foundation of Sciences, and the plentiful Fountain of Advantage to human affairs. † (Barrow) Mathematics plays an integral function in our daily living since its conception, and we thank the great mathematicians for this essential tool. Mathematics has been used in various professions and academic fields. Undoubtedly, there have been many men of old that have contributed to the science of mathematics, but what really captivates our interest, are the ones who were passionate – who dedicated their lives to the study of mathematics; the originators of various fields of mathematics who displayed remarkable work. I have narrowed the list of the top three mathematicians who I have deemed worthy of being named the Greatest Mathematician based on: 1) passion, and 2) originality of outstanding work. A fitting decisive factor – passion explains how great mathematicians of old truly demonstrated their intense commitment to this science. They have dedicated their lives to practicing mathematics, down to their deaths. Historical accounts have described their deep interest in mathematical principles, persistence in solving problems and the ecstatic reaction of achievement when successful. It is their absolute love and pride for the science that we have come to respect. It is required that one follows specific mathematical principles and formulas in order to solve problems. This we take for granted, thus failing to appreciate the originality of these mathematicians. However, being original is what has shaped the history of mathematics. The past original work of great mathematicians has allowed for the development of new and/or advanced theories, formulas, and principles. Their mathematical discoveries have been used in many scientific disciplines such as physics and chemistry. It is therefore relevant that we explore the original work of these mathematical pioneers. Without a doubt, there are many great mathematicians of old; however, the mathematicians that I have chosen were, in my eye, truly passionate about their work, innovative, and overall, notable in advancing mathematical success. The three leading candidates I have chosen are: Archimedes, Blaise Pascal, and Isaac Newton. Archimedes – a well rounded Greek scholar – â€Å"made revolutionary discoveries in mathematics, physics and engineering. † (Kochman) Not much is known about his life; however, he was renowned for his passion, innovation, and work in mathematics. Archimedes was a passionate mathematician right down to his death. Archimedes was said to have a great amount of concentration when engaged in mathematical problems, to point where he would be unaware of the things happening around him. He would often avoid his food, bath and even be undressed until he was through with his work. He would even draw geometrical figures on any surface possible. His great passion for mathematics sadly led to his death. â€Å"Archimedes was so deep in thought that he was unaware the city was being looted by the Romans. He may not have even noticed the Roman soldier who approached him as he drew diagrams in the dirt. † (Hanson) It was reported that while deep in his mathematical work, Archimedes was disturbed by the soldier who then killed the mathematician with his sword. Archimedes passion for mathematics was him living and dying in mathematical thought. Archimedes was well-known for his original works in mechanical engineering, but he also made great contributions to mathematics. Archimedes was associated with the Method of Exhaustion, Method of Compression, and the Mechanical Method. Despite not creating some theories on his own, what made Archimedes original, was the fact that he would take â€Å"particular discoveries made by his predecessors†¦extending them in new directions. † (Cosimo Classics) A great example of this is his use of the Method of Exhaustion. He was the first person to use this method to estimate the area of a circle. As the creator of the Mechanical Method, he used it to find the area of a parabola, volume of a sphere, and the surface area of a sphere. He â€Å"produced several theorems that became widely known throughout the world. He is credited with producing some of the principles of calculus long before Newton and Leibniz. He worked out ways of squaring the circle and computing areas of several curved regions. His interest in mechanics is credited with influencing his mathematical reasoning, which he used in devising new mathematical theorems. He proved that the surface area and volume of a sphere are two-thirds that of its circumscribing cylinder. † (Archimedes) Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician who spent the majority of his short but remarkable life practicing mathematics. Pascal’s passion for mathematics was intertwined with his outstanding work in the field. Like Archimedes, he used the studies of his predecessors, but perfected it. This is with the cases of Pascal’s arithmetic triangle and the probability theory. Pascal’s passion for mathematics began from his pre-teen years. It has been claimed that the 12 year old Pascal was found playing with pieces of folded paper and later realized that the â€Å"sum of the angles in any triangle is equal to 180?. † (Gilbert and Gilbert) By age 14, he was actively involved with French mathematicians, and by 16, â€Å"he had established significant results in projective geometry, and began developing a calculator to facilitate his father’s work of auditing chaotic government tax records. † (Gilbert and Gilbert) He showed great passion when he spent 10 years of his life perfecting the Pascaline calculator, building over 50 versions. In spite of a near death experience which changed his course from a mathematician to a theologian, Pascal still had great passion for his first love – mathematics. According to historians, â€Å"Pascal suffered a toothache, which kept him awake at night. In an effort to take his mind off the pain he focused on the cycloid, the curve traced by a point on the circumference of a rolling circle. Pascal solved the problem of the area of any segment of the cycloid and the center of gravity of any segment. He also solved the problems of the volume and surface area of the solid of revolution formed by rotating the cycloid about the x-axis. †

Drafting and Use of Questionnaire as a Research Tool in Legal Research Essay

Introduction The word research is derived from the Middle French â€Å"recherche†, which means â€Å"to go about seeking†, the term itself being derived from the Old French term â€Å"recerchier† a compound word from â€Å"re-† + â€Å"cerchier†, or â€Å"sercher†, meaning ‘search’. The earliest recorded use of the term was in 1577 Research and experimental development is formal work undertaken systematically to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humanity, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications (OECD (2002) Frascati Manual: proposed standard practice for surveys on research and experimental development, 6th edition. It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. A research project may also be an expansion on past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects, or the project as a whole. The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) are documentation, discovery, interpretation, or the research and development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. In lay man language research means search or find those things which are already in existence. Research work is not something which can be completed in one stroke or in one step. It consists of a number of closely related activities which very often overlap, and therefore, it becomes difficult to ascertain where one step ended and the other began. However, it is important to keep in mind that various steps are not mutually exclusive, nor they are totally separate and distinct. What step should be followed at what time depends on the research . However, the following guide-lines in this regard are significant: 1. Formulation of researcher problem- At the very outset the researcher must choose the area in which he wants to carry on research. In the field of law the researcher has a very wide scope. After selecting the area we are required to select specific topic or subject for the study. Thus formulation of a general topic into a specific researcher problem constitutes the first step in this regard. It can be said that formulation the researcher problem involves two steps: a) Understanding the problem thoroughly: and b) Re-shaping that understanding into meaningful terms to arrive at a concrete result. Thus formulation of research problem is very significant for a researcher and if it is done successfully, a good deal of battle is won. 2. Extensive literature survey- Once a problem is formulated a brief summary of it should be prepared. For this the researcher must undertake an extensive survey of the available literature on the subject: preferably connected with the problem. For this purpose the abstracting and indexing journals, published and unpublished bibliographies should first of all be examined. Academic journals, conference proceedings government reports, reference books and text books, depending on the nature of the problem must be seen. 3. Formulation of hypothesis- When the literature relating to the problem is extensively surveyed researcher should state in clear terms the hypothesis. A hypothesis is the tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical consequences. In its most elementary stage the hypothesis may be any guess, imagination ideas which becomes the basis for action or investigation. It helps in the analysis of the material pertaining to the subject. It helps in delimiting the area of research and keeps the researcher on the right track. 4. Collection of material- A research cannot be said to be duly carried out unless the relevant materials have been examined. But the relevant cannot be examined unless and until they have been collected and compiled. The collection of the relevant materials is most difficult and comprehensive work and requires lot of energy and attention as well as patience. 5. Analysis of material- Once the requisite materials are collected, the researcher undertakes to analyse them. This is also a very important step in the direction of fulfilment of research work. In case of doctrinal research the researcher can proceed smoothly if he is well aware about the principles of interpretation and construction. He is required to examine the fact of each case, the principle applied to that fact, the line of argument taken, relief sought and provided and if necessary the history or legislation, etc. There may be situations in relation to which no statutory provision existed it was decided on the basis of the principle of justice, equity and good conscience. If the bulk of the examined material indicates to a particular direction, the principle so applied should be accepted as general principles and principles not applied should be deemed to have been overlooked. 6. Testing of hypothesis- After analysis of materials or data as the case may be the researcher becomes confident enough to test his hypothesis which he had already formulated. He can examine if the material or data after analysis support his hypothesis or they are contrary to it. The hypothesis testing ultimately results in either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it or in making amendment in it. 7. Generalisation and interpretation- The research work whether doctrinal or non-doctrinal will proceed towards generalisation and interpretation if the hypothesis has been tested positive. If it results in negative the question of generalisation and interpretation does not arise. The purpose of generalisation and interpretation is to built up a theory to be applicable in future to adjudicate upon similar and identical problems. This process of generalisation and interpretation, while helping in formulation of a general theory, also raises many important question which may lead to further research and till those question are answered they may be regarded as exceptions to the general theory or principle thus build up. 8. Preparation of report- The penultimate task in a researcher work is to write the report of the exercise done so far. It should be prepared with great care and caution because it is this report that gives credit to the researcher. Objective of research are following: i. To familiarize with a phenomenon or to acquire new insights into an existing fact, that is, Exploratory Research. ii. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else, that is, Diagnostic Research. iii. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular object, situation or group, that is, Descriptive Research. iv. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between two objects, that is, Hypothesis Testing Research. v. To separate fact from speculation and wish, that is, Distinguishing Research. Definition- Research has been defined in a number of different ways. A broad definition of research is given by Martyn Shuttleworth – â€Å"In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge.† Another definition of research is given by Creswell who states – â€Å"Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyse information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue†. It consists of three steps: Pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to the question. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines research in more detail as â€Å"a studious inquiry or examination; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws†. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911 edition) defines research to mean- â€Å"the act of searching into a matter closely and carefully, inquiry directed to the discovery of truth and in particular the trained scientific investigation of the principles and facts of any subject, based on original and first hand study of authorities or experiment. Investigation of every kind which has been based on original sources of knowledge may be styled research and it may be said that without ‘research’ no authoritative work have been written, no scientific inventions or discoveries made, no theories of any value propounded†. This definition is probably most exhaustive and meaningful. Meaning and Objective of Legal Research- ‘Legal research’ means research in that branch of knowledge which deals with the principles of law and legal institution. There are three main sources of law, that is, legislation, precedent, and custom. Juristic writings are another important though secondary source of law and their important is dependent on the fact whether it is given due recognition by the courts or the legislature or jurists in solving problems or not. The contents of these sources of law change with the changing requirement of the society and if these changes are not taken into account in interpreting the law, the existing law is bound to be doomed. The aim of law is, therefore, to regulate the human behaviour in the present day society and hence, legal research must be directed to the study of the relationship between the world of the law and the world that the law purports to govern. Generally, law is enacted to regulate the human conduct for the welfare of humankind. It is considered that law should be enacted to protect the interest of a person, society, and the county as a whole. The goal of legal research cannot be distinguished from the goal of law. As law is directly related with the social science, its research is also automatically related with the research of social science. This is the age of democracy and good governance. Democracy and good governance depend upon the rule of law. In democratic society, law is changed for welfare of the people and society along with the pace of time. Alternatively, law shall not be constraint for the development rather it be facilitator. That is why law needs charges. Similarly, legal research is essential to have changes in law for socialization and betterment of the people and society. Now-a-days, legal research is not limited only on the analysing of criminal behaviour, activities of public, court, public prosecutors, legal practitioners etc. but it also includes the protection of environment of all creatures in the world and the development as well. As a result, legal research plays crucial role for the welfare of the humankind and is more important than others to bring positive changes in our society and at the end in the whole humankind. The following are the objectives of legal research- i. To discover new facts; i. To test and verify old facts; ii. To analysis the facts in new theoretical framework; iii. To examine the consequences of new facts or new principles of law; or judicial decisions; iv. To develop new legal researcher tools or apply tools of other disciplines in the area of law; v. To propound a new legal concept; vi. To analyse law and legal institutions from point of view of history; vii. To examine the nature and scope of new law or legal institutions; viii. To ascertain the merits and demerits of old law or institution and to give suggestion for a new or institution in place of old one; ix. To ascertain the relationship between legislature and judiciary and to give suggestion as to haw one can assist the discharge of one’s duties and responsibilities; and x. To develop the principles of interpretation for critical examination of statutes. These objectives of legal research as of any other research may be obtained by any of the following processes: i. Evolutive; or ii. Explicative; or iii. Identificatory; or iv. Projective; or v. Collative; or vi. Impact analysis; or vii. Interactive; or viii. Interpretative. Evolutive process : Evolutive research is one which seeks to identify the roots of a social evil and tries to prohibit it by law, eg. Eradication of dowry , prohibition of Sati, prohibition of child marriage, legalising widow marriage, etc. historical facts play most important role in this kind of research. Explicative process- Explicative process is one which tries to ascertain the nature, scope of law in order to fxplain the nature, scope of law in order to explain what law is, e.g. law relating to industrial pollution and legal relating to administrative action and its legal control, matrimonial relief etc. Identificatory process- An identificatory process is one whose objective is to ascertain the people for whose benefit a legal is enacted e.g. research carried on to find out the beneficiaries of land reform, beneficiaries of reservation among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Backwards, the group of industrial establishments kept out of the area of operation of a piece of legislation, e.g. activities outside the area of the Factories Act, 1948, industrial establishments not covered by the Provident Fund Act, etc. employees entitled to the benefit of provident fund and insurance fund, etc. Projective Process- A projective process is one which aims at examining the degree of social acceptance to a policy the State is planning to implement. This kind of research attempts to find out at the very beginning, the mood of the people or masses, or electorate or industrial workers, whether they will accept the proposed scheme or not, or they will accept it with certain modification. Truly speaking, it is a survey beforehand rather than a research work to find out the feasibility of the proposed scheme. Collative process- A collative process is one which tries to find out the effect of existing law, in relation to other existing law, i.e. its objective is to compare the two set of rules to find out which one is more workable and by which the desired effect may be achieved. Impact analysis process- This kind of research is carried on to find out the impact of an established or newly formed legal principle, rule or institution. In the area of planning this kind of study assumes much significance. On the basis of the outcome of the research necessary changes may be made wherever necessary it helps us to change our outlook towards the objective sought to be achieved, thus it is a preliminary steps to law reform. Interactive process- Law does not operate in vacuum. It operates in society. There are a number of other factors, which interact with it. These factors are of various types such as formal or non-formal, permanent or transitory. A legal researcher cannot be insensitive to such factors of society which annihilate the entire fabric of law. Since law is a part of the society, therefore, the law should be such as that it can work in the society. A researcher must take care of- a) The relative autonomy of law in relation to other component of society; b) The relationship between various component within the legal system; and c) The inter-dependence of one or more components of law within the legal system. Interpretative Research process- This kind of research aims at interpreting the various words and phrases used in defining the law. The researcher makes effort to give a particular word, a specific meaning by using his own logic and authoritative opinion of other people. This kind of researcher is confined mostly to the study of statutes, text and judicial pronouncement and is done by analysing the words. It helps acquire clarity, consistency, uniformity in the meaning of legal writing. These objectives of researcher, thus, help us in determining for what purpose the research is directed, and how, the research may be carried on. In the process, the researcher explains the relevant juridical concept, analysis statutory provisions, picks out significant juridical date, formulated principles deducible from judicial decisions and arranges the whole material in some logical order.If the researcher has sufficient aptitude for research, he may identify the problems likely to arise and deduct principles with sufficient prec ision to provide solution to those problems. Tools of Legal Research- In pursuing research for disclosing facts or proving a hypothesis true or false, various kinds of methods can be applied for the successful research. The following research methods collectively or individually can be applied for the successful research as the main methods. A. Observation: Information can be received by observing, visiting and viewing the place, society, events or the things pertinent to the study or research. Observation can be taken as primary and reliable source of information. If a researcher is careful, he/she can get the points that may play the significant role in his research or study. Observation is a method that is common in the research of legal and social science. Observation should be guided by a specific research purpose, the information receive from the observation should be recorded and subjected to checks on the trail of reliability. B. Questionnaire: In questionnaire method, a researcher develops a form containing such questions pertinent to his study. Generally, the researcher prepares yes/ No questions or short answer questions. In questionnaire method, researcher distributes such forms to the people to whom he/she deems appropriate. The people, to whom the questionnaires have been distributed, should answer that what they have known by filling out the form and return it to researcher. C. Sampling: When the subject of research is vague, comprehensive and when each indicator cannot be taken by virtue of financial constraint, time and complexity, etc. then the researcher can randomly collect data/sample depending on the reason. This is called as sampling method. For instance, in a demographic research, part of population represent various groups can be taken into consideration That is why, it is said that sample is a method that saves time and money. D. Interviews: A researcher can receive information sought by him/her asking people concerned through interview. It is a direct method of receiving information. Interview can be generally held asking questions in face-to-face contact to the person or persons and sometimes through telephone conversation. This method is common in the research of legal and social science. In this method, the researcher has to use less skill and knowledge to receive information he/she had sought. Interview is known as an art of receiving pertinent information. In the opinion of P.V. Young, interview can be taken as a systematic method by which a person enters more or less imaginatively into the life of a stranger. E. Case study: Case study is taken as one of the important and reliable methods for legal research. Case study can be defined as a method of research where facts and grounds of each legal issue are dealt with by taking individual case. Case study is a method of exploring and analysing of life of a social unit such as a person, a family, an institution, a cultural group or even entire community. It is a way of organizing social data so as to preserve the utility character of the social object being studied.11 Keeping in view to the matters above, we can state here that the case study is a method of legal research to explore and analyse the fact and data of a social unit and to organize social data for prescription of useful character and society.

Review of Lawrence of Arabia essays

Review of Lawrence of Arabia essays The movie Lawrence of Arabia had many interesting aspects about it and, according to sources, is very historically accurate. Taken place during WWÆ’Â ¹ with the feud between British and Turkish forces over the Suez Canal, the movie reflects a life of an individual who tries to do something about the injustice of the Arabian people. David Lean depicts Lawrence or El Lawrence as the tragic hero of the biography in order to make the story more enchanting to the reader. Lean depicts Lawrence as the classic tragic hero by first making him of noble race. Lawrence himself is enrolled in the British army and is stationed at Cairo. Lawrence, however, dreams of bigger things and wishes to work with the Arabians first hand. Lawrence being the intelligent young officer with the big background is allowed by his superior to go and find Prince Feisel. Despite the fact that he is allowed to this because his superior can ¡t stand him, Lawrence moves out on a mission to find the prince. On the way to Arabia, Lawrence teams up with a tribesman to help him find his way. To his dismay, the guide is killed when they wonder into off-limits territory for the guide and the guide is killed by Sherif, a member of an opposing tribe of the guide. This strikes a feeling of injustice in Lawrence that will later lead to his tragic flaw. He finds his way to his other superior on the mission by himself and is swamped by the feeling of injustice once again. He sees how Prince Feisel is being tricked and tries to help him but it is hopeless. Another trait of a tragic hero that Lean depicts Lawrence of having is a tragic flaw. Lawrence ¡s tragic flaw is quite obvious in this biography, it is simply that he believes he can make Arabia an independent state. Little does Lawrence know, because it would seem almost impossible to make all of Arabia agree under one government. Lawrence is displayed as a tragic hero wh ...

Change Management Plans for Secure IT Systems (CSOs role in approving Essay

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Alternative Health Paradigms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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