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A Policy Recommendation on the Middle East

The government cannot totally get away with regional problems, but can only reduce the impact that the problem poses. Unemployment, for instance, has been a regional problem that has been a concern in most developing countries. Policy makers face the problems of trying to negate the effects of regional problems because of the repercussions that these problems have on a country. For unemployment, for instance, policy makers will have to balance between unemployment, inflation and costs of living (Cordesman 2003).

The reason is that one directly or indirectly affects the other. High levels of unemployment, for example, reduce the rates of inflation and vice versa. Regional problems have been obstacles that deter the growth of an economy in every country. This paper will focus on unemployment in Saudi Arabia, which is a Middle East country.

Despite being one of the main oil producers in the globe, Saudi Arabia has been having difficulties in providing ample employment opportunities for its young population. Unemployment in Saudi Arabia is due to systematic and fundamental shortcomings, such as a stagnant private sector. The sector solely depends on a foreign labor force and a lack of proper education (Gause & Council on Foreign Relations 2011). Nevertheless, the Saudi Arabian government has been in the quest for establishing policies that boost the economic activities that will in turn increase more opportunities in the labor market despite the shortcomings.

There has also been an issue in religious conservatism that has a problem with the integration of Saudi Arabian women in the labor workforce.

Statistics graphs Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.tradingeconomics.com/saudi-arabia/unemployment-rate”http://www.tradingeconomics.com/saudi-arabia/unemployment-rate

In the above figure, it has been apparent that unemployment in Saudi Arabia in the last quarter of 2013 has declined from 5.60 to 5.50 percent. From 1999 to 2013, it has averaged at 5.44 percent with an all- time high of 6.30 percent in the last quarter of 2006. Unemployment in the last quarter of 1999 had a record low of 4.35%. In Saudi Arabia, the rates of unemployment are reported by Central Department of Statistics and Information.

The other countries such as the Kenya play a role in low unemployment levels in Saudi Arabia. Low policy, labor costs forcesSaudi Arabian businessmen move their business in African countries such as Kenya and employ the easily available Kenyan labor force. The citizens in Saudi Arabia end up with no jobs, which also make the country some revenue to their counterparts (Zuhur & Sherifa 2011).

Increasing oil production and higher oil prices are providing a boost to the economy of Saudi Arabia. However, despite this boost, the majority of the country’s residents are not deriving some boosts from this boost because most jobs are being given to foreigners. In addition, it happens that only a small number of Saudi Arabian’s has secured employment opportunities from the private sector.

Apparently, there is a mismatch between the needs of the private sector employers and the skills that the young Saudi’s have (Cordesman2003).

Increasing unemployment comes with technology advancement that continues to increase unemployment levels in the Saudi Arabia. However, some Saudi Arabian residents are opting to remain jobless because the minimum wage is way below what they would earn in Asian markets (World Bank 2003). High levels of unemployment insinuate that the economy of a country is in the middle of a struggling stage. Thi is because the companies and employers in the current economic setup are cannot meet the current supply of labor (Le & Renard 2014).

High unemployment levels in an economy depict underutilization of economic resources. Unemployment in Saudi Arabia has posed serious impacts towards the society because the unemployed population must find some income, which they may rely on such as government and family benefits, which become an expense to these parties.

Whenever an economy succumbs into the recession phase as a result of inflation, the currency becomes weak in the exchange markets. The government will find a way of figuring out how to protect the dollar from the persistent loss of value (Zuhur & Sherifa 2011).

Tn addition, institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia are only focusing on theoretical aspects of learning and not the vocational aspects pertaining to education. As a result, graduates fall short of the company’s requirements for both vocational and technical specialists.

The Saudis also demand a higher pay than what is being given to foreign workers, which makes Saudi-based companies reluctant to employ them and opt for the cheap labor (Simmons 2013). Private employers are known to offer unattractive benefits packages, low salaries and demand longer working hours. Unemployment rate measures the unemployment prevalence that is a percentage of unemployed people by the total employed people.

As Saudi Arabia is struggling with high unemployment levels, the Kingdom launched a deportation campaign considered as the largest in all the Middle Eastern countries. More foreign workers face deportation to their native countries in the quest for creating employment for the citizens of Saudi Arabia. However, it has been skeptical whether the sweeping of labor market lowers the rates of unemployment in the Middle Eastern countries.

The kingdom has also been taking a closer look at the policies that are in place and how policy makers can further manipulate their policy recommendations to reduce unemployment levels.

The Saudi government has been urging employers to establish work environments that are gender segregated. It is also planning to lift the ban that had earlier imposed on female lawyers who argue cases in courtrooms. Labor Department is also making appropriate provisions and programs that will allow women to work from and at the same time fostering self-employment (North & Tripp 2012). Taxes imposed on young entrepreneurs are also being lifted to allow entrepreneurship where some Saudis will create employment for themselves and still employ others in the process.

The government imposed a new system known as “Nitaqat” system. The system seeks to improve the number of nationals securing employment in the private sector. The new system also replaces expatriate workers securing jobs in areas with the Saudi citizens. Under the Nitaqat policy, the government offers some incentives to the private companies in Saudi whenever they employ Saudi Nationals. The companies face to sanctions by denying work visas for Saudi workers.

There has been an introduction of another program known as the Hafiz-program. The program allows a monthly allowance to job seekers for a period that exceeds one year. The allowance is after a job seeker shows participation in work seeking programs as well as training activities.

The Nitaqat system only aims at increasing the Saudi workers that are working in the private sector. However, the system does not change the structure itself because it has the basis of the comparative advantage of the economy and cheap foreign labor as well more so in the industries that are energy-intensive.

The drawback of this policy recommendation is that it only focuses on the private sector and neglects how the citizens can seek employment in the public sector. Additionally, imposing sanctions and restriction on private companies is an invasion of policies of a company. A foreign investor who feels that his company will not abide by the policy recommendations may decide to move his company to another country or close down his business. Closure will be a loss for the Saudi national in both employment loss and employment loss.

In addition, some private sector companies in the Saudi kingdom are properties of top government officials. Hence, the policy is counterproductive.

New entrepreneurs will also find it difficult to establish their businesses because of the government red tape sanctions that fuel patronage that results in a dormant and unproductive private sector that lacks a sense of entrepreneurship and innovation. Lack of innovation will be a big hindrance to developing an economy, which is more diversified (North & Tripp 2012).

The measure the Saudi government is taking to curb unemployment is not comprehensively addressing the women’s unemployment which has been steadily increasing. Lifting restrictions, however, has a potential of bringing a confrontation between establishments that are conservative religious and the regime (Simmons 2013).

Quick fixes are proving to be unavailable in reducing unemployment in Saudi Arabia, and the regional problem will be a concern for quite some time. Most Saudi youngsters are also entering the job market, and the problem appears to be recurring.

Unemployment in Saudi Arabia has posed serious impacts towards the society because the unemployed population must find some income, which they may rely on such as government and family benefits, which become an expense to these parties. Unemployment level in Saudi Arabia is becoming a major social problem because there has been a mismatch in the employer’s needs in the private sector and the skills that the young Saudi’s have. Better policies and stringent measures should, be instituted by both the policy makers and the government so as to reduce the unemployment rates. Employment reduction is possible by making sure that the economy stabilizes tax reduction on businesses and the creation of a serene and conducive environment that will serve to promote businesses in the country.

Taxes imposed on young entrepreneurs in Saudi are also being lifted to allow entrepreneurship, where some Saudis will create employment for them and still employ others in the process. Employment has deemed to be essential because whenever people become unemployed, they embrace illegal acts such as drug abuse and crimes,, which are detrimental to the state of an economy.

Additionally, a policy measure that can be used to curb unemployment is “Nitaqat” that seeks to improve the number of nationals who are securing employment in the private sector

Works cited

Cordesman, A. (2003) Saudi Arabia enters the twenty-first century: The political, foreign policy, economic, and energy dimensions, Westport, Conn: Praeger.

Gause, F., & Council on Foreign Relations Saudi Arabia in the new Middle East. (2011) New York: Council on Foreign Relations.

Le, A., & Renard, A. (2014) Le a Society of Young Women: Opportunities of Place, Power, and Reform in Saudi Arabia.

North, P., & Tripp, H. (2012) CultureShock! Saudi Arabia: A survival guide to customs and etiquette. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Editions.

Simmons, R. (2013) Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

World Bank, (2004) Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa: Toward a New Social Contract. Washington, D.C: World Bank.

Zuhur, S. (2011) Saudi Arabia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

DO WAGES EXPLAIN LABOR PARTICIPATION RATES IN THE AGGREGATE AND ACROSS GENDERS?

THE UNITED STATES EXPERIENCE, 1960-2010

Format for the Literature Review

The literature review follows the introduction therefore builds upon the content providing in introduction. Hence, when beginning the literature review, one should briefly remind the reader of the hypothesis and purpose of the study as stated in Chapter one. As one has already been informed, an acceptable proposal written in the future tense can be readily converted into an introduction written in the present and/or past tense. In an acceptable proposal and hence in one’s introduction, one has already established the hypothesis and have stated the hypothesis (or hypotheses) in a functional form and identified tentatively a list of, at least, four scholarly articles which directly relate to the hypothesis in its verbal and functional form. This is key because the functional form of the hypothesis should guide one’s literature review. If you will recall, previously, one had established the following hypothesis in functional form as:

LFPR = f RWh, RWw, DUR, BcWhere

LFPR = labor force participation rate

RWw = real hourly wage

RWh = real weekly wage rate

Bc = business cycle dummy.

Hence, this review of the literature based on any identified articles stated in Chapter One plus any additional articles consulted afterwards as having a bearing on the stated hypothesis will be consulted to provide information on:

the labor participation rate as the dependent variable(LFPR);

the relationship between the labor force participation rate(LFPR) and the real hourly wage(RWh);

the relationship between the labor force participation rate(LFPR) and the real weekly wage(RWw);

the relationship between the labor force participation rate(LFPR) and the business cycle(Bc).

Therefore, these relationship’s should guide one’s review of the relevant literature for this study in the sense of providing a research focus consistent with the study’s intent. The identification of the key information about the dependent variable and about the strategic relationship between the dependent and independent variables requires firstly a summary of each scholarly article. There are, perhaps, several ways to summarize the content of a scholarly article for research purposes but reliance on the article’s abstract for this purpose will be quite insufficient. The abstract provides too little in the way of “raw material” required to write a coherent and cohesive review of the literature. The ‘raw material” for the article summaries can be realized by focusing on each article’s:

hypothesis or hypotheses; purpose and objectives

methodology and research approach;

key findings and recommendations;

how the article relates specifically to the hypothesis or hypotheses in one’s studies.

The above information provided in a two to three page summary for each article will provide the “raw material” required to write a review of the literature. The review, however, is a comparative analysis across the various regarding the variables of strategic relevance to your study’s hypothesis. In this respect, one uses the information from the summary of articles to compare and contrast, if you will, the viewpoints of different authors and scholars regarding , for example, the relationship between LFPR and RWh or LFRP and BC or measurement and conceptual perspectives on LFPR itself. In sum, one seeks to provide a coherent and cohesive analysis of the relevant viewpoints, perspectives and findings of the scholars in a comparative, synthetic and interpretive context. The quality of such a review enhances the scholarly expertise and appeal of one’s research and provides a solid foundation for informing one’s efforts at model building and economic theory in Chapter Three. Please the note that the quality of the literature review sought in this research paper can not be realized by merely providing an author-by-author summary of each scholarly article. Remember, these summaries must be converted into a coherent comparative analysis informed by the hypothesis stated in Chapter one.

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The Senate Bill 4 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott early September 2018. The bill was a measure to ban the sanctuary cities by punishing jurisdictions that did not fully cooperate with the federal immigration officials with the aim of curbing immigration to Texas (Paxton, 2018). Despite the signing, the bill has been faced by major challenges that include opposition from the immigrants as well as pending cases in courts that awaits to be passed. Many cities that include Austin across the state of Texas has come forward prepared to challenge the bill in court as the law enforcement agencies, local officials as well as the immigration attorneys have been provided with a new task of studying the probable changes that would emerge in the event that the bill is fully passed into law. Therefore, the Senate Bill 4 has been a controversial and to which every side, both the critics and its supporters have no idea of what will follow next as well as what will be the take of the authorities.

According to the Senate Bill 4, a sanctuary city is a city, county or state that has imposed limitations in cooperation with the federal immigration and customs enforcement agents in arresting and detention or the sharing of information that regards immigrants living in the states without the legal requirements (Margulies, 2018). Therefore, this means that the local officials in the sanctuary states choose not to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement through sharing information regarding people suspected to have made their way into the states or cities without authorization. Besides, the sanctuary cities may also imply that the local officials may choose not to release some of the unauthorized immigrants in their custody to the federal immigration authorities. Also, the sanctuary cities may be described as cities inhabited by police departments to which have chosen and instructed their officers not to question people about their immigration status.

The Senate bill 4 is aimed at banning such cities to ensure close collaboration between the county jail and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Texas governor signed the bill into law on May 7 during a Facebook live broadcast and to which sparkled various reactions among the residents and officials in Texas. Upon the signing of the bill, two major changes emerged that include; sanctuary counties and other counties in the state of Texas were to comply with the federal immigration agents through providing information regarding the plight of the illegal immigrants in their counties, with no exceptions. The jurisdiction that failed to comply with the bill were eligible to a fine of up to 25,000 dollars a day. The second change is that officers with any law enforcement agency were provided with the rights to question people of their immigration status, a move that had more negatives than benefits to Texans, considering that majority of its residents are immigrants.

Supporters of the Senate Bill 4 claim that the bill would not hurt anyone who is not a criminal. According to Abbott, the bill –SB 4 was targeted to criminals who were in the state illegally and who committed crimes in the state. According to a message sent to the Hispanic community, Governor Abbott appeal to the community is that they do not fall for all of the rumors on broadcast in that if anyone was clean, then they had nothing to fear about. However, the governor added that if anyone was a criminal and have done something wrong, then they had a reason to worry about whether they are in the state legally or illegally.

Apart from the governor’s support to the bill, the Sheriffs of the various countys claimed that the SB 4 would help improve public safety (Villazor & Gulasekaram, 2018). In their expression, the sheriffs claimed that questioning people about their immigration status will help reduce the number of illegal immigrants into the country and through this, the police will be able to monitor the activities of the immigrants. Censorship and collaboration with the ICE would play a great role in countering terrorism in that most of the terrorists are always foreign nationalist who either come to the United States to learn or via the green card while other just cross the borders without being noticed. When a person enters the United States boundaries without being noticed, they might engage in any criminal office as they are not traceable and therefore, the Senate Bill 4 will help in reducing the rate of crimes in the State. Although the bill is aimed at reducing and arresting illegal immigrants, it does not provide a way to bar people from entering the state.

Supporters of the Senate Bill 4 claim that the implementation of the law will encourage self-deportation as those who are living in the US borders illegally will be pressured to leave the state and the country at large in fear of being caught and taken to prison. Through this, the government will be able to reduce the number of immigrants in Texas and the entire country on the basis that illegal immigration will be feared little or no chance for new illegal immigrants.

Despite the governor being in the foreplay in defending the bill, the police departments, which is part of the government, was opposed to the bill. The police departments, with such organizations as the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the Texas Major Cities Chiefs, declared their opposition for the bill. The two organization in an American-Statesman opinion piece dated April 28 said that they were opposed to the Senate Bill 4 as they were of the opinion that the law accelerates the development of a rift between the local police departments and the local immigrant communities and this would lead to a rise in crimes against the immigrants as well as in the broader community (Reed, 2019). The police organizations also claimed that the law would create a class of silent victims and at the same time eliminate the potential for the local community collaboration with the police in solving and as well preventing crimes that related to immigration. To maintain law and order, therefore, the Austin police held a meeting with the Latino and other immigrant communities assuring them that their services and cooperation will remain the same regardless of whether the bill was passed as a law or not, serving the community as they always have without discrimination.

Advocacy groups on the other side claim that questioning people about their migration status will erode the trust of law enforcement considering that every police including the universities and school districts are provided with a mandate to ask people they stop and to whom they suspect of breaking the law regarding immigration. Most of the immigrants into the United States are the people of color, and this translates to the immigrants in Texas. Randomly questioning people of their immigration status does not affect the whites as they are presumed to be legal citizens but affects the people of color that include the black people, Mexicans, and the Latinos. When such happens, these people are confronted based on their skin color and therefore, can be considered as racial profiling. Besides, the advocates claim that the law is against the United States Constitution in that it forces the local government entities to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement. Therefore, according to advocates, the Senate Bill 4 not only violates the US Constitution by forcing government entities to cooperate but also curtailing the freedom of movement and privacy of the people of color thus promoting racial discrimination.

Sanctuary cities allow for the implementation of more lenient laws to the immigrants, and this implies that fewer immigrants get into the hands of the law enforcement officers, thus being incarcerated for undeserving crimes (O’Connell, 2019). Activists argue that the locking up of immigrants, whether illegal or legal merely because of existing beyond their borders violates the human rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). They continue to argue that sanctuary cities provide a potential solution to the overcrowded prisons as most of the imprisoned people are immigrants are arrested merely because they don’t possess the full legal documentation, and thus considered as a threat not only to the state but also to the United States as a whole.

Most of the time, immigration is either caused by drought or war and therefore, most of the immigrants in various nations around the globes are simply in the camps or in the nation because they ran away from their homes in fear of losing their lives. Therefore, not all the immigrants would have preferred to leave their country only to be hunted by the law enforcement of that country as stray dogs. Most of the immigrants are genuine and therefore, the passing of the Senate Bill 4 would imply risking the lives of millions of innocent lives who have run to seek asylum in another country which is more peaceful and better than theirs. Senate Bill 4, therefore, remains to be controversial and may have a lot of harm both to the government of Texas and locals and at the same time promote racial profiling to the people of color.

ReferencesMargulies, P. (2018). Deconstructing Sanctuary Cities: The Legality of Federal Grant Conditions That Require State and Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement. Wash. & Lee L. Rev., 75, 1507.

O’Connell, K. L. (2019). Schools in Sanctuary Cities: Do Sanctuary City Policies Diminish Chronic Absenteeism Among Immigrant Children? (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University).

Paxton, K. (2018). Providing Sanctuary to the Rule of Law: Sanctuary Policies Lawlessness, and Texas’s Senate Bill 4. Harv. J. on Legis., 55, 237.

Reed, M. E. (2019). Senate Bill 4: Police Officers’ Opinions on Texas’ Ban of Sanctuary Cities. Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review, 36(1).

Villazor, R. C., & Gulasekaram, P. (2018). The New Sanctuary and Anti-Sanctuary Movements. UCDL Rev., 52, 549.

The Sarcophagus of Pakal and Shield Jaguar and Her Principal Wife Lady Xoc

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The Sarcophagus of Pakal and Shield Jaguar and Her Principal Wife Lady Xoc

These two works of art from a historical perspective are very important to the people associated with them as well as to the general historical art. They are considered masterpieces of the kind of art that existed during the specific time they existed and they represent. Shield Jaguar and her principal wife lady Xoc art represents the kingship of shield jaguar and how her ween lady Xoc was an important element of her kingship. It discusses how her house was adorned with privacy and was an important house in the whole kingship since it is one of the very few houses belonging to women which are mentioned. In it there is a lot of art which describes the role of the wife to the king and her position. On the other hand, the Sarcophagus of Pakal is a great form of art in the nature of tomb lid of king Pakal and on the lid there is a lot of art which describes the people and the kind of life they lived. This paper discusses these two forms of art and compares them with an aim of trying to understand historical art and what it meant to the people represented.

The Sarcophagus of Pakal lid was a great art found by archeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier (says, 2015). He began an investigation of the ruined maya city and through the investigation he came across this great piece of art. His position of investigation was the temple of inscriptions when he found a stairway leading deep into the temple and he followed it and began extraction of the material carefully until he reached the tomb of the king (Minster, 2018). Even though there were different types of art which existed the most striking one was the stone which was covering the body of the king. The stone is rectangular in shape and it measures 245 by 290 millimeters thick. It is 2.2 meters wide and 3.6 meters long and it weighs around 7 tons. The whole stone is a piece of art as it art carvings on top and on the sides of it. From the time of discovery Ruz lifted it with the help of other people and placed wood on the bottom side to support it until 2010 when it was returned to its normal place and the remains of the king as well returned. The top and the side narrate the life of Pakal and his kingdom.

On the sides the most important thing are the carvings of the ancestors of Pakal being reborn as different types of trees. This communicates the faith of the people whom Pakal led that they believed in re-incarnation. Pakal’s father, K’an Mo’ Hix, is depicted being reborn as a Nance tree while his mother Sak K’uk’ is reborn as a cacao tree (says, 2015). His grandmother Yohl Ik’nal is reborn twice, first as a zapote tree and the next time as an avocado tree. His grandfather is reborn as a guava tree and Kan B’ahlam I who was the leader of Palenque reborn as a zapote tree.

Shield Jaguar and her principal wife lady Xoc represents how the wife is an important aspect of any community and in this, the duties and roles of a wife to the community and to the husband are shown clearly through art. Structure 23 and the lintels are what is most important in explaining the history of the people (Magazine, & Meisler, 2014). The Mayans were a very great civilization which produced some of the most complex written languages and at the peak of its civilization in 600 to 800 AD produced art in the form of stone sculptures, delicate figurines, painted ceramics and jade jewelry.

There are three limestone lintels which are intricately carved and they represent Lady Xok who was a very significant figure in the maya community since she has a town dedicated to her (Minster, 2018). She was the principal wife to shield jaguar and ruled Yaxchilán from 681 to 742 AD. The three lintels are in National Gallery of Art Museum in Washington, D.C. there are also two lintels in British museum and another one in museum of history and anthropology in New Mexico. In the first intel lady Xok performs a ritual meant for royalties as an offering to gods for continuation of life and shield jaguar stands next to her with a burning spear. In the sacrifice blood drops on a paper (Magazine, & Meisler, 2014). In the final lintel, shield jaguar wears battle amour made of a material which is covered in feathers and cotton. Lady Xok hands him a jaguar head and a shield. This shows that he is a warrior since jaguar was the fiercest animal known to Mayans and it was a symbol of power and bravery.

These two forms of art have their similarities and differences and this is an important part of the whole context of the art. Firstly, both are similar in that they express the history and the beliefs of their people. In the Mayan culture the lintels represent the real life of the people and how the queen or the wife to the king relates with his king while on the side of Palenque, Pakal is represented as a very important part of the whole leadership and he is the central part of the history of his people. The stone represents partly the real life of the people as well as the afterlife.

In conclusion, the two types of art have a lot in common as well as differences. These show the differences in the two cultures and leadership and also show the similarities which existed. However, the most important thing is that these two cultures valued art and it is through art that their history has been preserved and still exists today.

References

‌ Magazine, S., & Meisler, S. (2014). Of Majesty and Mayhem. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/of-majesty-and-mayhem-2313965/

Christopher minster (2018). The Maya King’s Grave. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-sarcophagus-of-pakal-2136165says, A. Ey. (2015). The Mystery Of King Pakal. Ancient Code. https://www.ancient-code.com/the-mystery-of-king-pakal-did-he-lift-off-to-the-stars/

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Research Proposal

Topic:

The Shallows and Social Media

Thesis:

The main focus on this topic is the effects social media has on our ability to communicate using information from the book by Nicholas Carr, “The Shallows: What is The Internet Doing To Our Brains.”

Guiding questions

What is social media?

Does social media impact our communication?

If so, are the impacts positive or negative?

How diverse is social media?

How are the different social media platforms, and does this diversity impact our communication?

What are the solutions to this problem?

Argument

The world transcended into a global brain village with the coming of the internet and the conception of social media. Through the years, as we have enjoyed social, it has been of significance to our cognitive and social selves. Through social medial, a lot of information gets shared from person to person. Social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have broadened our communicative reach. Still, it has also harmed our ability to communicate, all at the same time. Our ability to socialize in real life has diminished since most humans began sharing behind a keyboard.

Informal Research

The sources that will be used in writing the research paper.

Reference Work:

Mohsin, Maryam. “10 Social Media Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [Infographic].” Oberlo.Com, 10 Nov. 2021, www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics.

Book:

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Updated, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.

Articles:

Carr, Caleb T. “Social Media: Defining, Developing, and Divining.” Taylor & Francis, 6 Feb. 2015, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15456870.2015.972282Bozzola, Elena. “Social Media Use to Improve Communication on Children and Adolescent’s Health: The Role of the Italian Paediatric Society Influencers.” Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 11 Aug. 2021, ijponline.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13052-021-01111-7.

Audio-visual:

“Social Media Is Making Us Unsocial | Kristin Gallucci | TEDxBocaRaton.” YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 27 Nov. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cD5En8Vfg.

Purpose of Essay

This essay aims to bring the use of social into perspective. It has significantly influenced our daily conversations and inherently made us unsocial. This essay will show the negative impact social media has on our ability to communicate with each other and give ways to overcome that negative aspect of social media. The essay’s information reflects the society today shaped by social media and sheds light on how to avoid becoming unsocial.

Annotated Bibliography

Mohsin, Maryam. “10 Social Media Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [Infographic].” Oberlo.Com, 10 Nov. 2021, www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics.

This website

Mohsin, Maryam. “10 Social Media Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [Infographic].” Oberlo.Com, This website provides statistics on social media and social media use. It includes data on social media usage by most prominent app, service by generation, time spent on social media, and social media’s positive impact on product branding. This information is focused on social media on businesses. Still, the data is also applicable in knowing the time spent on social media, prominent apps used, and generational use of social media. Determining the average time spent on social media helps us determine how frequently people use social media. This will help conclude that social media has shaped communication and its impact on communication., 10 Nov. 2021, www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics.

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Updated, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. This book is written by Nicholas Carr, a renowned columnist of the Atlantic. The book was the brainchild of his famous article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” It is credible as it sites information on various data collected by academic researchers, data science, and official studies. He speaks about how the world got revolutionized through the internet and the changes man is undergoing, thanks to the internet. He alludes that the internet did change human beings. It influences change in our intellectual and cognitive selves, making us lazy in a sense. He cites that “The Internet provides such a feast of distraction that no energy is left for the parts of our brains responsible for complex thought and developing subtle human emotions.” This book is relevant to the essay as it provides us with information on the impact of internet use on our cognitive selves, which affects our socialization and communication., W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.

Carr, Caleb. “Social Media: Defining, Developing, and Divining.” Taylor & Francis, 6 Feb. 2015, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15456870.2015.972282?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Caleb Carr, a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communication, wrote the scholarly article “Social Media: Defining, Developing, and Divining.” In Carr’s article, he talks about how there’s no strictly used definition of Social Media. Instead, a liquid understanding is shared amongst its users. Carr goes on to talk about how social media can “uniquely isolate and test communicative principles to advance our understanding of human-human and human-computer interaction.” In his article, Carr dissects the necessity there is to define social media and have that meaning be applicable clear thru at least 2035

Bozzola, Elena. “Social Media Use to Improve Communication on Children and Adolescent’s Health: The Role of the Italian Paediatric Society Influencers.” Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 11 Aug. 2021, ijponline.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13052-021-01111-7.

Bozzola, Elena. “Social Media Use to Improve Communication on Children and Adolescent’s Health: The Role of the Italian Paediatric Society Influencers.” Italian Journal of Pediatrics is an online article concerned about social media’s effect on children and adolescents; it gives us a specific approach to the research projects. It will guide me by providing a trajectory on social media’s impact on children and teenagers. It will help support the notion that social media affects our social lives cuts across all ages. The article will also help develop suggestions on how to overcome the effects., 11 Aug. 2021, ijponline.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13052-021-01111-7.

“Social Media Is Making Us Unsocial | Kristin Gallucci | TEDxBocaRaton.” YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 27 Nov. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cD5En8Vfg.

“Social Media Is Making Us Unsocial | Kristin Gallucci | TEDxBocaRaton.” YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 27 Nov. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cD5En8Vfg

This is an audio-visual source. It is a speech done by Kristin Gallucci, a renowned marketing expert. She speaks to marketers about people’s emotions and how social media influence them. It will help with the essay as it helps us understand human emotions and how they get triggered through interactions on the internet.

Abstract inquiry

After looking at several abstracts, I found that they all have a specific pattern in writing. They all follow a similar prompt in an essay and are meant to be captivating to the reader of the journal, book, or article. The formula used in writing the abstract is as follows:

First, State the problem to be discussed in the essay

Present the main points of the essay

State the overall importance of the piece.

Provide the background of the information present as required.

Make the writing of the essay as straightforward as possible, use keywords that capture the reader by making the paper’s objectives identifiable.

Below will be the abstract of the essay:

Abstract

What is social media? Does social media impact our communication? Is there diversity in social media spaces? How are the different platforms diversifying our contact with each other? Social media holds an important place in our world today. It has changed the way we think to the way we operate. The social sites are many, and the different areas have a distinct influence on our communications. This essay aims to bring the use of social media into perspective. It has significantly affected our daily conversations and inherently made us unsocial. This essay will show the negative impact social media has on our ability to communicate with each other and give ways to overcome that negative aspect of social media. The essay’s information reflects the society today shaped by social media and sheds light on how to avoid becoming unsocial.

P.R.O.V.E.N Test of Sources

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Updated, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.

The above source passes the PROVEN Test. It ticks all boxes upon evaluation

This book aims to persuade readers to support the authors though that the internet has an inherent role in academic ethics. The author purports that the internet seeks to diminish our intellectual ability. If the user is left ungoverned, its impact on our cognitive selves is disastrous. The author packaged this information into as it was initially an article that grew in relevance, and the intended action was to gather comprehensive information on the issue. The target audience for this book is the general public.

The book is relevant in regards to the research proposal. The information the book provides is crucial in building the background of the essay. The facts presented are too detailed and support that social media has led to disastrous outcomes regarding communication. This is because it leans towards how the internet makes us less intelligent. Intelligence is a crucial ingredient to communication. The source’s objectivity is, without a doubt. The information is given in complete order and form. The cultural ideology purported by the author is clear and well defined. The author also uses a mixture of fact and opinion.

The author makes the information in his book verifiable. The book’s end is a list of the works cited and links provided for the data used in compiling the report. The citations used are clickable and can be found on the internet. The book is published by Norton & Company, a renowned world publisher. The author has unquestionable experience working as a reporter and columnist for the Atlantic Newspaper. The book has several reviews and can all be found on the internet. The book also uses recent statics and is relatively new as it was published one year ago.

Synthesis

The author of the book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain, Nicholas Carr. has a catalog of articles; as previously mentioned, he was a columnist for the Atlantic. The article I found more relevant to this research paper is “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” This article speaks to this research paper, touching on social media use and its impact on our socio-cognitive selves.

The question posed in this article is doing the internet influence our ability to think. He uses exciting approaches in trying to lean towards supporting that idea. “The Shallows” is glistening with memorable themes―Friedrich Nietzsche fighting with his typewriter, Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, and other philosophical greats. He uses a very creative approach in the article to refer to how social media has reduced the human brain’s ability to think and conceptualize.

His works follow a similar pattern. They all use scientific information. He idealizes, forms conclusions, and strongly supports his knowledge. The information provided through all his sources is intended for the general public, but keen readers get a complete picture of the writer’s thoughts.

Reflection

I found coming up with this research paper prompt a very informative and essential process. I learned about the techniques of coming up with a research paper. Gathering information for the research paper seems to be the most demanding part of the writing process. The process I used to develop the report included an objective approach. Focusing on the specifics guidance from the internet came in handy.

I used five resources in coming with the prompt. I found using the BEAM approach in utilizing the resources an easy way of coming up with the research paper and would recommend it to other students when writing research papers. I collaborated with fellow students to come up with the right sources and determine the sources’ credibility and order of use. When selecting the topic for the research, I followed a rubric recommended by one of my colleagues. The rubric recommended was first comparing and contrasting the issues chosen by other students, Eliminating the most preferred subjects, and coming up with a list of the problems I could write on. I then Wrote down a rough draft of all difficulties and selected the one which seemed more appealing with information that was easily accessible.

The key takeaways from the assignments include lessons from content researching, source selection, and the research writing process. The studies from content researching include; getting credible information, identifying critical questions for my research, getting credible databases, scrutinizing sources, and the formulae used in writing deduced from these sources.

These lessons are applicable in writing other related topics as well. For example, the information from the website Orbelo.com can be used by fellow students in gathering data about social media use. The data from the article by Bozzola, Elena, can be used in gathering information on social media’s impact on children. The writing rubric is also applicable in all research papers regardless of the topic

Earned Value Management

A performance measurement baseline for the project MS Project

A performance measurement baseline is one of the most valued time-phased tools used in project management. Its set standard application enables the evaluation of project performance to determine whether variances exist based on the original plan of the project (Taylor, 2008). The baseline is to incorporate different significant elements categorized into schedule, scope, and cost baselines. The baseline also incorporates operational and financial activities in the project. For the project, the PMB will be the time-phased schedule involving all the tasks to be accomplished, the task budgeted cost and the organizational elements to produce the assigned deliverables (Taylor, 2008).

The performance measurement baseline to be used in the project will be a schedule and cost baseline with a core element. As a collection of the project packages, the baseline will define the deliverables set to fulfill the required business capabilities. This will also include an estimated duration and project effort for every task package and the resources necessary for producing the deliverables. The deliverables will contain the business value of the project. Connection of the deliverables with the necessary capabilities forms the basis of the project execution procedure credibility. Establishing a baseline for the project involves six steps with each performed as priority (Taylor, 2008). They include:

Building a time-phased schedule network of activities to describe the project tasks to be executed. This also involves a budget for the project cost. The schedule covers organizational elements meant to produce the deliverables and the performance measures to indicate whether the project progress correlate to the plan layout.

Decomposing the scope of the project into a product based structure, then further into task package breakdown to describe the deliverable production which is traceable to the project requirements.

Assigning responsibility to the task packages for the project manager accountable for resource allocation and management, technical delivery and cost baseline.

Arranging the task packages in a well designed network through defined deliverables, inner and outer dependencies, milestones, cost margin and the appropriate schedules

Developing a timeline budget cost for the project task scheduled, including the material cost in every package and the entire project. Assurance in the proper allocation of resources is met, and the budget profile should match the project sponsor expectations.

Assigning object performance measures and measures of effectiveness for the project work package and making an overall summary of the entire project. This will also involve establishing of a baseline to be used in forecasting task package and the progress of the project including schedule metrics and the completion cost.

Application of earned value analysis to forecast future cost issues

The program management technique uses the progress of the project to determine future results through examining actual accomplishments. This is to help in examining the project potential risk areas. The application involves calculations through a basic arithmetic operation (Harrison & Lock, 2004). This involves data collection on the progress and cost of the project through a disciplined approach. The findings are processed instantaneously to enable the detection of any cases of deviation. It creates enough time to assess whether the deviation pose danger to the project and the corrective actions necessary to counter the effects (Harrison & Lock, 2004). The analysis involves the following inputs:

Budgeted cost of the works scheduled, this forms the analysis baseline through cumulated costs as planned in relation to incurrence time.

Budgeted cost of the work completed, the input involves works expressed physical progress measurement through cumulated planned costs of the project tasks covered related to the timeframe.

The actual cost of the work completed, the input refers to the amount payable cumulated for the project tasks done on the relation to time.

Budget at project completion, the entire project planned cost which equals the BCWS at the project end.

The planned project duration abbreviated as “T”

The following graph indicates the curves of earning value for the project.

The earned value analysis for the project integrates scheduler, scope and the cost to forecast the future performance and the completion date of the project. It creates a platform for efficiency in managing the project based on time and budget. Earned value analysis also involves cost variance as one of the significant inputs. It is applied as a measure approach in the project work deviation between actual and planned cost (Harrison & Lock, 2004). Cases of a negative progress in cost units indicates of an over budget of the project.

CV = ACWP – BCWP

In capturing the deviation scale, the arithmetic expression is based on the fraction of a budgeted task cost as performed:

CV% = CV/BCWP× 100%

Earned value analysis uses schedule variance in forecasting the future cost issues of the project. This enables deviation measurement between the planned progress and actual project progress. In cases of negative results, a delay is indicated:

SV = BCWP – BCWS.

In addressing cases of distortion that results from activities relative value, the variance is expressed as a BCWS fraction:

SV% = SV/BCWS

References

Harrison, F. L., & Lock, D. (2004). Advanced project management: A structured approach. Aldershot, England: Gower.

Taylor, J. (2008). Project scheduling and cost control: Planning, monitoring and controlling the baseline. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla: J. Ross Pub.

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A Political View of Panama

DHL is an internal company with presence in over 220 countries across the world. It has a workforce exceeding 285,000 employees. The company is part of the world’s leading postal and logistics Group, Deutsche Post DHL and encompasses three divisions: DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight and DHL Supply Chain. It specializes on express deliveries worldwide, warehousing services, international mail deliveries and customized and specialized shipping. To further its coverage into panama, it will be noble for DHL to understand the political climate in that country by looking at the history, current socio-political and economic scenarios (Zimbalist and Weeks 42).

Panama borders both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is between Colombia and Costa Rica. This nation in Central America proclaimed its independence from Colombia in 1903. The country was first settled by the Spanish in the 16th century and broke away from Spain in 1821 to join the Republic of Gran Colombia. It later seceded from Colombia in 1903 and signed the famous Panama Canal Zone Treaty. Panama is divided into nine provinces of Bocas del Toro, Coclé, Colón, Chiriquí, Darién, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama and Veraguas (Sabrina, 2014).

The population consists as mestizo and Amerindian ethnic groups with popular languages being Spanish which is official and English. Religion forms a key feature with 94% of the population being Christians. According to the recent (2014) records, the population numbered 3,608,431 with 75% being urban.

The public power emanates from the people and is exercised by three bodies: legislative, executive, and judicial. The President is both the head of state and head of government in a multi-party system. The government exercises executive power and the legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The election are carried out a after every five years in universal system by citizens above 18 years. The judicial service members are appointed by the president. The National Assembly is elected by proportional representation in electoral districts. Presidential elections do not require a simple majority. Its judicial branch consists of Supreme Court of Justice with 9 magistrates and 9 alternates. Magistrates are appointed by the president for 10-year term.

Major political parties include Democratic Change, Democratic Revolutionary Party, Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, Panamenista Party and Popular Party. Political pressure groups include the Chamber of Commerce, National Council of Organized Workers, National Council of Private Enterprise, National Union of Construction and Similar Workers, Panamanian Association of Business Executives, Panamanian Industrialists Society, Workers Confederation of the Republic of Panama (Zimbalist and Weeks 57-8).

The above current political description notwithstanding, DHL will need to understand the key political problems in Panama. These problems have been associated with lavish spending on the Canal and major public projects. This has affected the government resources flow in delivering public services like water, education, and sanitation and garbage collection. There are complains of favoritism and corruption in delivery of government services. In addition, the company will have to consider the effects of Panamas government heavy borrowing that has increased overall public debt in the recent years (Zimbalist and Weeks 69). This has exposed the country’s economy that is build around transport, banking, and free trade zones. If not then its small economy, connected to the world, will be highly vulnerable to the shifting global economic systems and local political factors such as elections due in 2015.

Works Cited

Zimbalist, Andrew and Weeks, John. Panama at the crossroads: economic development and political change in the twentieth century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.

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A Personal Experience

Nothing can be as painful as the death of a loved one. It was a chilly and cold day in September last year when my grandmother asked me to accompany her to visit my ailing grandfather in hospital. The wind was strong and the snow was falling heavily. For the previous couple of weeks, my grandfather had not been feeling very well. He was hospitalized and everyday my grandmother talked about it, the tone suggested that the disease grandfather was suffering from was incurable (Bahn 37). The situation was truly fatalist and the pain grandfather experienced was insufferable. We arrived at the hospital at two in the afternoon and proceeded to his ward. On entering the hospital, I felt weird feelings and wondered the cause of these. When I entered the room, I saw grandfather’s face but it looked unusual (Robben 51). His head had been titled on one side and the expression on his face was not only sad but also desperate.

He did not say any word to me but rather gave me an indescribable stare. Immediately, I walked up to him, kissed him and asked him how he was fairing on. When he started answering, he only stuttered (Westphal and Levenson 46). I was overwhelmed by emotion and bust into tears because I had never seen my grandfather in this horrible state. My grandmother who was standing beside me unabashed held my hand and assured me that grandfather would be fine. Despite trying her best to remain poised, the expression on grandmother’s face betrayed her. Seeing this, I walked out to find a doctor and ask him what could be done about my grandmother’s condition (Mullin 33). As I looked for the doctor, tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. Emotionally, I was on the verge of collapse and I believed I could not take it any more.

When I returned to the room with the doctor, I saw grandfather breathing heavily. I just froze then yelled at the doctor to do something. Before the doctor could do anything, grandfather took his very last breath, glanced at grandmother who was holding his hand and passed on. When grandmother looked at me, I felt as if a dark cloud has just covered me (Bondeson 58). I believed we were the saddest persons on earth. The pain was unbearable; we all cried hysterically (Guignon 41). The doctors made efforts to revive him but fate had taken its toll. At that time, I felt as if my life had been torn in to two parts. We were asked to leave the room to give doctors a chance to confirm grandfather’s death.

After a short while, the doctor called us in his room and gauging by his facial expression, he situation was hopeless. I stared blankly at the conspicuous liquid in a bottle on his table when he confirmed that grandfather had passed on (Mitford 50). The events are still clear in my mind; I can never forget the grief I had because of grandfather’s death. The pain was unbearable and accepting the situation was very difficult. I was close to my grandfather and had planned on telling him about my experience in the new class. The night ended up being one the worst I have ever had throughout my life (Leming and Dickinson 61). The last words my grandfather said to me kept coming back to my mind the entire night.

Works Cited

Bahn, Pau. Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead. USA: Firefly Books, 2003. Print.

Bondeson, Jan. Buried Alive: the Terrifying History of our Most Primal Fear. W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. Print.

Guignon, Charles. The Good Life. USA: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999. Print.

Leming, Michael and Dickinson, George. Understanding Dying, Death and Bereavement. USA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006. Print.

Mitford, Jessica. The American Way of Death Revisited. USA: Vintage, 2000. Print. 

Mullin, Glenn H. Living in the Face of Death: The Tibetan Tradition. Ithica, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2008. Print.

Robben, Antonius. Death, Mourning and Burial: A Cross Cultural Reader. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. Print.

Westphal, Jonathan and Levenson, Carl. Life and Death. USA: Hackett Publishing Company, 1993. Print. 

Introduction

The purpose of this paper will be to explore a possible research program related to substandard housing and its effects on the children. In this paper I will discuss the problem, literature found pertaining to the subject, proposed methodology to include study design, population, sampling methods, data collect, variable, data analysis, and limitations of the study.

Problem Statement

The overriding goal of the public health sector and all its stakeholders is to prevent disease and promote health, a universal mission that Stover and Bassett (2003) note concerns all the multiple parties involved in public health. However, substandard housing may be detracting from the achievement of public health’s noble goals in disease prevention and health promotion. The statistics on poor housing in the U.S. are alarming, with 6.1 million households living in overcrowded conditions while one out of every seven poverty-stricken families lived in extremely inadequate housing by 2004 (Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2013). With increasing wealth gaps and no recovery in housing cost burdens as of 2013, the quality of housing must have deteriorated significantly (Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2013). As of 2009, Thrivent Financial noted that more than 11 million Americans could have been facing worst case housing needs, of which 3.6 million were children, 1.6 million the elderly, and 1.3 million disabled individuals. From such observations, it is evident that any problems associated with substandard housing and living conditions would be quite significant and in need of urgent attention.

Meanwhile, a number of scholars have suggested that a correlation exists between substandard housing and health status. For example, Krieger and Higgins (2002) associated substandard housing conditions with health problems such as asthma, respiratory infections, lead poisoning, and injuries, leading to a conclusion that housing was a social determinant contributing to significant morbidity and mortality. Evans, Wells, Chan, and Saltzman (2000) suggested a link between housing and mental health, which would predict that people living in substandard places of residence would be at higher risks of developing mental health problems. In this case, the alarming statistics on substandard housing in the U.S. become more pertinent as they suggest a major public health challenge requiring urgent intervention. From these observations, public health practitioners should target housing quality improvements as a way of achieving healthy population goals. However, Ruel, Oakley, and Maddox (2010) pondered whether the noted relationship between poor housing and health might only occur because such housing projects attract a disproportionate population of the unhealthy poor. Here, the cause of poor health among people residing in poor houses might be among the population rather than because of the housing conditions.

As a result, the issue remains fuzzy, prompting efforts to establish or refute the link between housing and health authoritatively to inform public health practice. Conducting research in this topic will help establish short-term and long-term practice guidelines, including whether treatment and prevention of disease before and during residence is more urgent than improving housing conditions in the short-term. Through adding to the literature available on the link between housing standards and health, the study will inform and support evidence-based practice in public health. In case the null hypothesis is refuted, the current study will inform future research into how substandard housing causes poor physical and mental health, which represents a step beyond confirming a correlation between the two issues. Further, the study’s findings will add impetus to public health efforts to solve problems related to poor housing and health.

Research Question and Hypothesis

Does substandard housing in Owsley County, Kentucky predict poor physical and mental health in school age children?

Literature Review

Lack of Scientific Literature/studies pertaining just to Appalachia/Kentucky region: (possible site articles)

HYPERLINK “http://articles.philly.com/1994-08-19/news/25841565_1_outhouses-drinking-water-wooden-home”http://articles.philly.com/1994-08-19/news/25841565_1_outhouses-drinking-water-wooden-home

HYPERLINK “https://sites.google.com/a/cypanthers.org/appalachia-america-s-forgotten-people/Home/how-to-help”https://sites.google.com/a/cypanthers.org/appalachia-america-s-forgotten-people/Home/how-to-help

HYPERLINK “http://blog.wisteria.com/2009/11/christian-appalachian-project-december-2009/”http://blog.wisteria.com/2009/11/christian-appalachian-project-december-2009/

good stats in this article with references HYPERLINK “http://www.appalachiantransition.org/sites/ati/files/essays/Jim%20King%20Essay%20FINAL.pdf”http://www.appalachiantransition.org/sites/ati/files/essays/Jim%20King%20Essay%20FINAL.pdf

HYPERLINK “http://www.berea.edu/brushy-fork-institute/files/2012/06/Winter2001.pdf”http://www.berea.edu/brushy-fork-institute/files/2012/06/Winter2001.pdf

References addressing over all, but already used else where L

HYPERLINK “http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447157/”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447157/

HYPERLINK “http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/factsheets/healthyhomesinitiative.pdf”http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/factsheets/healthyhomesinitiative.pdf

HYPERLINK “http://www.ncfh.org/docs/08%20-%20housing.pdf”http://www.ncfh.org/docs/08%20-%20housing.pdf

HYPERLINK “https://www.sandiego.gov/nccd/housing/substandard.shtml”https://www.sandiego.gov/nccd/housing/substandard.shtml

Study Design

For this particular study a prospective Cohort study would show to the most beneficial in order to study the effects of substandard housing and poor health. This is a significant approach that will provide a comprehensive analysis into the statistically significant difference in the housing standards and there correlative significance to poor health. This study design the assessment will start with the acknowledged cause of the final case, which is poor health, and significant observations are expected to be made with regard to the occurrence of poor health relative to the hypothesized causal agent, substandard housing. Continual contact with individuals would help facilitate more detailed and accurate information pertaining to the condition.

Study Population

The first step in starting up of this project is to identify the problematic areas. It is important to recognize which areas in a city have maximum sub standardized housing facilities, and how many people reside in these types of housing facilities.

Second step is to find out on what basis one can identify a facility as sub standardized. Each government has its own standards for identifying them. Sub standardized housing is one which does not meet the standards set by the government, concerning areas like:

Plumbing

Heating

Electrical set-ups

Ventilation

Thickness of the concrete walls

Quality of building materials used, etc.

Next is to list down all these facilities, in terms of their severity, ‘Most severe to least severe’, and prioritize them accordingly.

It is necessary to select the subjects of the study carefully, and plan the specific questions that need to be asked. Designing the questions would be done, after talking to some of these subjects generally, and gauging their reactions.

Sampling Method.

Samples will not be gathered through a simple random sampling

In part due to a need to screen out mitigating factors that may influence study such as a preexisting medical condition that is known to weaken the immune system and present higher incidence of illnesses. For the purpose of this study Representative samples would be appropriate due to its ability represent the specific characteristics of the target population.

Data Collecting and tabulation:

Any research is incomplete without specific and relevant data. Here, to recognize sub standardized housing facilities, the areas wherein the problem lies should be tabulated. Each housing facility would have their problems, thus there would be variable quantity when one housing facility would be compared with another.

Initially, before going to meet the subjects, all available data would be collected, with respect to what are the government standards for that particular area, what measures have been taken before to improve the facilities, etc. This can be done by visiting government archives or the data available with the municipal corporation of that area.

A tabulation of data to be collected further would be helpful in sorting them out finally, and deciding a method to improve them.

A table, like the one given below, would be helpful in sorting out variable/non-variable parameters in the research.

Area of housing facility/Number Plumbing Electrical connectivity Sanitation Building materials used Ventilation

Another table can be put up to show the physical health’s, with specifically designed parameters like ‘could respond well to a particular question’, ‘Patients description of health’, etc.

Finally, these things can be graphically depicted, with a pie chart or pictographs, bargraphs, etc. for easier understanding of the research.

Variables

Limitations

This research is a descriptive study of how a sub-standardized housing can affect the normal physical and mental health of persons living in them. It does not provide ideas about what measures can be taken to improve these facilities, or how permission has been granted to build these facilities initially.

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The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Scarlet Letter,” it is evident that conflict can take on numerous forms in the society for example from conflict with self, the religion and conflict with others among many other forms. Conflict is evident mainly through the way other individuals in the society treat Hester. She is accused of practicing adultery by giving birth to Pearl and refusing to provide the identity of the father of the child. After being charged with this crime, she is made to stand on the scaffold whereby the society seems to be against her and Pearl (Hawthorne’s and Nathaniel, p.83). Another form of conflict which is between man and man is seen when Chillingworth tends to be playing some tricks on Dimmesdale as he suspects that he is the father to Pearl as well as Hester’s hidden lover.

Moreover, the conflict between man and self is vividly described in Dimmesdale case. Dimmesdale who is a powerful young minister is seen to be regularly struggling between maintaining his influential position in the society and his secret love affair with Hester. Also in this form of conflict, Hester typically battles with herself to keep the secret about Chillingworth and also to keep her lover Dimmesdale a top-secret.

The characters conflicts in “Scarlet Letter” are resolved on the scaffold. The characters are made, or they decide by themselves to stand on it and confess their sins. For example, the situation whereby Dimmesdale decides to step on it at night and when Hester and daughter happen to pass by he pleads with them to stand by him which they eventually obey. Also, they are made to wear a scarlet letter for the rest of their lives as it happens to Hester, and this symbolizes a sign of shame. Therefore from the way the conflicts are resolved through the scaffold, it is evident that the sin had a considerable impact on the characters and it changed their lives forever (Karenina and Anna, p.43). The life of public repentance and humiliation takes center stage in controlling how the individuals behaved in the society, even though it seemed to be challenging and unpleasant. Therefore, from this context, the theme of sin, crime as well as punishment is significantly portrayed.

The sins by Hester and Dimmesdale seems to affect the various characters differently. For example, Hester’s husband is made to return to the town with the intention of finding Hester’s lover whereby he even changes his name to Roger Chillingworth. On learning that Dimmesdale is Hester’s lover, he ‘Chillingworth’ harasses him for the next seven years up to the time Dimmesdale becomes sick with guilt. Hester on realizing that her lover had been undergoing some psychological manipulation she decides to reveal the true identity of Chillingworth to Dimmesdale. The two chooses to relocate to England and Dimmesdale was still feeling guilty, and in the process, he develops a red mark on his chest. He, therefore, decides to confess his sins while standing on the scaffold and consequently he tears his shirt open to display the nasty red mark on his chest to the public before dying. This shows how sin affected the characters psychologically by not giving some peace of mind resulting in more adverse effects to the characters.

From the “Another View of Hester” chapter, the symbolism of the letter “A” tends to be changing over time. From the very first beginning, the letter “A” typically symbolized shame, but Hester tends to have a different interpretation of the letter, than what it was intended. The primary purpose of the letter was to shame her as well as present ignominy towards her (Hawthorne’s and Nathaniel, p.74). However, it relatively empowers her. Therefore the fact that the letter “A” was supposed to demean Hester but eventually reinforces her is regarded as situational irony. What the Author tries to present by this chapter is that individuals can have and take the same or various symbols in a diverse way to have different meanings and thus it all depends on the way the individual take things up. How they view and interpret things depends on one’s conscience.

Pathos is greatly portrayed in this work by how Hester argues that she had the right to keep her daughter Pearl since God entrusted her with Pearl. She claims it was God’s will to have the daughter and they had no reason to separate them and thus she protests ruthlessly for this action. Hester is also a sympathetic character by the way he sympathizes with Dimmesdale and Chillingworth by presenting each with the truth about her affair with both of them. According to his evil and ill-powered actions by leaving his wife Hester for a long time as well as his revenge by sabotaging Dimmesdale, he cannot be viewed with a degree of pathos (Hawthorne et al., p.38). Moreover, Dimmesdale presents pathos on different occasions for example with the way he is suffering both emotionally and psychologically due to his sins. Chillingworth is harassing him to the extent of feeling guilty and decides to confess his sin to the public while standing on the scaffold.

Dimmesdale is first seen as an anxious and sensitive individual, but this seems to change as time goes by. Due to his actions by confessing his sins and the way he is portrayed, it is good to say that Dimmesdale is a strong character. His confession is seen as a symbolic act, given that the influence he had on the community, he accepted his sins and confessed. Also, his control in the way he is handling his challenges depicts how he is a strong character.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Hugh Thomson, and Katharine Lee Bates. The Scarlet Letter (Illustrated by Hugh Thomson with an Introduction by Katharine Lee Bates). Neeland Media LLC, 2015.

Hawthorne’s, Nathaniel. “The scarlet letter.” 21st Century Voices (2003): 83.

Karenina, Anna. “The Scarlet Letter.” Anna Karenina and Others (2016): 53.