Analysis of Video “The World is Flat” Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Video â€Å"The World is Flat† Essay Key issues or Problems in the video: The title The World is Flat was taken from a statement by Nandan Nilekani, the former Infosys (an Indian IT company) CEO. It seems like if hadnt met Nandan then he wouldnt have even written this book. He talks about Americans and the developing world but says almost nothing about Africa, Europe Australia. The World is flat applies better to people with similar kind of economic conditions. In developing world, a big portion of population is poor or much below poverty line as per American standard. Their first challenge is access to food and Education. How could they be part of level playing field and make this world flat. Friedman says first that Nineteenth century belonged to English, Twentieth Century to USA and Twenty first Century to China. Friedman argues that latest age of globalization will be spearheaded by Individuals. He just made this assumption after meeting the cab driver in Budapest Peruvian Dishware seller who have their own websites. The percentage of people doing their own business like this is still extremely low to claim that the era belongs to them. It feels like an exaggeration. Its conflicting that on one hand, he says 21st century belongs to China and on the other hand, he says latest age of globalization (which is now) will be spearheaded by Individuals. I can’t accept his methods and question his research and interview process. Friedman is stating something without actually based on real documented facts, but on talks with friends and CEOs he visits. By what it leaves out, it does nothing more than misinform the people around the World. In the end, he talks about Green New Clean energy which kind of feel out of context from the main topic. Critique of video, Supporting arguments, rebuttals of ideas: I think there is a lot to criticize about the Video â€Å"The World is Flat†. Friedmans view of the globalized world is often obsessed with the successful multinational corporations of India. In the video he talks about individuals or â€Å"free agents†, but being a free agent is riskier. Free agents will not have fixed salary and health care benefits (Source: Brown, C.V.). If there is a free agent in India, he can’t work for American company without Social Security Number for Tax purposes. 90% of the worlds telephone calls, Internet traffic, and investments are local, suggesting that this Video has overstated the trends. His talk of a new flat world  where information, money, ideas, and people can move worldwide faster than before is unreal, we just see a fraction of what he describes globalization (Refer Source:wiki). Globalization causes unemployment here in America. It is shipping jobs outside America where its easy to find cheap labor. The winners will be capitalists worldwide causing income inequality everywhere. This would imply that Globalization will make the world NON-Flat instead. He talks about mashing the two specializations together which doesn’t always give the better result. Actions I would take next and why or personal experience dealing with the issues: The video presents more of an American perspective. Friedmans work history has been mostly with The NY Times, and has definitely affected the way due to which he thinks this way. I would have liked his ideas in a more inclusive voice to show the whole World’s perspective. I would encourage fair trade instead of free trade. If we put his claims to test against documented facts. It will not pass. I would have liked more research and references. World will be actually a level playing field when everybody will have a fair opportunity to Education Resource of Technology. If I make a website and start selling say â€Å"Baseball bats†. First of all, there will be a Brand position issue that is why would people come to me instead of going to Store like â€Å"Sports Authority† or so where they can try and test things before buying. Secondly, In real world, its hard to be an Individual and manage the whole thing like getting the stuff made in foreign countries, handle the custom portion, get it shipped etc. on your own. Sources: (2014, May 9). The World is Flat. Retrieved Jun 7, 2011 from Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Is_Flat Brown, C.V., Dehayes, D.W., Hoffer, J.A., Martin, E.W., Perkins, W.C. (2012). Managing information technology (7th ed.): Managing IT in a digital world. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Short Research Proposal On Fear Of Crime

Short Research Proposal On Fear Of Crime In this short research proposal, I will critically analyse and justify the reasons why I have chosen to use in depth interviews compared to other qualitative methods in order to research fear of crime among young men aged between 18-25 in inner London. My primary objective is to find out to what extent do young men aged 18-25 living in inner London fear crime. Altogether there are three main types of qualitative data; they are in depth interviews, focus groups and ethnography (Bryman, 2004). However, before I justify the reasons why I have chosen to use in depth interviews compared to focus groups and ethnography I will first give a brief definition of fear of crime among young men. In order to carry out a short research proposal, it is important that I have background knowledge on my research topic. On the whole, there are many different types of interviews however in my research I will be conducting in depth interviews with thirty young males aged between 18-25. I have chosen in depth interviews to conduct my research as this will provide me with rich data, it will also enable the participants to express their feelings and experiences on fear of crime (Bryman, 2004). There are two different types of in depth interviews they are known as semi-structured and unstructured interviews. In my research, I will be carrying out semi-structured interviews whereby I will have a set of questions to ask the participants. In Semi structured interviews the questions are usually open ended hence this will enable me to gather rich, detailed information about the experiences and attitudes towards fear of crime among young men (Miller and Brewer, 2003). On the other hand, although unstructured interviews are a great way to build rapport with the respondent there is a slight possibility that the participants may go off on tangents, and hence this will be more time consuming (Seale, 2004). In relation to my research topic, by carrying out a semi-structured interviews young men will feel more comfortable to talk about their experiences. I will now discuss and justify the reasons why I have decided to select in depth interviews compared to focus groups and ethnography to carry out my research. According to May, in depth interview is a great way to understand the attitudes and feelings of an individual on a specific topic (May, 2001). In depth interviews will enable me to explore in more detail the fear of crime among young men in inner London (Seale, 2004). Hence, compared to focus groups and ethnography, in depth interviews will allow me to have a better understanding of the individuals views, experiences, opinions and feelings towards fear of crime among young men (Seale, 2004). Another advantage of in depth interviews is that it allows flexibility; interviews can be adjusted to cater the needs of different types of people (Sarantakos, 2005). Furthermore, another advantage is that researchers can ask questions on the spot, probe the participants as well as change the order of questions if needed (Miller and Brewer, 2003). Another advantage is that during my study, I will have full control of the environment, under which questions are answered (Sarantakos, 2005). In depth interviews will also enable me to clarify any questions which are not understood by the participants (Sarantakos, 2005). Another advantage of in-depth interviews is that I will gain high response rate, with rich, detailed information about the fear of crime among young men. Hence, with in depth interviews it is much easier to discuss sensitive issue compared to when interviewing a group (Miller and Brewer, 2003). Despite these advantages, there are many limitations to in depth interview. With in depth interviews participants may not always be as honest about their fear of crime; hence this will lack reliability (Miller and Brewer, 2003). Another limitation of in depth interview is that it is very time consuming compared to other data collection methods (Seale, 2004). From gaining access to individuals, to conducting the interviews and then analyzing the data will take a huge amount of time (Miller and Brewer, 2003). This is one of the reasons why I will be conducting my research on only thirty individuals. Furthermore, according to May, the researchers physical characteristics such as age, class, race, gender and ethnicity may have an effect on the interviewees responses (May, 2001). This is another limitation as interviews may be affected due to the physical characteristics of the researcher (Sarantakos, 2005). For example, if a female researcher was conducting the study on fear of crime among young men many participants may not be as honest about their attitudes and experiences of fear of crime due to the researcher being a female. Another issue of in depth interview is that people tend to prefer to write about sensitive topics, such as fear of crime rather than discussing the issue in an interview (Sarantakos, 2005). As the study will only be conducted on thirty individuals, another concern is that once the information is gained and analysed, it will be difficult to generalize fear of crime among young men who live in inner London (Sarantakos, 2005). I will now define, discuss and analyse the advantages and limitations of ethnography and why I decided not to use ethnography for my research topic. Ethnography allows researchers to understand the social meanings and activities of people they are conducting research on (Miller and Brewer, 2003). Furthermore, ethnography studies will allow the researcher to observe the participants for a longer period of time (Bryman, 2004). By spending time with the participants, listening and engaging in conversations and getting to know them individually on a daily basis it will help and allow the researcher to have a better understanding of the participants he or she is studying (Bryman, 2004). However, in relation to my research topic my aim objective is to find out the feelings and emotions of fear of crime among young men. With participant observation it will be difficult for me to understand the experiences of fear of crime among young men as the participants may not be able to express their experiences when conducting a participant observation study. Furthermore, when an individual is aware that they are being observed they may behave differently, hence this will lack validity (Bryman, 2004). There are two types of ethnography roles when gaining access to participants, they are known as overt and covert roles. Covert role is whereby an individual discloses the fact that they are a researcher observing the participants for a particular reason. On the other hand, the ethnographer who takes the overt role informs the participants that they are researches (Bryman, 2004). On the whole, covert roles may provide the researcher with more information which is highly valid due to the fact that the participants are not aware that they are being observed. However, by carrying out covert roles you will be breaking the ethical guidelines such as informed consent and deception (Bryman, 2004). I will now define, discuss and analyse the advantages and limitations of using a focus group. Focus groups are when a small group of people are brought together for an interview that share similar experiences and have particular interest. Focus groups have become a very popular method used by many researchers since the 1980s. Focus groups allow participants to ask questions, have discussions and arguments (Bryman, 2004). It also allows participants to justify and articulate their ideas with one another in a group context (Seale, 2004). There are many advantages to having focus groups, by conducting a focus group it will allow individuals to probe one another and challenge each other for holding certain views (Bryman, 2004). Another advantage of using a focus group is that large amount of date can be produced in a short amount of time, however a limitation to this is that it will be difficult for the researcher to record and analyse data from the focus group (Bryman, 2004). Focus groups allow participants to share stories, experiences and thoughts together; hence this provides rich, quality data for the researcher to analyses (Bryman, 2004). Another advantage of a focus group is that it is less time consuming compared to in depth interviews, you can easily get six to ten peoples views and opinions all at the same time rather than interviewing all ten of them (Seale, 2004). Focus groups also allow the participants to listen to other peoples views who have a similar position to them in the community (Sarantakos, 2005). According to Bryman, focus groups are regarded as more naturalistic compared to interviews in the sense that focus groups reflect the processes through which meaning is constructed in everyday life (Bryman, 2004, 348). During the focus group the researcher acts as a facilitator observing the discussion and encouraging participants to contribute (Sarantakos, 2005). Depending on the topic being discussed, focus groups can sometimes encourage the individual to open up and hence take part in the discussion. However, in other situations in-depth interviews are preferred; it all depends on the research topic (Seale, 2004). According to Wilkinson who reviewed more than 200 studies based on focus groups, she found that many researchers fail to analyse and take into account the interaction between the group members (Bryman, 2004). Another critic of a focus group is that some individuals may not express their fear of crime among other young men. By being in a group individuals may not express their true opinions (Sarantakos, 2005). Individuals may feel more comfortable to express their concerns of fear of crime in a one to one interview (Bryman, 2004). In focus groups, individuals may be influenced to follow the group norm and may not open as much compared to in depth interviews (Bryman, 2004). According to Barbour and Kitzinger, focus groups will enable researchers to examine peoples different perspective as they operate within a social network, (Barbour and Kitzinger in Seale, 2004, 181). Furthermore, focus groups may allow the researcher to explore issues which are not easily seen during participant observation (Seale, 2004). However, another concern of using a focus group is that some individuals may dominate the discussion and hence others may not be given the chance to explore their attitudes and feelings towards fear of crime, (Sarantakos, 2005). I will now discuss what sampling method I will use in order to carry out my research. In relation to my research topic and design I will use the purposive sampling method in order to carry out my study. Purposive sampling is when participants are selected due to them having a relation to the subject topic. Purposive sampling is whereby researchers use their expect judgment to find participants who are relevant to their study (Singleton and Straits, 1999). Purposive sampling is a very popular sampling method used by many researchers when conducting qualitative research (Seale, 2004). In relation to my research topic, purposive sampling is the best sampling method to use; it fits in very well with the aims of my research. However, according to Singleton and Straits, a limitation to purposive sampling is that making an informed selection of cases requires considerable knowledge of the population before the sample is drawn (Singleton and Straits, 1999, 159). I will now discuss how I will gain access to my participants. I will gain access to my participants through contacting local organizations who work with youths. I will also gain access by visiting two universities in inner London; I will visit the student union and ask for potential students who are willing to take part in my study. Before the interviews are carried out, I will ensure that I am fully prepared and organised, in order for me to do this I will make a check list of all the things I need to do before the interview and also after the interview. In my research, I will also audio record all the interviews; this will enable me to have a better one to one conversation with my respondents. However, an issue may be that that some respondents may refuse for their voice to be recorded. If this occurs, I will explain to the participants that the interview is only being audio recorded for my use only and that the recording will not be shared with any third party (Bryman, 2004). For the interview to be successful it is vital that the interviewee has an understanding of the subject topic (May, 2001). Before I start my interview, I will define the term fear of crime to my participants in order for them to have a better understanding of the subject topic. Before the interview process, I will make it clear to my participants what is expected of them, by doing this my participants will feel more comfortable and hence more relaxed for the interview to begin (May, 2001). It is important for all researchers to take into consideration ethical issues before conducting any research. The British Sociological Association has set out ethical guidelines for researchers to follow; breaking the guidelines may result in penalties. There are many ethical issues which need to be considered before carrying out a study; however the three main ethical issues are whether there is harm to participants, lack of informed consent, and whether deception is involved (Bryman, 2004). In relation to my study on fear of crime among young men I will ensure that all my participants are fully informed about the study. Before I conduct my research all participants involved will be asked to read and sign the consent forms, all participants will also have the right to withdrew from the study at any given time (Bryman, 2004). Furthermore, in regards to participant harm according to Diener and Crandall, participant harm can be physical harm or personal harm (Diener and Crandall, in Bryman, 2004). I will ensure that in my study none of my participants are physically or emotional harmed. Finally, in regards to deception, I will ensure that all my participants are fully aware of the study and that the results of the interviews will not be shared with anyone else without their consent. Deception usually occurs when the researcher provides false statements to their participants about the study (Bryman, 2004). In conclusion, in depth interview is the best data collection method for me to research the fear of crime among men aged 18-25 living in inner London. Despite its limitations, in relation to my research topic, in depth interview would be the best method to use as it will enable me to understand the attitudes and experiences of fear of crime among young men compared to focus groups and ethnography.

Parental Involvement in Education Essay -- Parent Involvement in Educat

Parent Involvement in Education Parent involvement in a child’s education is vital to their success. Many students do really well in school while others fail. There is an obvious correlation between the accomplished children and their involved parents. I think that parents just need to be there for a child to succeed. If a mother is the head of the PTA it is easier for her child to do well. As head of the PTA the parent is able to know the due dates of assignments and then help her child complete the assignment. It is easier for a child to thrive when their parent is there with them while they are doing homework. If a parent just asks to see a child’s assignments they will feel like what they do in school matters, and then they will want to do well in school. This will give the child a feeling of reward, and everyone wants to work hard and receive a reward. I would like to know if all children benefit when their parents get involved with their education. Are there some parents that are too involved? Where is the line drawn between not involved and being involved too much? Are parents supposed to still be involved in high school to help with their children’s success? What are the most common reasons why children fail in school? Why is there a lack of parent involvement? Parent involvement in children’s learning will increase the chances their child will succeed. It is characterized in three different levels. Dr. James Comer of Yale University describes the first level as general participation. This is the most common form of involvement and this includes signing papers, going to conferences, and attending school sponsored activities. Sponsoring school programs and helping in the classroom is the sec... ...ent Is as Easy as PIE! Education World. (1). Retrieved March 7, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.education- world.com/a_curr/curr030.shtml Keith, K. K. (2002). The Assignment Checklist [Electronic version]. About (1), 1. Plevyak, L. (2003, October). Parent Involvement in Education: Who Decides?. Education Digest, 69(2), 32-39. Retrieved March 7, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database. Ramey, S. L., & Ramey, C. T. (1999). Going To School. New York: Goddard Press, Inc. Schlosberg, J. (1996, January). Get involved; when parents participate, children succeed. Better Homes & Gardens, 24-27. Stein, M. R. S., & Thorkildsen, R. J. (1999). Parent Involvement In Education. Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa International. U.S. Department of Education. (1997). Family Involvement in Children’s Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Affirmitive Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Essays

Affirmative Action is the name given to programs that try to correct past and ongoing discriminations against women, racial minorities, and others in the work force and in education. The principal goal of Affirmative Action is to create more diversity and equal opportunities in jobs or schools that used to be all or mostly male, white, or both. Affirmative Action programs have been in place only a little over thirty years. Affirmative action works. There are thousands of examples of situations where people of color, and white women who were previously excluded from jobs or educational opportunities, or were denied opportunities once admitted, have gained access through affirmative action. When these policies received executive branch and judicial support, vast numbers of people of color, and white women gained access they would not otherwise have had. These gains have led to very real changes. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers. White women now hold 40 percent of all corporate middle-management jobs, and the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 57 percent since 1982† (Dundul, p.64). Affirmative action programs have not eliminated racism, nor have they always been implemented without problems. The implementation of affirmative action was America's first honest attempt at solving a problem it chose to ignore. Comparable imbalances exist for other racial and ethnic minorit ies as well as for women. Yet, to truly understand the importance of affirmative action, one must look at America's past discrimination. Affirmative action is needed to level the playing field of the work force in America. Affirmative action has had its greatest amount of success in city, state, and government jobs. Since the 1960s the area of law enforcement witnessed the greatest increase in minority applicants, and in jobs offered to minorities. This should be viewed as extremely positive, because prior to affirmative action these jobs were almost completely closed off to minorities and woman. Affirmative action has experienced considerably less success in integration in big business. This is due to the fact big business has been more resistant to affirmative action and harder to regulate. Affirmative action is also needed to help black women to compete in today's corporate world. Black women in corporate America are still scarce. The Bu... ...ation would not be open to minorities and women, which could result in poverty and discrimination. Affirmative action is our only hope not only in for equality in jobs and education but life itself. In conclusion, Affirmative Action is one of the most important and controversial social issues of our time, and will continue to be questionable as long as it is part of our legal system. Legal decisions regarding Affirmative Action are thrusting it towards extinction, but its supporters will fight fiercely to reverse the trend, and it will be interesting to observe the direction taken by the courts in the next few years. Regardless of the outcome, Affirmative Action has revolutionized the way the population views race, whether part of the majority or the minority. Works Cited -Dundul,Tom. â€Å"Affirmative Action†. Working Women Oct. 1995: 63-66. -Cyrus, Virgina. Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. Second Edition. Mayfield: Publishing Co. 1996. - Skylar, Holly. Chaos or Community? Seeking Solutions, Not Scapegoats for bad Economics Boston: South End Press. 1995. -Chappell, Kevin. â€Å"What they Don’t Tell you about Affirmative Action† Ebony Aug. 1995: 24-26.

Balance in Charles Dickens Hard Times :: essays papers

Balance in Charles Dickens' Hard Times Balance; it is one attribute that almost everyone strives for within the trials and tribulations of everyday life. However, the delicate conditions needed to achieve such a plateau vary from person to person. It is Charles Dickens, in his novel Hard Times, who walks along a great tight rope in hopes of finding a medium between the multiple extremes. Using a satirical angle, Dickens tells the story of a community who becomes caught in the trap of one side of the spectrum, trapped with the cold, hard facts of life. In this world of rigid schedules and mind-numbing tasks, he is able to effectively display the absurdity of such circumstances. One of the areas most greatly affected by such controversy is that of education. For many decades teachers have been struggling to find the balance between cramming student’s heads with facts, and letting their creativity and freewill dominate the learning process. Thomas Gradgrind, the school’s headmaster, is one character who is unable to see the need for the balance. His entire educational system was based upon proven fact. Gradgrind goes as far as discouraging the imagination and wonder of the unknown in his students. For he believed that â€Å"You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them.† Yet what he failed to realize was the importance of how creativity and emotion affected not only personal growth, but also the society as a whole. Without such stimuli, the children can become a form of walking drone, spitting out facts without analyzing and questioning them. These zombies created in the school, grow up to become workers in the factories of the district. Toiling away for hours upon mindless tasks, these people are reduced to mere hands, painstakingly adding to the continuous hum of the factory. â€Å"So many hundred hands in this Mill; so many hundred horse steam power.† They are caught in the vicious cycle being treated as a mass, rather than individuals as they are. Each of the characters know something is absent from inside of their soul, but no one can figure out the exact missing piece. Yet to the reader it is an easy puzzle to solve, for a person is never complete without the ability to imagine and dream.

“Eve’s Diary” by Mark Twain Essay

â€Å"Eve’s Diary† is a satirical account of the days in the Garden of Eden. Twain recounts the well-known tale of Genesis through a series of journal entries written by Adam and Eve; these personal accounts make for an entertaining and thought-provoking read. Twain’s personifications of gender stereotypes are easily identified but lead the reader into a further exploration of Twain’s deeper purpose. Twain’s writing style explicates the paradoxical relationship between men and women. Furthermore, Adam and Eve’s conflicting perspectives within the journal entries provide an illustration of their magnetic reliance on one another, despite their polar differences. The story begins with Eve on the day after her creation; Twain creates a tone of despair as Eve ponders her situation and existence. â€Å"That is what I AM-an experiment; just an experiment, and nothing more† (Twain 10). As Eve deducts that there must be a counterpart to her existence, her disposition abruptly changes from anguish to optimism. Through this character development, Twain portrays companionship as Eve’s salvation and furthermore, mocks the modern idea of the contingency of a woman’s survival on that of a man’s. Eve’s perception changes as abruptly as her disposition. Once her mind is at ease, she becomes conscious and appreciative of her surroundings. â€Å"This majestic new world is indeed a most noble and beautiful work. And certainly marvelously near to being perfect, notwithstanding the shortness of the time† (Twain 14). Twain uses Eve’s passionate and enthusiastic mentality as a personification of the model of femininity according to nineteenth century stereotypes. The diction and timing of Adam’s introduction exaggerates Eve’s naivety and sets a precedent for Twain’s exploration of their paradoxical relationship.  Eve’s entry reads, â€Å"All the week I tagged around after him and tried to get acquainted. I had to do the talking, because he was shy, but I didn’t mind it. He seemed pleased to have me around, and I used the sociable ‘we’ a good deal, because it seemed to flatter him to be included† (Twain 35). Though it is told from Eve’s perspective, Twain wants the reader to negate Eve’s idealization when reading of her interactions with Adam. When one does so, Adam’s annoyance with Eve is apparent. In addition, Twain makes a considerable effort to portray Adam as haughty, cynical, and drastically unattached in comparison to Eve; Twain uses Adam as a personification of stereotypical conception of masculinity. â€Å"During the last day or two I have taken all the work of naming things off his hands, and this has been a great relief to him, for he has no gift in that line, and is evidently very grateful† (Twain 178). If interpreted in the manner Twain intended, it is clear that Adam has no concern with naming the creatures and is equally indifferent towards Eve. Twain develops these satirical personifications even further to serve two slightly less superficial purposes. Twain uses these conceptions to delve into the profound relationship between men and women but also to denounce them through his diction. Twain’s defiance begins with his decision to give Eve, a woman, the predominant voice in the narrative. He shows further disregard for popular opinion when he tells of the creation of fire. â€Å"I had created something that didn’t exist before; I had added a new thing to the world’s uncountable properties; I realized this, and was proud of my achievement, and was going to run and find him and tell him about it, thinking to raise myself in his esteem-but I reflected, and did not do it. No-he would not care for it† (Twain 67). Twain’s decision to credit such a pivotal aspect of human survival to a woman exhibits either an immense reverence for women or a severe distain for unoriginal thought. Regardless, Twain’s upheaval of the hierarchy of traditional Western gender roles transcends time and leaves the reader to contemplate the validity of gender roles. Ursula LeGuin, a published and renowned author of short stories herself, discusses the prevalence of personification of stereotypical gender roles  within _Adam and Eve’s Diary_. LeGuin argues that Twain’s personifications of gender stereotypes are the most important aspect of any literally analysis of works by Mark Twain (LeGuin 32). Deviating slightly from the focus of LeGuin’s analysis, the most important purpose of â€Å"Eve’s Diary† to be the paradoxical relationship between men and women. As the journal progresses, so does the connection between Adam and Eve. Although their differences remain vast, Adam and Eve demonstrate a dynamic reliance on one another. They compliment one another in a sense of discord; their stereotypical personas seem to become less obtrusive as they grow together. Through Eve, Adam is humbled and learns to be appreciative and observant of his surroundings. Adam has a similar effect on Eve; her interest in aesthetics diminishes and while she remains optimistic, she is not so dangerously naà ¯ve. The story digresses to forty years later, with Adam at Eve’s grave. Adam’s eulogy for his lifeless wife is ingeniously engineered to resonate with nearly every reader. He says, â€Å"Wheresoever she was, THERE was Eden† (Twain 129). Adam, and therefore the male gender collectively, possessed a magnetic dependence on Eve that was as involuntary as the polar differences between the two. Twain accomplished a feat that the laws of nature could not; through â€Å"Adam and Eve’s Diary,† Twain provides an unprecedented look into why men and women attract in circumstances that should naturally repel them from one another. Works Cited LeGuin, Ursula K. Introduction. The Diaries of Adam and Eve. By Mark Twain. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. XXXI-XLI. Twain, Mark. _Adam and Eve’s Diary_ â€Å"Eve’s Diary, Complete.† Project Gutenburg. 14 June 2004. PDF iBook.

Buying decision process for a house Essay

The consumer decision making process involves following five stages – 1. Problem recognition 2. Information search 3. Evaluation of alternatives 4. Purchase decision 5. Post-purchase behavior Problem recognition – With my shifting from India, for the purpose of studies and being with my son and daughter-in-law, and also imminent birth of my grandkid, the present rented apartment of two bed room is likely to be too congested for all of us. This factor along with betterment of my son`s financial affordability to own a house, led us to conclude that we needed a bigger independent, single family house in a good neighborhood. Information search – a. Search for good neighborhood – criteria – towns having good schools in the vicinity of dental business of son. Search based on the opinion of friends and relatives (personal) and online search (commercial). b. Having finalized a few towns, other search criteria for searching appropriate house were used which included size of the house, condition of house and age of the house, and budget, in the selected towns. Again the sources of information were real estate websites, such as Zillow, leading to brokers (one of them was selected based on reviews of his/her services) and independent search. Having failed to locate existing house of our choice, we started looking for another option. c. The next option was constructing a house in a selected locality through a builder contractor. The contractor was again finalized on the basis of online reviews regarding contractor’s quality of construction and fairness in dealings. The contractor suggested a few sites (consideration set). One of them was selected (decision stage) on the basis of location, vastu shashtra, the science of architecture and construction. d. Next stage was selection of type and design of house based on the availability of funds. For funds banks were approached for pre-approval, according to our need. Having decided the budget for the house, contractor’s proposals for few designs and facilities in the proposed house (consideration set) were examined. Evaluation and alternatives – This stage was used three times in the process – 1. When already constructed houses were considered, evaluations of different houses shown by the agent led to rejection of all the proposals. 2. Evaluation of various sites, led to selection of one of the sites based on vastu shashtra (beliefs) and location. 3. Evaluation of various designs proposed by the builder contractor, led to selection of a design depending on our budget, facilities, and requirements/expectations. Purchase decision – The final selection (purchase decision) was made on the factors listed above as well as on the opinion of the family, through joint consultations. Bank loan approvals, on the basis of design, estimate submitted by the contractor and credit history of the borrower, were obtained. The contractor started construction with necessary inputs from us from time to time as the construction progressed. Post-purchase use – We are delighted at the pace of construction, timely completion and quality. We recommend the contractor to our friends. The various stages of purchase decisions were used in various sub-purchases, such as kitchen appliances, kitchen cabinets and countertops, electric fixtures, tiles and carpets, sprinkler system, etc.