2001 A Space Odyssey Essays - Fiction, Space Odyssey Series

2001: A Space Odyssey The concept of space travel has been an interest to many since the beginning of time. Today, scientists are moving at a comfortable pace to expand our vast knowledge of the universe. Many authors dreamed of the possibilities while scientists tried to bring them to reality. The book 2001: A Space Odyssey, written by Arthur C. Clarke in the 1960's, proposed ideas about advanced space travel that took place in a time period only two years from now; however, at the current rate of the space program, mankind is nowhere near the technology showed by the book. Clarke uses concepts of space travel that can still only be dreamed of today. Clarke, an author of the sixties, had ventured out to write a book on a subject that many people had scarce knowledge of. However, since Myths and tales of flying to the Moon or the stars are probably as old as humankind, many were interested (Lewis 16). People wanted to read a book that had ideas in it that were beyond the grasp of humankind. Although many of his ideas seemed impossible to accomplish, surprisingly, Clarke proposed a number of realistic ideas. For example, in 1945 Clarke proposed using satellites to relay communications to different parts of Earthmore than 20 years before the first satellite was launched (17). Clarke had stunned many scientists with the proposition of his satellite communication ideas. Furthermore, Clarke could recreate any space travel image of his dreams through his book. His only concern was to make the ideas as imaginable as possible. Unfortunately, scientists knew real istically the universe is determined to throw in every road block that can be imagined (Carroll 1). Space is much more complicated than Clarke could imagine, and modern day scientists know that. The present day space program does not have the technology to accomplish the missions which were proposed in the book. For example, Clarke had the idea for an interstellar mission to Jupiter. It had begun, five years ago, as Project Jupiter the first manned round trip to the greatest of the planets (Clarke 85). According to the book, this mission had been started two years ago from present day. The current space program cannot accomplish a mission of this calabur. However, many modern day scientists know Interstellar travel is real and possible (Mallove 1). Keeping this in mind, scientists have an incentive to keep advancing everyday. The current day space program is advancing one step at a time. So far, In exploring the planets, it has been robotic technology (Lewis 160). A manned flight to a distant planet was and still is a dream to modern day scientists. However, Clarke was able to recreate this dream and make space travel become an easy everyday process. The space program in the book is so advanced that it is portrayed as a much more lax operation than present day. Today, the space program can only send a carefully selected group of elites to travel into space. The modern day program . . . Demanded the selection of new types of astronauts. Pilots would still be needed to control the Space Shuttle, but different skills would be required to perform space walks, operate the Shuttles robot arm and deploy satellites (Davies 146). Since missions are so expensive, they need to be fully accomplished thus requiring the best astronauts anyone can find. Furthermore, the missions found in the book were considered routine. Contrastingly, present day standards would describe them as explicit and gone about in a more careful manner. An ordinary civilian in the book . . . Had been to Mars once, to the Moon three times, and to the various space stations more often than he could remember (Clarke 35). The civilian had not been through the process of tr aining or selection as is required today. Since Clarke portrayed spaceflight as an easy operation, small missions had seemed to become unimportant. When about to take off, there was none of that old-fashioned FIVE-FOUR-THREE-TWO-ONE-ZERO business (39). Launches in the book were much more sophisticated and relaxed. However, since launches today still use the countdown, the book seems to refer to present day launches as old-fashioned (39). While the book makes

Holocaust essays

Holocaust essays The Holocaust was the most horrific time that man has known. To survive this atrocity, the Holocaust victims man upon man atrocity, one had to summon bravery, strength, courage, and wisdom that many did not know they possessed. One survivor is Elie Wiesel, whose exquisite writings have revealed the world of horror suffered by the Jewish people. Elie Wiesel's statement, "...to remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all..." stands as a succinct summary of his views on life and serves as the driving force of his work. Elie Wiesel was born as Eliezer, a free Jewish male, on September 30, 1928, in the remote town of Sighet, Hungary. The third child and only male of four, his family was prosperous and respected within the town. In 1941, life was good for the Wiesel family, and the Sighet Jews. Unaware of the turmoil in the world around him, Eliezer was content with studying his religion, and enjoying life as the son of a father with high political connections. He was devoted to his studies to love and serve his god. He was befriended by one of the locals, Moche the Beadle, who agreed to be his spiritual Master. Gradually, in seemingly insignificant, isolated instances, life for the Sighet Jews began to change. Sometime toward the end of 1941, the foreign Jews were expelled from this town, sent to destinations unknown to any of them. This included his Master, Moche. Moche returned in late 1942 with horrific accounts of what he had witnessed. He (Moche) told his story and that of his companions. The train full of deportees had crossed the Hungarian frontier and on Polish territory had been taken in charge by the Gestapo. There it had stopped. The Jews had to get out and climb into lorries. The lorries drove toward the forest. The Jews were made to get out. They were made to dig huge graves. And when they had finished their work, the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion, without haste, they slaughtered their prisoners. Each...

Regional Coordination for Tourism Planning Research Paper

Regional Coordination for Tourism Planning - Research Paper Example The growing global concern about environment has contributed to the concept of sustainable ‘ecotourism’ from which some regions like Maldives, Kenya and Belize have taken advantage by maintaining their natural resources to target tourism market (Moutinho 2000). This paper in particular, will discuss the point that regional coordination is essential in tourism planning in order to attain the policy objectives at their anticipated levels. To illustrate, a plan that aims tourism development of a particular region has to be comprised of socio-economic, legal, environmental, and religious components. As the initial stages of development, the tourism policy must focus on providing adequate facilities to accommodate and entertain the visitors. Moreover such places must be equipped with all basic facilities like water, telephone, banking; currency exchange etc. transport is another important area which needs special attention. All modes of transportations whether air, water or road have their own roles in the sustainability of tourism industry. All the above factors can be assimilated only through the coordination of local governments, stakeholders, and the residents of the locality. Tourism planning is neither top-down nor bottom-up process; instead, it is an interactive or collaborative approach that involves the various processes like governess between organisations and stakeholders, and interaction between various levels of organisation (Bramwell & Lane 2000, p.146). However, what kind of development plan is required depends on the geographical feature of an area. In general sense, developmental initiatives and strategic concerns come within the following areas. Environmental issues have grown to be one of the major concerns of tourism planning all over the world. Hence, all policies including infrastructure developmental strategies should ensure the conservation of the environment

Business management (innovating ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business management (innovating ) - Essay Example Some of these concepts include agency or power, obligatory point of passage, actors, and the actor network theory among others. This paper shall delve in the significance of these concepts if applied to the case of the life and death of an aircraft, the masses analyses, and the Callon scallops paper. In this chapter, authors Law & Callon (1992) explore the consequences associated with the technical changes that happen during the duration of completing a technological innovation. They believe that even by starting technological innovation in a particular industry let alone an aircraft industry, changes can happen at some point during this duration. For instance, a technological project may require hundreds of thousands of ideas, thousands of workers, millions or even billions of money, highly intellectual specialists on sciences, engineering, and business, and, of course, the materials needed in the operation such as machines, designs, parts, etc. (Law & Callon 1992). The socio-technical context of technical change suggests the importance of having a global network, which harmoniously organizes everything in a sense that as consequences for every individual actor may become too significant to affect the overall outcome of the technological project, adjustments can be made accordi ngly. This network of actors makes the operation more manageable and easy to understand; it generates more time, space, and a set of resources in which innovation may take place (Law & Callon 1992). The strength of the global network depends on how strong its external connections, internal mobilization and obligatory point of passage are. For example, in building an aircraft, local network may have to come up with a design and develop production facilities; global network may serve as the securer of operations funding. In other words, the global network that is being talked about and employed in this context of the paper means

Journal #2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal #2 - Assignment Example The wallet might communicate a message that I love and feel proud of my name, since I have its initials inscribed on my wallet. My wrist watch hold a special place amongst my personal items, since it was given to me as a birthday present by my childhood friend who relocated from our state after our high school graduation, and his friendship spot has never been filled to present day. The wrist watch might communicate that I highly value gold watches, even though the real reason I always have it is because I loved my childhood friend very much and it always reminds me of him. The family photograph in my wallet reminds me of my loving family and helps me to always keep emotionally attached to them. The photograph might communicate that I love and value my family very much, that is why I always have their photograph with me. The ‘Thank You’ card reminds me of the voluntary services I offered at a hospice during my sophomore summer holiday, where I helped attend to old and terminally ill patients in a local hospital. The local hospital in turn sent me the ‘Thank You’ card as an appreciation of my effort and services. a. Self-disclosure refers to a communication approach that entails an individual revealing personal information related to his/her history and the present, more so as related to emotions and thoughts (Zur, 2011). b. I regularly self-disclose to my childhood friend almost every issue that affects my life no matter how much confidential it might seem to be, since he does the same with me. The reason for self-disclosing to my friend is because we have grown up together and he knows virtually everything about my life, my family background and all the childhood activities and memories that I cherish. Having been of the same age, I and my childhood friend spent most of the times together since we hailed from the same

The benefits of mental toughness in sport

The benefits of mental toughness in sport ABSTRACT On the basis of advantages that a mental toughness can offer to a performer, the study was designed to develop the understanding of the components of mental toughness in sport. The purpose of this study was to identify the components of mental toughness as perceived by the researcher and was guided by the two questions, which are as follows: What are the components of mental toughness and To what degree those components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable to a particular player. 10 cricket players ageing from fourteen years of age to twenty years of age were selected for the research so that they have enough experience to answer the questions in the research. The procedure of this was that the research is based on the questionnaire of mental toughness given by Sparkes in 1998. Each participant had to fill the questionnaire for the purpose of evaluating the importance and trainability of twenty different components of mental toughness. INTRODUCTION Cricket is one of the most popular games having a very high viewership and followers. Cricket is basically a mental game that requires a lot of psychological skills in addition to basic playing skills. These skills make player a champion and different from ordinary player. He (champion) is able to display his psychological as well as playing skills during the course of the game. Among the various psychological skills, mental toughness is an important psychological factor that effect’s player’s performance in matches. Sometimes, cricket teams despite their talents lose their matches. The researches on these poor performance lead to the finding that the players in these teams lack mental toughness and the ability to bounce back from the setback of losses. There is an evident to prove it when cricket’s great legend Sir Vivian Richards attributed the Indian cricket team’s loss in West Indies during the cricket world cup 2007 in the first round as the lack of m ental toughness in Indian players. Loehr (1986), he popularised the term mental toughness in sports performance and contested that at least half of superior performances can be due to mental toughness. Mental toughness is regarded as the most important factor in sports to achieve the goals and perform excellent. Jones, Hanton and Connaughton (2002), they stated that mental toughness can be defined as having a natural or developed psychological edge that helps or enables a player to generally cope better than his opponents in many demands (competition, training) and specifically would be more consistent and better than the opponents in remaining focused and determined and goal oriented in his sport. Attributes of mental toughness (Sparkes 1998), he talked about twelve different attributes that a player should have to be ideally mentally tough performer. For further investigation of mental toughness, the following questions were developed to guide this research. What are the essential components of mental toughness as perceived by the cricketers? To what degree are these stated components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable? On the basis of these two major criteria, the player was asked the following questions: I can bounce back from the from the set back as a result of increased determination to succeed. I have an unshakable self belief that i possess the unique qualities that make me better than my opponents. I have an insatiable desire and internalised motive to succeed. I remain fully focused on the task in hand in the face of competition- specific distractions. I am able to regain psychological control if facing uncontrollable situations. I can push back the boundaries of emotional and physical pain, while still maintaining techniques and effort in distress in training and competition. I accept that competition anxiety is inevitable and knowing that i can cope with it. I don’t get adversely affected by other’s good or the bad performances. I can thrive on the pressure of competition. I remain fully focused in the face of personal life distractions REVIEW OF LITERATURE The present study was undertaken to explore the physiological profile of the cricket players and to find to what degree their mental toughness, goal orientation actually helps them in their performances. The result showed that there is no significant correlation between mental toughness and different types of goal orientation i.e. task orientation and ego orientation. At the same time, the motivation dimension of mental toughness was found to be significantly related to both ego and goal orientation. (Duda and Hall,2001) Moreover task orientation has been found to be positively associated with various indicators of motivation, including intrinsic motivation positive affect and the tendency to seek out the new and challenging experiences and to try hard in difficult situations. (Ntoumanis and Biddle, 1999) â€Å"The general lack of clarity and precision surrounding the term mental toughness is unfortunate, since it ism arguably one of the most important physiological attributes in achieving performance excellence. (Jones, 2002) Another study conducted by researchers stated that mental toughness is an important physiological characteristic of the game. (Gould, 1987, 1993 and 2002); (Williams, 1998);( Jones, 2002) â€Å"It appears therefore, that virtually any desirable positive psychological characteristic associated with sporting success has been labelled as mental toughness at one time or the other†. (Jones,2002) METHOD This chapter will discuss the participants, procedure, analysis and instrument used in the study. This study involves both quantitative and qualitative measures of the components of the mental toughness of sportspersons. PARTICIPANTS This, study consisted of 10 male cricketers from the division 3 and 2 category of cricket teams in the city. A mix of different teams and players were chosen to increase the diversity of the group. Each participant was needed to have a minimum of three years of playing cricket so that they can answer the questions in their knowledgeable way. INSTRUMENTATION The instrument used in this study is the questionnaire comprised of twenty questions of mental toughness. These twenty questions comprised of twelve different components of mental toughness and eight components of preservance that were given by Sparkes in 1998. Each component was assessed by participants based on their perception of: The importance of including each component in the construct of mental toughness. The degree to which each component is trainable. The participants assessed both the importance and the degree to which the component is trainable, using a 5 point scale. Besides this two additional questions were also asked which are as follows: Are there other components of mental toughness that should be included which are not there in the questionnaire? Do you believe that there is any component that could be combined to form an individual, essential component of mental toughness? PROCEDURE When the questionnaire of mental toughness (Sparkes,1998) was adopted by the researcher, he then approached 10 different cricketers and asked them to fill up the questionnaire. Researcher also made sure that the identity of the players will be kept confidential i.e. it would not be disclosed to anyone. Researcher sat down with the players and asked them the questions and marked the answers himself. 1

The Media: Creating Controversy to Make a Quick Buck :: Race and the Media Essays

It seems that the world likes controversy because it is everywhere; on television, online, and in the newspaper. In this technology era, we can’t to get away from controversy, due to easy access on our smartphones, tablets, and lab tops. Controversy can be found in many situations in our lives and found in many subjects in the media, for example sex, religion, politics and a lot of time when it comes to race. The first topic discussed will be what is controversy? Next, is controversy need in the media? Then, why is controversy used in the media and is it necessary? As well as should controversial content be removed from the media and would removing controversy content make a difference in any way to the audience. This essay will also discuss how media presents different sides of the issue and how the media affects public opinion on the Travon Martin murder in Florida. Discussing these topics will also help us understand how to decipher controversy, in the way of does contr oversy help resolve or exacerbate controversial situations in the media. Controversy is a lengthy public disagreement or debate over many conflicting opinions. In the media there is no shortage of controversy. It seems that all controversy are over the following topics, politics, religion, sex, economics, finances, culture and race (P. Ferreira, 2013). I would not say controversy is needed in American or even the world. However America and even the entire world were built on controversy (Davenport, 2012). Since we all do not share the same opinions in every aspect or major topics in the world, because of this controversy is created sometimes voluntary and involuntary. What the media does is bring all opinions from within America and around the world to a large group of people, which in turns creates controversy out in the open to the public. Controversy is need in the world, because without it we would not know or learn all other aspects to a specific topic. For example, the crime in America is higher than other countries in the world. Some people would say that it is due to the exorbitant gun-ownership in America (Davenport, 2012). However other people’s opinions say it is not guns that kill people it is people that kill people, and other say it is the people that locate guns illegally that commit most of the killing in America.

Doctor Zhivago

http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/562734/Stalinism http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Doctor_Zhivago Stalinism in Russia The novel Doctor Zhivago, although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, was not completed until 1956. The novel was submitted to the literary journal Novy Mir. However, the editors declined Pasternak's novel because of its embedded rejection of socialist realism. The author, much like Zhivago in the story, showed more concern for the interests of individuals than for the welfare of the social order.Soviet censors interpreted some passages as anti-communist and more idealistic. They were also infuriated by Pasternak's understated disparagement of Stalinism and his references to the Gulag. In 1957, an Italian publisher, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, organized for the novel to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union by Isaiah Berlin. Much to the Soviet Union’s dismay, Feltrinelli simultaneously published copies in both Russian and in Italian. Deman d for Doctor Zhivago was so great Feltrinelli was able to authorize translation rights into eighteen different languages long before the novel's publication.The Communist Party of Italy debarred Feltrinelli from their association in retribution for his role in the publication of a novel they felt was vital for communism. On the other hand, the novel topped international bestseller lists, the British MI6 and the American CIA commenced an operation to ensure Doctor Zhivago was correctly submitted to the Nobel Committee. It was known that a Nobel Prize for Boris Pasternak would seriously damage the international integrity of the Soviet Union.In result to this, British and American operatives seized and photographed a manuscript of the novel and privately printed a small number of books in the Russian language. These were submitted to the Nobel Committee's surprised judges just ahead of the deadline. The fictional story, Doctor Zhivago, is about a physician and poet named Doctor Yuri Zh ivago, who lives during the first half of the 20th century in Russia. In this story, Yuri Zhivago’s brother, Yevgraf, a Russian general, relays the story of his brother Yuri to a teen girl, Tonya Komarovskaya.Yevgraf believes Tonya is Yuri’s daughter, who was inadvertently abandoned when she was a small child. He first asks Tonya if she can recall anything about her mother. When she said she could not remember he tries to convince her by starting at the beginning of Yuri’s story. To understand Yuri’s life tale and how it relates to Stalinism, one must know the major themes of the novel; loneliness, companionship, individuality, community, corruption and revolution. Yuri’s story begins when he was a small child, his mother died and he had been taken in by the Gromekos, who were family friends.With the loss of his mother, Yuri, must have felt alone until he began to develop a relationship with the Gromeko’s daughter, Tonya. As Yuri and Tonya g rew up, it was anticipated they would marry. When they finally married, Yuri needed to leave to help the wounded soldiers in the Russian Civil War. There he met Laura, a woman who had volunteered for the war so she could find her husband, Pasha. She became a nurse, assisting Yuri with the injured. They began to build a relationship during their time together, though it started friendly, it soon became romantic.About the time they were going to be leaving for home they made a promise to each other, promising that they will not lie about their â€Å"friendship. † The film shows a vase of sunflowers as Laura and the soldiers leave Zhivago behind. These flowers are a symbol of the relationship Yuri had with Laura; the flowers were in full bloom when Laura was there but when she departed they began to wilt, like Yuri’s heart. When Yuri’s arrived at the Gromeko’s house, also his home, there were other people living in the large house.These people were told to l ive there by the Soviet government because the house was too big for just the Gromeko family. During his time back in his â€Å"own† home he is asked, by a Soviet official, to go in secret to the home of a dying man. Zhivago goes and takes a look at the man and determines the cause of his illness. He says the cause of the man’s illness is something they don’t have in Russia, starvation. When he says this to the official he says it in such a way that shows the communist are either blind for they don’t care. Zhivago is an idealist and therefore does not like the Communists and in return his behavior is noticed.One night when Yuri comes home he sees that Tonya had put out the fire in their home because they did not have enough fuel. To solve their fuel problems he goes outside and takes wood from a nearby fence. Watching from a distance is Yevgraf, who decides not to arrest his brother even though he had arrested better men for lesser crimes. Instead he foll ows his brother back to his home. He comes into the house and this is how Yuri meets his brother. Before Yevgraf leaves he tells Yuri, the government does not like his poetry because it shows individuality. Yevgraff warns them, telling them they should leave Moscow.Yuri and his family get on a train to leave Moscow and go to Varykino. The people on the train are all poor and quite but one of the men was very vocal in his disapproval of revolution. Before the train left a Communist soldier was telling the people on the train how they were on the train and that the work they would be asked to do was all voluntary. The vocal man shouted at him saying it was a lie. Later in the train ride, they come to a stop as Strelnikov’s train comes past theirs. Strelikov, or Pasha, was an idealist before the Civil War, but he soon became one of the communists.Yuri get off of his train while they are stopped and he runs through the wood and comes across the Strelnikov train. The Red Army sold iers take him to Pasha, where the two men finally meet. Yuri informs Pasha that Laura is still alive and how it was that he and Laura had met. He also said she was in Yuriatin. What neither of the two men knew was that Laura was being watched. The people that were watching, the White Army, Laura were hoping Strelnikov would come go home to his wife, they wanted to kill him. Pasha was killed when he was found just outside of Yuriatin.Victor Kamarovsky found Laura and Yuri in Yuri’s old home, he told them he had a train that would take them out of Russia where they would be safe. At first neither Yuri would not go because he did not want to leave Russia and Laura would not leave without Yuri. When Victor told Yuri what happened to Pasha Yuri decided he would go for Laura’s sake. Laura and her daughter took the same slay as Victor but there was no room for Yuri. He told Laura he would follow on there slay and he would meet up at the train. Before they leave Yuri gave Laur a the Balalaika. This was a sign that Yuri had no intentions of leaving Russia.On the train Laura admits to Victor she is caring Yuri’s baby. This child is later inadvertently abandoned by Victor. The Russian government was corrupted; on one hand they had the Bolsheviks who were communist and tried to â€Å"sugar coat† the political and economical faults, such as, starvation, poverty and homelessness. While on the other hand, there was the White Army, who were a democratic party wanting to reveal the corruption for what it was. This split in the government led to the Russian Civil War. In the end the Bolsheviks won the war and took hold of the government.When power was given to the Bolsheviks they ruled with a method created by Joseph Stalin. Stalinism is the technique used by Joseph Stalin, who was part of the Soviet Communist Party and was the state leader from 1929 until he died in 1953. Stalinism is accompanied with an establishment of terror and totalitarian rule. In a party dominated by intellectuals and rhetoricians, Stalin stood for an ideal approach to revolution, barren of ideological sentiment. Once power was given to the Bolshevik, the party leadership happily left Stalin the tasks involving the boring details of party and state administration.Yuri’s story relays what life was like under Stalin’s communist rule. The solitude the people of Russia felt, the need for individuality and the corruption they saw in the government; these were the things the communists were trying to hide. The communist wanted the people to see companionship with their community and that they needed the revolution. Pasternak’s novel was an idealist’s point of view of the Russian government and was everything the Bolsheviks did not want the public to read. It showed how the Bolsheviks were trying to control the emotions and personalities of the people.

Glass Menagerie essays

Glass Menagerie essays For centuries, men and women from all over the world have seen in America a place where they could realize their dreams. We each dream our own American Dream. For some it is a vision of material prosperity, for others it can be a feeling of secure and safe. It can be the dream of setting goals. It can be about social justice, as Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech of  ¡I have a dream ¡, says  ¡In spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. ¡Ã‚ ¡ We believe in the American Dream because it does not fit with any temporary contentedness, rather it brings us the power for improvement and equality. However, why does the American Dream still fall? The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is considered as the representative of the decline of the American Dream, can give us some ideas of what it is about. The Great Gatsby describes the failure of American Dream, from the point of view that American political ideas conflict with actual conditions that exist. For whereas American democracy is based on the idea of equality among people, the truth is that social discrimination still exists and divisions among the classes cannot be overcome. Myrtle Wilson ¡s attempt to break into the Buchanans fails at last. She struggles herself to fit into an upper social group, pretends to be rich and scorns people from her own class. She does all these because she wants to find a place for herself in Tom Buchanan ¡s class but she does not succeed in doing so. Nearly all the characters in the story are materialistic and this included Fitzgerald himself. Fitzgerald mirrored his nation ¡s new attitude toward money: he was considerably more interested in making and spending it...

MANAGERIAL REPORT Essays - Regression Analysis, Multicollinearity

MANAGERIAL REPORT Essays - Regression Analysis, Multicollinearity MANAGERIAL REPORT INTRODUCTION The purpose of this analysis was to develop a regression model to predict mortality. Data was collected, by researchers at General Motors, on 60 U.S. Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA?s), in a study of whether air pollution contributes to mortality. This data was obtained and randomly sorted into two even groups of 30 cities. A regression model to predict mortality was build from the first set of data and validated from the second set of data. BODY The following data was found to be the key drivers in the model: ? Mean July temperature in the city (degrees F) ? Mean relative humidity of the city ? Median education ? Percent of white collar workers ? Median income ? Suffer dioxide pollution potential The objective in this analysis was to find the line on a graph, using the variables mentioned above, for which the squared deviations between the observed and predicted values of mortality are smaller than for any other straight line model, assuming the differences between the observed and predicted values of mortality are zero. Once found, this ?Least Squared Line? can be used to estimate mortality given any value of above data or predict mortality for any value of above data. Each of the key data elements was checked for a bell shaped symmetry about the mean, the linear (straight line) nature of the data when graphed and equal squares of deviations of measurements about the mean (variance). After determining whether to exclude data points, the following model was determined to be the best model: -3276.108 + 862.9355x1 - 25.37582x2 + 0.599213x3 + 0.0239648x4 + 0.01894907x5 - 41.16529x6 + 0.3147058x7 + See list of independent variables on TAB #1. This model was validated against the second set of data where it was determined that, with 95% confidence, there is significant evidence to conclude that the model is useful for predicting mortality. Although this model, when validated, is deemed suitable for estimation and prediction, as noted by the 5% error ratio (TAB #2), there are significant concerns about the model. First, although the percent of sample variability that can be explained by the model, as noted by the R? value on TAB #3, is 53.1%, after adjusting this value for the number of parameters in the model, the percent of explained variability is reduced to 38.2% (TAB #3). The remaining variability is due to random error. Second, it appears that some of the independent variables are contributing redundant information due to the correlation with other independent variables, known as multicollinearity. Third, it was determined that an outlying observation (value lying more than three standard deviations from the mean) was influencing the estimated coefficients. In addition to the observed problems above, it is unknown how the sample data was obtained. It is assumed that the values of the independent variables were uncontrolled indicating observational data. With observational data, a statistically significant relationship between a response y and a predictor variable x does not necessarily imply a cause and effect relationship. This is why having a designed experiment would produce optimum results. By having a designed experiment, we could, for instance, control the time period that the data corresponds to. Data relating to a longer period of time would certainly improve the consistency of the data. This would nullify the effect of any extreme or unusual data for the current time period. Also, assuming that white collar workers are negatively correlated with pollution, we do not know how the cities were selected. The optimal selection of cities would include an equal number of white collar cities and non white collar cities. ! Furthermore, assuming a correlation of high temperature and mortality, an optimal selection of cities would include an equal number of northern cities and southern cities. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The model has been tested and validated on a second set of data. Although there are some limitations to the model, it appears to provide good results within 95% confidence. If time had permitted, different variations of independent variables could have been tested in order to increase the R? value and decrease the multicolliniarity (mentioned above). However, until more time can be allocated to this project, the results obtained from this model can be deemed appropriate. STATISTICAL REPORT MODEL SELECTION In order to select the best

Exam 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Exam 2 - Essay Example This theoretical model posits that all these forms of bias bear monetary cost that result in lowering the wage level for women even where women and men have the same productive capacity. Statistical discrimination theory refers to the use of statistics – real or assumed – by employers to predict the behavior of a particular group of people and therefore use it as a basis to judge their capabilities, worth, employability and so on. For example an employer could judge the individual woman on the basis of their beliefs about what women do on â€Å"average† (Blau, Ferber, and Winkler 218). The overcrowding model proposes that labor market discrimination results when particular groups â€Å"crowd† to particular jobs either as preference or out of lack of alternatives which results in an oversupply of labor for the few jobs available. Here, the market law of demand and supply makes that group disadvantaged in terms of wages. Finally, the institutional model states that discrimination arises from rigid, internal institutional structures and execution of normal everyday operations of the firm. The institutional model advances that organizations have primary / core jobs and secondary / non-core jobs which offer different levels of growth, benefits and so on. Thus the tract within which an individual starts her career, under the normal company policies, ends up affecting her career progression, wages and benefits and so on (Blau, Ferber, and Winkler 223). The major pieces of legislation enacted in the U.S. to tackle labor market discrimination are the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 focused on eliminating wage discrimination for the same job in the same firm and did not address discrimination in hiring, promotion, training programs, and so on. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was more

Employee management in HM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employee management in HM - Essay Example The present-day HRM approach refutes this fallacy and asserts the view that employees can rightly be considered as very valuable assets which are the major players in the achievement of organizational goals. There has been a lot of controversy about the alignment of HRM practices and establishment of strategy with the goals of the organization (Caldwell R. 2004; Ulrich, 1997: 27). In theory, this sounds plausible, although in practice it requires a significant reorientation in the conventional remit of the personnel function. Ulrich has captured the scope of this new role when he argues that: 'HR professionals become strategic partners when they participate in the process of defining the business strategy, when they ask questions that move the strategy to action and when they design HR practices that align with the business' (1997: 27). Unfortunately, Ulrich is somewhat vague in describing how this 'role change' can be practically enacted and empirical evidence of the emergence of new strategic roles is often contradictory (Caldwell, 2003; CIPD, 2003; Gennard and Kelly, 1997). One of the distinguishing characteristics of HRM is that it seeks to transform the often disparate array of policies associated with traditional personnel management into a strategically co-ordinated or 'integrated' set of policies and processes that improve organisational performance (Caldwell R. 2004). Where this has been achieved there is empirical evidence that organisational performance can improve (MacDuffie, 1995). Conversely, when HRM is unable to affirm its integrative ambition, it loses much of its significance as a distinctive approach to people management and becomes old-style personnel management: 'a collection of incidental techniques without much internal cohesion . . . a hodge podge' (Druker, 1961, quoted in Sisson, 1995: 87). Main Functions of HRM All the models of HRM, whether American or European, are based on the three basic functions of HRM which are Recruitment and Selection; Performance Evaluation/Management and Rewards Management & Career Growth. These are discussed in detail in the following text: Recruitment & Selection Human resources recruitment and selection decisions are widely regarded as some of the most important decisions made in organizations (Ferris et al 1999). Furthermore, a principal focus of staffing decisions is the employment interview, so it is appropriate to examine this decision-making tool with respect to influence and politics. Research has continued on how influence tactics in the employment interview affect interviewer decisions, following some of the suggestions for future research proposed by Ferris and Judge (1991). Kacmar, Delery, and Ferris (1992) conducted an investigation that was designed to assess the relative effectiveness of two types of influence tactics used by applicants on interviewer decisions. They found that interviewers gave higher ratings and recommendations for job offers to applicants who employed self-promotion tactics than those who used ingratiation-type tactics (Ferris et al 1999). To illustrate this further, in a carefully conducted investigation, Stevens and Kristof (1995) reported evidence of