Thursday, October 31, 2019
Sampling size and sample size for qualitative research Coursework
Sampling size and sample size for qualitative research - Coursework Example There are many factors that divide the population into sub-populations. This study expects that the measurement of interest may vary significantly among different strata. The variation has to be captured when selecting a sample from the whole population in order to obtain a sample that represents the whole population (LeCompte & Schensul, 2010). This is very significant in eliminating any form of biasness. A stratified sample is obtained through taking samples from each stratum of the whole population. As a result, each characteristic that is unique within the population which is under study is captured. This plays a significant role in reducing any potential for human bias when selecting cases to be incorporated in the sample (Ryan, 2013). Therefore, this strategy will enable me to come up with a sample that is highly representative, assuming that there will be no cases of missing data which might affect the overall results of the study. Reducing sampling error is one of the major goals of any selection technique while conducting a research. Although other sampling techniques are less expensive and time consuming, they are bound to have several errors that might affect the overall results of the study. Therefore, the fact that each stratum is incorporated in the sample and all the variables that might affect the results are taken into consideration makes this strategy to be more effective in comparison with others. Since the samples are selected using probabilistic methods, stratified sampling method will enable me to make statistical conclusions after analyzing the data that will be collected. This will be critical in identifying whether the data will be valid or not and whether there will be some other factors that will need to be taken under consideration. Furthermore, relative to simple random sample, this strategy is more superior because it will improve the potential for the units to be evenly spread across the
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
A lawyers dilemma using Natural Law and Utilitarianism moral theories Essay
A lawyers dilemma using Natural Law and Utilitarianism moral theories - Essay Example In other words, a legal system which cannot be justified by its reason has no power. According to natural law, as defined in encyclopedia Britannica online, humans have the right to make moral judgments, and this is the true law; not the arbitrary power of the state. As Donald (n.d.) states, the proponents of natural law point out that people are naturally capable of knowing what they need to do in order to lead the life that they are physically fitted to live. Thus, one can undoubtedly say that the lawyers were bound by natural law to disclose the details of the death of his daughter to the person who came to them seeking details. Worsening the situation, they could not reveal the same in the court too as revealing the same was against ‘the letter and spirit of their professional duty’. A look into the case proves that Garrow was taking this contradiction with state law and natural law for granted. This was the reason why he disclosed the whole story to the lawyers and then tried to hide the same in the Court and acted as if he was insane. In fact, this is a classic example of the situations in which people defeat humanity taking advantage of the deficiency in man-made laws and the contradiction between state law and natural law.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Impact of Conflict on Human Capital Development
Impact of Conflict on Human Capital Development Living Amid Conflict and its Implications to Human Capital Development By Alexander Ken P. Libranza Introduction The adverse effects of the outbreak and recurrence of conflict can be dangerous because of its long-term economic implications that may force a country into a vicious cycle of low human capital development and conflict (Kim et al, 2010). A common stand among recent literature suggests that conflict destroys the process of accumulating physical and human capital, which deteriorates the labor force and in turn affects institutional capacity (Justino, 2011; Nkurunziza, 2008; Serneels et al, 2010). Most researches on civil wars and armed conflict has been focused on the macro-level of analysis, as noted by Stewart Valpy (2001), that largely address the economic and social consequences concentrating on the prevalence of underdevelopment among conflict-affected countries. However, very few researchers talk about the micro-level impacts of conflicts on household and individual. One possible reason is the unavailability of household-level data in conflict-affected countries. Second, even wh en such data are available the reliability of the source and the sample is also being questioned. Although, empirical works are growing, the increasing micro-level researches has been greatly focused on the effects of war to household living standards and direct impacts of combats that involves narratives of individuals in conflict areas. Very limited works has addressed the long term effects of violent conflict on children and child development, most especially on the Philippine context. Drawing on a review of both theoretical and empirical literature, this paper frames the connection between armed conflict and human capital development within a conceptual framework in which the accumulation of nutrition and education and levels of human development are linked. This paper further shows that while armed conflict might be caused by many factors, low levels of human development increase the risks of conflict outbreaks and recurrence. Figure 1: Adopted from Kim Conceià §Ãƒ £o (2010), â€Å"The Economic Crisis, Violent Conflict, and Human Development†Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study. This framework suggests a self-reinforcing cycle from the roots and cause of armed conflict to low human capital development, and vice versa. The decade-long armed conflict in the Philippines is a proof of this loop. Concentrated in rural areas, variations of insecurities and violence has affected communities especially children and women who are forced to suffer physical and psychological trauma as consequences from shooting, combat operations, and rights abuse. While conflict maybe caused by many factors, Risser (2007) traces its roots to the issues of poverty, economic distribution disparities, and scarcity of state social and welfare services. These becomes a problem because it limits access to health care services and basic education which is critical for the accumulation of physical, social, and human capital. The framework further notes that a country experiencing conflict cannot secure long term returns for investments in both physical and human capital, resulting in low investment in health and education which lead to low levels of human development. A country with low levels of human development has a difficulty in improving institutions which lowers productivity and potential growth. As such, lower growth rates heighten the risk of conflict, potentially trapping a country in a self-reinforcing cycle of conflict, low human development, and vice versa (Kim Conceicao, 2010). In the period of 2001-2005, IBON Foundation monitored 1,061 armed confrontations between the government forces and various armed groups and recorded 569 killing of innocent, unarmed civilians – 52 of which are minors under 18-years old, 63 women, and 199 who were killed during the crossfire. Over the last decade, millions of children were killed in armed conflicts all over the world (Machel, 1996). While others are exploited as soldiers and exposed to extreme brutality and violence (Camacho, 2003). It is estimated that 45 percent of the direct victims of armed conflict are 15 years old and younger. Moreover, there were 819 incident of human rights violations involving children from 2001 to April 2005. Children suffered effects of sexual violence, harassment and psychological trauma, intimidation, illegal detention, and exposure to hunger and disease. There were 75 cases of children who were orphaned when their parents were killed during the conflict, however this number may be underreported due to the lack of data, limited information, and unreliability of the sources. Exposure to actual combats and being caught in the crossfire of battles has left them physically disabled, emotionally scarred, and psychologically traumatized which are detrimental in accumulating the proper human and social capital to become well-adjusted and productive workers. This research relates to various fields in the literature, in particular for development economics, health and nutrition, and education. I briefly mention below the key areas in the mentioned field of study that motivates this research. First is on the established link between economic conditions and conflict. There has been a great deal of work analyzing the causal effects of conflict and war. Most of these studies extensively focused on establishing a strong link between poverty to armed conflict and violence (Justino, 2006; Justino, 2009; Miguel et al., 2004). Macro-level analysis, as noted by Stewart, F. Valpy F. (2001), has provided an insight on the economic and social consequences of conflict focusing on the prevalence of underdevelopment among conflict-affected countries. However, there has been limited number of studies focusing at the micro-level impacts of conflicts on household and individual. The increasing micro-level data has been greatly focused on the effects of war to household living standards, direct impacts of combats, and very limited on children and child development especially on the Philippine context. Second is the relationship of health to socio-economic characteristics, and its implications to consumption patterns. Serdan (2008) gave an overview of how armed conflict affects food intakes, food availability, and a clear measurement indicators of nutritional outcomes for children. In addition, Straus and Thomas (2008) noted how health and nutrition affects the accumulation of human capital, as well as its positive effects to productivity and living standards. Third is relating nutrition to academic performance. In fact, academic performance and nutrition, as important elements in the accumulation of proper human and social capital, has been the subject of the growing literature demonstrating the long term impacts of conflict to the productivity of the workforce, their well-being, as well as living standards (Thomas, 2007; Berhman et al., 2004; Malluccio et al., 2006, Serdan, 2008). Furthermore, a unanimous agreement establishes health as an important factor for determining the well-being of the population which affects schooling, income, and labor force participation (Serdan, 2008; Alderman et al., 2006; Shemyakina, 2006; Swee 2009). In all, existing researches are clear: the effects or armed conflict and violence represent a significant challenge to the health and education systems. This further qualifies both the short-term and long-term economic implications of armed conflict to the different sectors of the economy. This paper examines the possible causal effects of armed conflict and violence on health outcomes and education of children. In particular, I analyzed if the exposure to armed conflict and violence has a differential effect on the nutrition and academic performance of conflict-affected children, and comparing these results to those children from non-armed conflict areas. When it comes to peace development, this quantitative research will contribute to the lack of data around conflict-affected areas towards creating an impact assessment for conflict and post-conflict rehabilitation programs. The main issue is the gap between academic studies and practitioner works that has been due to the limited information and reliance on sources of data from mass media and humanitarian monitoring mechanism. I want to establish a closer link between academic studies and policy making in conflict-affected areas. The paper seek to assess how armed conflict and violence affect the health and education of children living in conflict areas. More specifically, this research looks into the anthropometric indicators that would suggest disruptions on the nutritional intakes, academic performance, and schooling of children. In doing so, the study evaluates the current status of health and education of children living amid conflict and violence, and compares the nutritional outcomes and academic performance of children from armed conflict areas to non-armed conflict areas. LIBRANZA | 1
Friday, October 25, 2019
Comparing the Behavioral Perspective and the Cognitive Perspective :: Psychology
Comparing the Behavioral Perspective and the Cognitive Perspective      The behavioral perspective is the idea that if psychology was to be a science, then it must focus on events, which are directly observable on behavior, rather than on mental life. The behavioral perspective maintains the primary emphasis on observable behavior and its relation to environmental events. Behavioral perspective is through reinforcement, which is the idea that patterns of emitted behavior can be selected by their consequences. Cognitive perspective is centered on the description of the nature and development of the representation of knowledge. It comes from three points of view, which are the theory of information processing, the inability of behaviorism to provide a comprehensive account for all aspects of human behavior, and the invention of the computer.      Behavioral perspective is the theory that the majority of all behavior is learned from the environment after birth. Freewill is considered to be an illusion, because our environment determines behavior. Behaviorists believe that only behavior should be observed, not our minds, since we cannot see into other people’s minds. There is no way to know if a person is honestly answering a question so it is irrelevant. Behaviorists use strict laboratory experiments, usually on animals, such as rats or pigeons. They test animals because the laws of learning are universal, there are only a quantitative difference between animals and humans, and animals are practically and ethically more convenient to test.      Cognitive psychologists think that mental processes should and can be investigated scientifically. Comparing the Behavioral Perspective and the Cognitive Perspective :: Psychology Comparing the Behavioral Perspective and the Cognitive Perspective      The behavioral perspective is the idea that if psychology was to be a science, then it must focus on events, which are directly observable on behavior, rather than on mental life. The behavioral perspective maintains the primary emphasis on observable behavior and its relation to environmental events. Behavioral perspective is through reinforcement, which is the idea that patterns of emitted behavior can be selected by their consequences. Cognitive perspective is centered on the description of the nature and development of the representation of knowledge. It comes from three points of view, which are the theory of information processing, the inability of behaviorism to provide a comprehensive account for all aspects of human behavior, and the invention of the computer.      Behavioral perspective is the theory that the majority of all behavior is learned from the environment after birth. Freewill is considered to be an illusion, because our environment determines behavior. Behaviorists believe that only behavior should be observed, not our minds, since we cannot see into other people’s minds. There is no way to know if a person is honestly answering a question so it is irrelevant. Behaviorists use strict laboratory experiments, usually on animals, such as rats or pigeons. They test animals because the laws of learning are universal, there are only a quantitative difference between animals and humans, and animals are practically and ethically more convenient to test.      Cognitive psychologists think that mental processes should and can be investigated scientifically.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Bretton Woods Essay
Bretton Woods Conference The Background During the World War I and World War II the international monetary system is split into several competing currency blocs, the fierce trade war between the global recession and nation. In the post-World War II, at the end of World War II, the U. S. dollar has enjoyed a unique and powerful position in international trade and also because British and American governments for consideration of national interests, ideas and design of post-war international monetary system, proposed separately by the â€Å"White Plan†and â€Å"the Keynes plan. Huai-held plans†and â€Å"Keynes Plan†with is the establishment of international financial institutions, stabilize the exchange rate, the expansion of international trade, and promoting world economic development for the purpose, but the way they operate. Because the United States boarded the supreme world leader of the capitalist world economic crisis and after World War II, the dollar's international status because of its strength of the international gold reserves to get a solid, the two sides reached in April 1944, reflects the White Plan on the establishment of the GB currency experts of the Fund a joint statement. What is â€Å"Bretton woods conference†? The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly known as the Bretton Woods conference, Bretton woods system or Bretton woods agreements. It was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II.The conference was held from 1-22 July 1944, when the agreements were signed to set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world's major industrial states in the mid 20th century and also was the first example of a fully negotiated onetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states. As a result of the conference, the Bretton Woods system of exchange rate management was set up, which remained in place until itself collapsed in 1971, when President Richard Nixon severed the link between the dollar and gold. What they agreed: * Formation of the IMF and the IBRD (World Bank) Adjustably secured foreign exchange market rate system: * Exchange rate were fixed, with the provision of changing them if necessary * Currencies were required to be convertible for trade related and other current account transactions * All member countries were required to subscribe to the IMF’s capital * if exchange rate might not be favorable to a country’s balance of payments position, the governments had the power to revise them by up to 10% Who’s involved? Delegation from around the w orldAustralia|                     India|     Belgium|                     Iran|     Bolivia|                     Iraq|     Brazil|                     Liberia|     Canada|                     Luxembourg|     Chile|                     Mexico|     China|                     Netherlands|     Colombia|                     New Zealand|     Costa Rica|                     Nicaragua|     Cuba|                     Norway|     Czechoslovakia|                     Panama|     Dominican Republic|                     Paraguay|     Ecuador|                     Peru|     Egypt|                     Philippines|     El Salvador|                     Poland|     Ethiopia|                     Union of South Africa|     France|                     Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)|     Greece|                     United Kingdom|     Guatemala|                     United States|     Haiti|                     Uruguay|     Honduras|                     Venezuela|     Iceland|                     Yugoslavia| The United States, having the largest delegation, brought a wide spectrum of economists and politicians to the Bretton Woods Conference. China, represented by the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, played an active role and was granted the fifth largest quota among the original members of the IMF.Cuba, governed by Ramon Raul San Martin, sent a delegation that represented the interests of small agr icultural economies. Delegates from many Latin American nations were deeply involved in the negotiations. The democratic process at Bretton Woods ensured that concerns of all countries were addressed. Though the delegation from the Soviet Union was active at the Conference and signed the draft Articles, the Soviet government later decided not to join the Fund or the Bank. The cooperation of the U. S. and USSR delegations was a positive moment before the onset of the Cold War. In 1944, the Indian delegation to Bretton Woods included both British citizens as well as Indian nationals, as India was still part of the British Empire.Alexander Argyropulos (at right in photo), a member of the Greek delegation, arrived in New York on June 21. Argyropulos had been a prisoner of war for a year. His arrival in the United States culminated in the reunion with his wife and daughter, who had escaped Greece when Axis forces invaded. Camille Gutt one of the Belgian delegation. Once the Fund was esta blished, Gutt was elected as its first Managing Director, a post he held until 1951. Outcomes: The Conference led to the creation of three organizations in order to lead the world economy in the right direction. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and the World Bank.The IMF was intended for keeping track of the monetary policy, to balance the exchange rates, reduce restrictions on the foreign exchange rate, and provide loans to invest in the infrastructure of developing countries and countries that had debts. The number of votes a country for the IMF board depends on its contribution factor towards the reserve. The U. S, U. K, Japan, Germany have 40% of the votes. Out of that percentage, the U. S has 17% of the votes, making them the majority power in the IMF. The GATT encouraged â€Å"laissez-faire system†, to make trade without government intervention, to reduce taxes when two countries are trading with each other and make it fair. It is known now as the World Trade Organization.The World Bank main idea and purpose was to help third world countries and reduce poverty, and to corporations who want to aid the developing countries. The World Bank would offer loans to rebuild roads and utilities. These were the organizations that emerged from the Bretton Woods Agreement. Another outcome for the United States was the Dollar being a â€Å"World Reserve Currency†and that all trade and business will be done in American dollars. Even trade between two different nations that do not use the American dollar as their currency; will do business with each other using the dollar. For example the price of oil from Saudi Arabia will not be in Saudi Rials, but in American dollars. Then those dollars would be redeemable through gold from the U.S at a fixed price of 35$ per ounce. All the countries that signed the Bretton Woods Agreement agreed to fix their currency with the same value as the value of gold. The s upply of money a country had went hand in hand with its gold reserves. The countries that were not rich in gold, would have to borrow money in order to finance their investments and development. The system performed trade through stable and adjustable exchange rates. However there was an increase in demand for dollars which lead to an increase in trade deficits, and the value of the dollar remained high. The United states couldn’t fix the exchange rate between itself and other urrencies. It became known as the â€Å"n’th currency problem†. All the countries currencies were at par with the US dollar. The United States worth of gold was $26 billion by 1964. The world’s worth of gold was $33 billion. Many countries held the U. S dollar as their main reserve asset. Because of that, the French President, De Gaulle said the U. S had a privilege of unlimited financing, because of the majority of countries having dollar assets. The U. S was unable to eliminate it s deficits. The ways in which the balance payment deficits could be corrected include deflating the economy by using a monetary policy, which means raising interest rates.Another policy to use is the Fiscal Policy that includes reducing government spending in order to reduce demand. The U. S could have also devalued its currency, which meant foreign currency prices are higher. This would reduce exports from foreign currencies, and more exports from the U. S. The Bretton Woods system was successful until 1971, August 15th. A few measures were taken to avoid the system going to fail. They included imposing an â€Å"interest equalization tax†to reduce the outflow of investments and private capital. However this lead to more loans from foreign borrowers. A lot of the funds went to financial institutions in places lke Europe and Japan. The United States President Nixon said the amount of gold that was sent out of the U.S for the 27 years since the agreement was unsustainable. He announced a 90-day freeze on wages and prices, a 10% import surcharge on imports and suspended converting dollars into gold. The value of gold had increased, yet the price of $35 per ounce remained. Even though many countries still owed money to the U. S and were in debt. References: http://weber. ucsd. edu/~jlbroz/Courses/Lund/handouts/Lecture12%20_Bretton_%20Woods. pdf http://id. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sistem_Bretton_Woods http://www2. econ. iastate. edu/classes/econ355/choi/bre. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Gold_standard
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Apollo 11
What exactly was Apollo 11? Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that allowed the first men to land on the moon. The ship landed on the moon on June 20th, 1969, and is considered to be the greatest accomplishment in exploring history for mankind. The ship was launched in Florida on June 16th and was the third mission in NASA’s Apollo program. And by June 21st, Neil Armstrong and his crew were the first men in history to walk on the moon. The crew returned home with 47. 5 pounds of lunar rocks for scientist here to study about the lunar surface. The main purpose of this mission was to beat the Soviet Union in the space race, or race to the moon, and was fulfilled to John F. Kennedy’s expectations. He was quoted saying in front of congress, â€Å"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. †And he proved to the public that America was still the leader in science, and could out do enemies of the United States. In the time period before the Apollo mission, when it was still on the drawing board, the government was pouring billions of dollars into the education system, especially into math and science so that the engineers coming into the space program at NASA would already have a head start. This is relevant to today, because the government is desperately trying to raise America’s math and science test scores so that we can compete with scores of other countries like China and Korea. The crew of the Apollo 11 consisted of 3 men. Neil Armstrong (Commander), Michael Collins (Command Module Pilot), and Edwin Aldrin Jr. (Lunar Module Pilot). All these men had been on space flights before making the Apollo 11 only the second all veteran crew in spaceflight history. Thousands of people crowded along the launch site to view the take off, but millions of people viewed the launch from the comfort of their homes on the television. The Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 into space, and 12 minutes later it had already entered orbit. The craft landed on the Moon in an area known as the Sea Of Tranquility. The astronauts could study the landing site by looking out of the Eagle’s triangular mirrors which gave them a 60 degree view. That’s how they planned out where to place the EASEP or Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package, and the famous United States flag. Contrary to what you would think, the astronauts stated that moving around on the moon was no problem at all, considering that the gravity on the moon is 1/6 the gravity here on Earth. After the planting of the flag, the crew took part in a â€Å"long distance phone call†with President Nixon in the White House. Nixon referred to the call as, â€Å"The Most Historic Phone Call Ever Made From The White House. †Nixon then gave a brief speech and then hung up because he wanted to give respect to Kennedy and allow the lunar mission to be his legacy. The landing on the moon changed the populations perception of the universe, it also gave U. S. citizens a sense of superiority over all the other countries in the world. It showed that if you work hard enough then you can’t be tied down by boundaries.
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