Business Analytic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Analytic - Essay Example These necessary requirements are as follows: a) Specific – the target must be specific including the number of customers that the organization has to collect annually or the forecasted revenue of a firm, the reduction in delivery time and so on. This target may be attained by carefully selecting relevant information from big data (Barton & Court, 2012). b) Measurable – the target must have the quality of measurement for it to be relevant. The figures must be tangible as it may be difficult to allocate costs and revenues to systems that need enhancement and accordingly measurable targets have to be established. One instance is if the firm is not sure about the number of customers it has, then it has to look for another particular target. c) Agreed – the targets have to be accepted by the organization. In other words, there is essential need for claiming ownership prior to strategy implementation. Without ownership, a strategy may be completely ignored or even coun teracted. Also when the targets are accepted by a firm, some individual are entrusted with the accountability of meeting the targets. d) Realistic – it is very essential that the firm sets realistic and attainable targets. In most firms, targets may be formulated without trying to determine whether they are achievable or not. This may be as an outcome of the corporate culture in the firm, no possible outcomes for meeting specific targets within given deadlines or the possibility for individuals to extend deadline by buying time. e) Time bound – it is extremely necessary for firms to set attainable targets within a specific period of time and it is imperative for the organization to emphasize on meeting deadlines. Also it is very important for firms to understand at an early stage the targets which may not be achievable and accordingly make modifications. Putting the initial letters of the first five words helps one to get the acronym SMART. There are certain reasons fo r the goals to be SMART. This is especially true in the context of business analytics so that they may be accurately defined and operational. Many times, it becomes difficult to implement technical processes in case of ambiguous information and this further complicates calculation and collection of data thereby leading to failure of meeting with the proposed goals. It is important to develop measurable goals as they need to be technically quantified. At the same time, these goals must be attained in a given amount of time for the data system to deliver messages to end users especially when significant values are exceeded. Broadly speaking, the above five needs help to ensure clear understanding of business initiatives. Ambiguous objectives may have diverse interpretations leading to diverse authentic versions. For facilitating efficient reporting, goals need to meet specific deadlines (Laurson & Thorlund, 2010). 2. What are the key competencies required by analysts in the business i ntelligence model? Depending on the organization, the functions of a business analyst may slightly differ, however the core roles of a business analyst remains the same provided the firm wants to smoothly operate the business analytics function. A business analyst should have the required business competencies. The analyst should have thorough understanding of the supporting business process and the manner in which information may be delivered to add to value on a strategic level. Hence the analyst should

Jail and Prison Essay Example for Free

Jail and Prison Essay Many people think jail and prison are the same. In the past, I honestly myself thought that the only difference between jail and prison was prison was a bigger building than the building for jail. In fact, there are many differences between prisons and jails. Both are different entities. Here are some of the differences that you’ll want to know about if a member of your family, a close friend, or yourself is facing the prospect of going to jail or to prison. There are about 3,600 jails in the United States. Jails located within the area of a town or city and every city/town has at least one. Most jails are run by sheriffs and/or local governments. People accused under federal, state, county and/or city laws will be held in jail. Jail is build to temporary lock-up people till their court appearance, serve time on local misdemeanor charge, or serve a sentence of less than one year. Any sentence over a year must be served in a prison. A jail was once only holding facility and prisons were reformatories. A prison is a place that inmates people who have been tried and convicted of crimes. A state or federal prison can be very far away from an inmate home. Prison can be located too far from family and friends to visit. There are only about 100 federal prisons, detention centers, and correctional institutions in the United States. The prisons are operated by under the jurisdiction of either Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) or state government. Jail plays an important part. Usually people that go to jail commit a local or small crime. Serving time in jail can scare offenders from committing future illegal acts. Jail time can be a big wake up call for many people. First small time offenders can realize they were lucky jail or prison is not a place they would want to be. Committed low offenders are face with consequences by giving probation, community service and sent to detention centers. Today many jails are considered reformatories (also known as correctional centers, state vocational institution, reform schools, houses of refuge, and industrial or training schools) in many parts of the United States. The courts hope to help the minors from committing future illegal acts by taking responsibility for his / her actions. Committed minors are face with consequences by giving them similar punishments as adults. The young adults are face with probation, community service and sent to detention centers. Jails operate work release programs, boot camps, and other services. The jail system tries to address education, substance abuse, and vocational needs while managing inmate behavior. Prisons are best described as Total Institution. In and only in prison, an inmate every aspect in life is controlled. Every detail of a prisoner is prescribed and managed by the prison. The state prison systems run halfway houses, work release centers, and community restitution centers. The programs are given to inmates because the inmates are reaching the end of their long sentences. There are many different types of prisons. Minimum security prisons look very much alike camps or college campuses and only hold about 20% of the inmates in the United States. The prisons usually have one or no fence perimeter. The inmates in minimum security prisons are convicted of non-violent crimes with clean criminal record. The crimes are usually forgery, cheating on taxes, and perjury. The prison also houses prisoners who have served most of their sentence from a higher security facility and improve their behavior. Low security prisons are surrounded by double-fenced perimeters. The inmates have dormitories or cubicle housing. Prisoners are provided with strong work and program components. A medium security prison has more restrictions the daily movements of an inmate. They hold about 45% of United States prisoners and the inmates are convicted of crimes such as assault and thefts. The prison has dormitories instead of cells but does have a razor-wire fence surrounding the area. Inmates are offered a wide variety of work and treatment programs. Maximum security prisons hold prisoners serving longer sentences. Only a quarter of all prisoners in the United States are housed in a maximum security facility.The prison holds about 35% Of Unites States prisoners. The inmates are convicted of crimes such as murder, kidnapping and other felonies. The prison was designed for violent offenders and/or inmates who have escaped (or tried to escape). Some inmates are also place in a maximum security prison because they can cause problems in lower security prisons. While an inmate is in prison, prisoners are to follow the rules set by prison officials. If a prisoner breaks any rules, he/she gets a hearing before the warden. If the warden finds the prisoner guilty of breaking a rule, penalties can be issued. There many of the punishments given to an inmate who break the prison rules. The consequences can be very high depending on what rule the inmate break. An inmate can be sent alone to time in solitary confinement. She/he can have a removal of accumulated good behavior time and transfer to a less desirable or paying prison job. Confiscation of items from prisoners can be taken such as TV’s, yard time, be sent to eat alone in your cell, phone calls, visitations from family and friends, and receiving letters. Violent crimes in prison can cause an inmate to be transfer to higher-security prison. When an inmate chooses to participate in violent acts towards a staff member, this may be due to the â€Å"friction points† prevalent throughout the social context and role within the prison system administration (Bottoms, 1999). Before the Truth in Sentencing Law pass, many offenders were only serving a short time in prison than the time they are sentenced to serve by the court. The role of the Truth in Sentencing Act was first enacted in 1984. The law required offenders to serve at least 85% the portion of their prison sentence imposed by the court. Theres been a nearly 18 percent drop in reported crime in Arizona since the state began requiring criminals to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentences, a new study shows (Smith, 2012). The Act would also require any person convicted of a violent crime would have to serve no less than 100% of the sentence by the court. Truth in Sentencing also requires offenders to serve their entire minimum sentence in a prison before being eligible for parole. References Smith, K. (2012). New study says truth-in-sentencing in Arizona has made state safer . Retrieved from http://www.corrections.com/news/article/29977-new-study-says-truth-in-sentencing-in-arizona-has-made-state-safer Bottoms, A.E. (1999). Interpersonal violence and social order in prisons. Crime and Justice, 26, 205-281. The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://www.jstor.org/pss/1147687.

Agamemnon :: essays research papers

After reading Agamemnon, I have come to the conclusion that Greek mythology can cause many debates. One of the debates that could be referenced from this story was rather or not Agamemnon deserved his fate. Some critics would say he did after he killed his innocent daughter, as a sacrifice. Some critics would say he was killed because he left his wife at home for ten years. Those ten years while they were apart, Clytaemestra had time to let all of her anger and hostility boil up inside of her. He was portrayed as an arrogant man. Another thing that condemned him was when he walked on the purple carpet. â€Å"She knew that by saying â€Å"If Priam had won as you have, what would he have done?†(935). Even though his wife coaxed him, his cowardliness in doing so shows his true side. He was very arrogant about the war, acting as if him alone won the war. All of his arrogance and betraying his family killing his daughter lead to his death. Another debate is what kind of women Clytaemestra is. Clytemnestra is portrayed as strong willed woman. This characteristic is not necessarily typical of women of her time. Her most important characteristic is like the watchman calls it, "male strength of heart." Later in the play after Clytemnestra murders her husband, Agamemnon, and his concubine, Cassandra, she reveals her driving force and was has spurned all of her actions until this point. The Chorus sees Clytemnestra as untrustworthy and although suspicious of her they still could not foresee the impending murders. Her words are plain but her meaning hidden to all those around her. She more or less alludes to her plan of murder without fear of being detected. Only the audience can seem to understand the double meaning in her words. One example of how Clytemnestra hides meanings in otherwise plain words is stated in her hope that Agamemnon and his soldiers do not commit any sacrilege in Troy that might offend the gods. Now must they pay due respect to the gods that inhabit the town, the gods of the conquered land, or their victory may end in their own destruction after all. Too soon for their safety, the soldiery, seized with greed, may yield to their covetousness and lay hands on forbidden spoil. They have still to bring themselves home, have still the backward arm of the double course to make.

Miracles and Science Essay

1. Introduction: Miracles as violations of the laws of nature Unbelievable, isn’t it, that there are still students at this university who believe in stories from the Bible, said Martin, an older colleague, at one of the formal dinners around which the traditional life of Oxford University revolves. But Martin, I answered, their faith probably doesn’t differ much from mine. I can still see his face go pale while he nearly choked on his glass of St. Emilion Grand Cru Classà ©: How can you believe in such things nowadays – Walking on water, a resurrection from the dead? Those are miracles, and aren’t you a scientist? Oh, how interesting, say John and Ruth, a couple that I have just met at the end of a church service. You are a scientist. They look a bit unsure of what to say next and John blurts out, I read recently that we still don’t understand how birds can fly so many miles to the south and yet return to exactly the same place each summer. Scientists can’t explain this; it is a miracle, don’t you think? I never quite know what to say next in such conversations. Perhaps nine years of living in Britain have made me too sensitive to that most cardinal of English social sins – causing embarrassment. But there is more to it than that. Behind these statements lies a tangle of complex intellectual issues related to the definition and scope of science, the nature of God’s action in the world, and the reliability and interpretation of the Bible. These have exercised many of greatest minds in history: The debate between atheism and religious belief has gone on for centuries, and just about every aspect of it has been explored to the point where even philosophers seem bored with it. The outcome is stalemate. 1 So says my Oxford colleague Alister McGrath. Although these subtleties are well known to philosophers and historians of  science, public discourse on science and religion often seems blissfully unaware of them. 2 Everyone brings a set of presuppositions to the table. To make progress, these should first be brought out into the open. Without time for an honest conversation in which we can listen to each other in depth, I won’t know exactly what Martin, John, or Ruth’s presuppositions are. But, for the sake of this essay, I will be a bit presumptuous and venture a guess. My guess would be that, although both seem to be on opposite sides of a vast divide, they are in fact influenced by a similar perspective on science and miracles, one first laid down by the great sceptical Scottish philosopher David Hume, who wrote: A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined. This language of â€Å"miracles as violations of the laws of nature† has framed the debate ever since. Martin, John and Ruth, perhaps without realizing it, are living under the long shadow of David Hume. Martin may think that science is the only reliable route to gaining knowledge about the world, and that, since belief in miracles is obviously unscientific, such belief must ipso facto be false. John and Ruth may feel a similar tension between science and miracles, and are therefore encouraged by any natural process that seems inexplicable. Weakening the power of science would seem to strengthen the case for God acting in the world: If we know that today God miraculously steers a bird back to its original habitat after a long return flight to the south, then it is easier to believe that 2000 years ago he turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana. Now, as a Christian scientist who believes in the miracles of the Bible, I take issue with both of the views above. But to explain this better, I need to first take a step back and answer two critical questions: What do I mean by science, and what does  the Bible say about miracles? 2. Defining Science The problem of deciding where to draw the lines around science has vexed generations of philosophers. Like many unsolved issues, it has been given its own name—â€Å"the demarcation problem.† Although one can determine with some degree of consensus what the extremes of the science/non-science continuum are, exactly where the boundary lies is fuzzy. This doesn’t mean, however, that we cannot recognize science when we see it4, but rather that a watertight definition is difficult to create. The old fashioned idea (still taught in many schools) that scientific practice follows a well-defined linear process—first make an observation, then state a hypothesis, and then test that hypothesis—is certainly far too simple. Science as a tapestry Rather than attempt to come up with a careful and precise definition of science or scientific practice, I will instead resort to a favorite metaphor of mine. It originates with one of my former teachers at Cornell, the p hysicist David Mermin, who describes science as a â€Å"tapestry† woven together from many threads (experimental results, interpretations, explanations, etc.).5 It is only when one examines the tapestry as a whole that it will (or will not) make a convincing pattern. Creating scientific tapestries is a collective endeavor building on mutual trust and the communal experience of what kinds of arguments and evidence are likely to stand the test of time. In part because the skill of weaving reliable scientific tapestries relies on subtle judgements, a young scientist may work for years as an apprentice of older and more experienced practitioners before branching out on his own. In this process there are many parallels with the guilds of old. I am fond of this metaphor because it describes what I think I experience from the inside as a scientist. Moreover, it also emphasizes the importance of coherence and consistency when I weave together arguments and data to make an â€Å"inference to a best explanation.†6 The strong communal element inherent in scientific practice has at times been seized upon by sociologists of science to argue that s cientific knowledge is just one more type of human construct with no greater  claim on reality than any other form of knowledge. But scientists as a whole have reacted to this proposition in a negative way.7 Although they agree that all kinds of economic, historical and social factors do play a role in the formation of scientific theories, they would argue that, in the long run, the scientific process does lead to reliable knowledge about the world. The view of nature embraced by most scientists that I know could be described as critical realism. They are realists because they believe that there is a world out there that is independent of our making. The adjective â€Å"critical† is added because they recognize that extracting knowledge about that world is not always straightforward. Thus, the primary role of the collective nature of the scientific process is to provide a network of error-correcting mechanisms that prevent us from fooling ourselves. The continual testing against nature refines and filters out competing scientific theories, leading to advances in the strength and reliability of our scien tific knowledge tapestries. Although there are many commonalities in the ways that scientists in distinct fields assemble their tapestry arguments, there can also be subtle differences. These differences are foisted on us in part by the types of problems that each field attempts to address. For example, as a theoretical physicist I’ve been trained in a tradition of what the Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner called â€Å"the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics:† The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning.8 We believe, based on a history of spectacular success, that mathematical consistency among threads is a key indicator of strong tapestries.9 These days, I spend much of my time interacting with biologists who tend to view my confidence  in the ability of theoretical models to extract knowledge about the physical world with great suspicion.10 I, on the other hand, am often instinctively sceptical of the huge error bars that can afflict their data.11 To a large degree, these cultural differences are forced on us by the kinds of questions we study. My reaction above arises because physics is self-limiting. As a community we simply don’t deal with problems of the same level of complexity that biology does. If an experiment is too messy we will often define it away by declaring â€Å"that isn’t physics,† and move on. Similarly, molecular biologists can afford to be more selective about their data than medical scientists or psychologists can.12 But, despite these cultural differences, which can lead to heated and sometimes frustrating discussion, we do agree on a number of ground rules for defining what makes a tapestry strong. For example, what we either predict or measure should be repeatable. If I claim to see an effect in an experiment, someone else in a different lab should be able to reliably measure the same effect.13 That simple requirement has many ramifications for the types of problems we are able to address The limits of science There are many questions that simply are not amenable to purely scientific analysis. A very lucid discussion of this issue can be found in the book The Limits of Science by Nobel Prize winner (and atheist) Sir Peter Medawar, who wrote: That there is indeed a limit upon science is made very likely by the existence of questions that science cannot answer and that no conceivable advance of science would empower it to answer†¦ It is not to science, therefore but to metaphysics, imaginative literature or religion that we must turn for answers to questions having to do with first and last things. and Science is a great and glorious enterprise – the most successful, I argue, that human beings have ever engaged in. To reproach it for its inability to answer all the questions we should like to put to it is no more sensible than to reproach a railway locomotive for not flying or, in general, not performing any other operation for which it was not designed.14 Science’s great power derives from its self-imposed limits. It is wrong to ask it to pronounce on issues outside its jurisdiction. In fact, the most important decisions in life cannot be addressed solely by the scientific method, nor do people really live as if they can. In the words of Sir John Polkinghorne, former professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge and Anglican priest: We are entitled to require a consistency between what people write in their studies and the way in which they live their lives. I submit that no-one lives as if science were enough. Our account of the world must be rich enough – have a thick enough texture and a sufficiently generous rationality – to contain the total spectrum of human meeting with reality. But just because we don’t live life by the scientific method doesn’t mean that the only alternative is irrationality. For example, if I were to decide to get married, a truly irrational approach would be to pick a random woman off the street. Instead, assuming I find a potentially willing partner, it is wise to go through a period of courtship during which we get to know each other. We may also ask for the opinion of wise friends. There are helpful counseling programs with compatibility lists, etc. that, in fact, often use knowledge that scientific techniques have extracted from our collective experience and wisdom. But at the end of the day I can’t demand scientific certainty before deciding to marry someone. Nor is it wise to perform repeatable experiments! I need to make a volitional step because there are aspects of marriage that I can only see from the inside.15 Another example of a method used to obtain knowledge is the legal process which, although it is a tightly organized system, is not strictly scientific. Similarly, a historian will use a combination of evidence (e.g. manuscripts) and understanding about the thinking patterns of a particular era to make informed judgements about what happened in the past. Clearly, this big question of how to extract reliable  information about the world, how to separate fact from mere opinion, is indeed a very difficult and important one. 3. Miracles and the Bible How can we then judge whether or not the miracles of the Bible are reliable? Since the word miracle has taken on so many different meanings, it is important to first examine the biblical language. The New Testament predominantly uses three words for miracle: ï‚ ·teras, a wonder ï‚ ·dunamis, an act of power ï‚ ·semeion, a sign Sometimes it combines all three, as in Acts 2:22: Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles (dunamis), wonders (teras) and signs (semeion), which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. The word teras (wonder) is almost always used together with one of the other words, emphasizing that the main point of biblical miracles is not to merely elicit amazement but rather to serve a higher theological purpose. For this reason, biblical miracles cannot be understood outside of the theological context within which they occur. They are not anomalous events. This principle provides a key to the proper assessment of their validity. Nature is what God does Miracles happen against a backdrop. In this context, it is illuminating to see how the Bible describes God’s action in the natural world. For example in Psalm 104, that great poem about nature, we read, He makes springs pour water into the ravines, it flows between the mountains The first part of this verse refers to God’s direct action while the second part suggests that water flows through its own natural properties. Read the Psalm for yourself and notice how fluidly the point of view changes back and forth between what we might call the laws of nature and the direct action of God. Such dual descriptions can be found throughout the Bible. The New Testament is even more explicit: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)  and He is before all things, and in him all th ings hold together (Col 1:17) In other words, if God were to stop sustaining all things by his powerful word, the world would stop existing. That is why, when describing nature, the Bible so easily switches perspectives depending on whether it is emphasizing the regular behavior of natural phenomena, or their origin in God’s providential sustenance. So, as St. Augustine might say, Nature is what [God] does.16 Augustine doesn’t mean that nature is the same as God (pantheism), for, as he also argued, God operates outside of space and time. Nevertheless, and this is a very subtle point, 17 a case can be made for ascribing some independent causal power to the laws of nature. On the other hand, there is no room within a robust biblical theism for the opposite deistic notion that God started the world and then left it to run on its own, completely independently, because descriptions of God’s continuous care for creation are found throughout Scripture: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:29,30) As Christian thinkers throughout the Middle Ages wrestled with the questions of miracles and God’s action in the world, the following ideas emerged: if the regularities of nature are a manifestation of the sustenance of God then one would expect them to be trustworthy and consistent, rather than capricious. The regular behavior of nature could be viewed as the â€Å"customs of the Creator† as it were. Christians glorify God by studying these â€Å"laws of nature.† A strong case can be made that such theological realizations helped pave the way for the rise of modern science.18 By the time the Royal Society of London, the world’s first scientific society, was founded in 1660, Christian thinkers like the metaphysical poet John Donne, then dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, could write: the ordinary things in Nature, would be greater miracles than the extraordinary, which we  admire most, if they were done but once†¦ only the daily doing takes off the admiration.19 God of the gaps A similar sentiment lies behind a famous exchange between those old adversaries, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton. The latter noticed that the orbits of the planets did not appear to be stable when calculated over long periods, and postulated that the solar system needed occasional â€Å"reformation† by God. Leibniz objected that,  if God had to remedy the defects of His creation, this was surely to demean his craftsmanship. 20 In other words, the regular sustaining activity of God, as evidenced by natural laws, should be sufficient t o explain the regular behaviour of the solar system, without the need for additional ad-hoc interventions. Making it right the first time is more glorious than having to fix it later. In the same context, Leibniz also emphasised the theological nature of miracles: And I hold, that when God works miracles, he does not do it in order to supply the wants of nature, but those of grace. Whoever thinks otherwise, must needs have a very mean notion of the wisdom and power of God.21 A more modern version of Leibniz’s general objection can be found in a famous statement by Charles Coulson, the first Oxford professor of Theoretical Chemistry who wrote, When we come to the scientifically unknown, our correct policy is not to rejoice because we have found God; it is to become better scientists.22 He popularized the phrase â€Å"God of the gaps† for those who, perhaps like John and Ruth, think that God is found primarily in the lacunas of our scientific understanding. Two sorts of miracles Science, as well as tools from historical disciplines, can be brought to bear on biblical miracles. For example they can be split into those that are examples of providential timing (type i miracles) and those that can only be viewed as directly violating physical cause-effect  relationships (type ii miracles). An example of a possible type i miracle would be the crossing of the river Jordan by the people of Israel: Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (Joshua 3:15,16) Colin Humphreys, Cambridge professor of material science, has studied this miracle in great detail 23 and notes that the text supplies a number of unusual clues, including the fact that the water was blocked up a great distance away at a particular town. He has identified this with a location where the Jordan has been known to temporarily dam up when strong earthquakes cause mudslides (most recently in 1927). For many scientists, the fact that God is working through natural processes makes the miracle more palatable: The scientist, even when he is a believer, is bound to try as far as possible to reduce miracles to regularities: the believer, even when he is a scientist, discovers miracles in the most familiar things.24 Of course this doesn’t take away from the fact that there was remarkable timing involved. Perhaps the attraction of this description comes in part because there is a direct corollary with the very common experience of â€Å"providential timing† of events, which believers attribute to God’s working.25 There are also miracles in the Bible that defy description in terms of current science. Perhaps the most significant of these is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If anything, science has strengthened the case for this not being a type i miracle. For example, in John 19:34 we read: Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. Modern medicine suggests that this is clear evidence that the pericardium, a membrane around the heart, was pierced, confirming that he was in fact dead. The more we know about the processes of decay that set in after death, the less likely it appears that Jesus could have risen from the dead by any natural means. Rather, science strengthens the case that if Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, the event must have occurred through a direct injection of supernatural power into the web of cause and effect that undergirds our physical world – it was a type ii miracle. Of course the resurrection is central to Christian teaching: And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (I Corinthians 15:14) Given that almost every great Christian thinker in history has emphasized the fact that miracles must be understood within the context of a theological purpose, perhaps one could invert this argument and say that it is not surprising that the central eve nt in history would be miraculous. 26 So where has this argument brought us? I have argued that the precise relationship between miracles and science has been the subject of a long and unresolved debate with strands reaching back to the early Church fathers. Theologians wrestle with questions that concern the differences between God’s regular sustaining action and His special non-repeating actions, i.e. miracles, and how these fit in with redemptive purpose. There is a link to the question of demarcation in science, since within a robust biblical theism the regular working of God’s action, the â€Å"customs of the Creator† (or natural laws) are, almost by design, amenable to scientific analysis. Biblical miracles, in contrast, are always linked to special theological purpose and are therefore, almost by definition, non-repeatable and a-scientific. 4. The decisive significance of worldviews If Martin and I would have time to get this far in conversation, I’m sure we would have swiftly passed th e red herring of natural science being the touchstone upon which to examine biblical miracles. But Martin could point out that Hume made a number of other arguments against miracles, namely: Witness testimony is often suspect. ï‚ ·Stories get exaggerated in the retelling. Miracles are chiefly seen among ignorant and barbarous people. ï‚ ·Rival religions also have miracle stories, so they cancel each other out. These arguments are substantial, and I refer to footnote 3 for an introduction to the voluminous literature they have inspired. However, we can take a little stab at the first two objections. It is true that witness testimony cannot always be trusted and that stories change with time. But these are the same problems that face legal systems and historians. Nonetheless, we can employ the tools of these professions to examine biblical miracles. Take, for example, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is significant extrabiblical historical evidence that he indeed lived. Much has been written about the general trustworthiness of the Gospels. For example, there is much internal evidence, in both the style and content of the narratives, that the writers themselve s were convinced that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. Tradition holds that 11 of the 12 original apostles were martyred for this belief that turned a group of cowards into a people who â€Å"turned the world upside down.† Although it is well beyond the scope of this essay, a very strong case for the plausibility of the resurrection can be made.27 Similar analysis can be brought to bear on other miracle claims, including those of other religions. After all, every meaningful system of thought must be open to careful scrutiny. But I suspect that often, underneath the surface, it is really the third argument that carries the most persuasive force. In part because history is littered with claims for the miraculous that seem bizarre, or smack of superstition, and in part because the incredible advances of modern science and technology inspire awe, we can intensely feel the attraction of identifying with the latter and not the former. This disposition is exemplified in the following quote by the theologian Rudolph Bultmann, a man famous for his attempts to de-mythologize the New Testament: It is impossible to use electric light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of spirits and miracles.28 By getting rid of the miracle stories in the Bible,  Bultmann and his followers hoped to make the Christian story more palatable to modern man. Although I recognize the emotional weight of this sentiment, I am not convinced that it is an intellectually coherent approach, mainly for reasons of self-consistency. If the New Testamentitself asserts, both directly and indirectly, that the historicity of the resurrection is foundational to Christianity, then it would seem to stand or fall by that fact. As a physicist, I have a natural penchant for wanting to see how an idea relates to more basic principles. And to analyze the validity of a quote like the one above, we must take a cold hard look at our fundamental presuppositions. In the words of John Polkinghorne: If we are to understand the nature of reality, we have only two possible starting points: either the brute fact of the physical world or the brute fact of a divine will and purpose behind that physical world.29 Where does each of those two fundamental starting points take us? When we use them to construct a worldview, what kind of sense does it make of experience, morality, truth, beauty, and our place in the world? These are not easy questions. There is so much mystery around us. Perhaps the best way to move forward would be to borrow Mermin’s tapestry analogy and carefully investigate whether the different threads of historical evidence, philosophical consistency, and personal knowledge can be woven together into a worldview that is robust. In particular, does our tapestry posses those qualities of coherence and (surprising) fruitfulness that characterise the best scientific tapestries? If I start from the brute facts of nature, I personally am unable to construct a tapestry that is both rigorous and rich enough to make sufficient sense of the world. By contrast, if I assume a divine will and purpose behind the world I believe that I can construct a much more compelling tapesty that incorporates all of the threads of human  existence. Within that purposeful world, the case for Christianity is much more persuasive. To use a famous quote from C.S. Lewis: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen-not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.30 It is the sum total of all those arguments that convinces me of the veracity of biblical miracles. Nevertheless, I recognize that no matter how cogent, say, the historical evidence for the resurrection is, if I start from a different worldview, as Martin and Rudolph Bultmann do, then it will be virtually impossible to accept the existence of biblical miracles. (In the end I think this is what Hume is really saying). Miracles cannot be interpreted independently from the theological context in which they function. They are part of a package deal. I don’t know what Martin would make of all that. We would surely need more than one glass of wine to complete this discussion (but wouldn’t it be fun?). 5. Conclusion Finally, what would I say to John and Ruth? If they are like many Christians I know, they might feel a slight uneasiness with science, a subconscious fear fed by the pontifications of some popularizers who seem keen to equate science with atheism.31 So perhaps I would first point out the obvious limits of science. But then I might tell the story of Leibniz and Newton’s exchange, and point out that Newton was a good enough theologian not to turn the alleged instability of the planets into a God of the gaps argument. Similarly, if it is true that we don’t yet understand how birds can navigate so accurately over large distances, then surely it would bring more glory to God to search for the mechanisms by which such remarkable feats are accomplished: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 Perhaps because evolution has been a particularly favorite bludgeon of the science = atheism cabal, a Christian mini-industry has sprung up to debunk it. Unfortunately, this only feeds the public misperception that the core of the conflict between science and faith concerns scientific mechanism (evolution did or did not occur) rather than one of the philosophy and interpretation of science. God could, of course, have regularly used miracles to create throughout the time-span of natural history. He is free. But whether he did so in natural history is fundamentally a question of Biblical interpretation. 32 Surely it is even more glorious if God could design a physical system that creates itself through the regularities of his sustaining action. Like many of my Christian scientific colleagues who hold to a high view of Scripture, I believe the biblical text allows itself to be interpreted in this way, that sentient beings arose primarily through the ordinary â€Å"customs of the Creato r,† and that moreover it glorifies God to seek to understand these patterns.33 John and Ruth might then ask: if I emphasize the integrity of the regular action of God in sustaining the universe, and even in creating us, then why should miracles occur at all? Can they occur today? Rather than answer that theological question directly, let me resort to a musical analogy borrowed from Colin Humphreys. Suppose you are watching a pianist play a classical piece. You will notice that there are certain notes that he plays, and certain ones that he never does. The choice of notes is constrained because the music is being played in a particular key signature. But then, occasionally he may break this rule and play an unusual note. Musicians call these accidentals, and a composer can put them in wherever she likes (although if there are too many the music would sound strange). As Humphreys puts it, If he is a great composer, the accidentals will never be used capriciously: they will always make better music. It is the accidentals which contribute to making the piece of music great. The analogy with how God operates is clear: God created and upholds the universe but, like the great composer, he is free to override his own rules. However, if he is a c onsistent God, it must make more sense than less for him to override his rules.34 Notes 1. 2. 3. Alister McGrath, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life, (Blackwell, Oxford 2005) p 92. A good example of this is Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, (Bantam, London 2006) David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, (1748). Hume’s argument has often been criticized for being self-referential. He at first presupposes that no reasonable person can believe that the laws of nature can be violated, and then concludes that miracles cannot occur because he defines them as violations of the laws of nature. Note that this analysis is not accepted by all commentators. Colin Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind, (Paternoster, Exeter, 1984) provides a lucid overview of the debate. See also John Earman, Hume’s Abject Failure. The Argument against Miracles (Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000) for a critical view, and Peter Harrison, â€Å"Miracles, Early Modern Science, and Rational Religion†, Church History 75 (3) pp. 493-511 (2006) for an interesting historical perspective. I am reminded of a famous quote by US Supreme Court judge Potter Stewart who, when asked to distinguish between art and pornography, noted that although it was hard to define: â€Å"I know it when I see it† (Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)). N. David Mermin, â€Å"The Golemization of Relativity†, Physics Today 49, 11–13 (1996) Peter Lipton, Inference to the Best Explanation, (Routledge, London, 2004) In the 1990’s this tension between sociologists and the scientific community erupted into the so-called ‘Science Wars’. For a good overview, see e.g. J. A. Labinger and H. Collins (eds), The One Culture? A Conversation about Science, (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001). Quote from Nobel Prize winner E. Wigner, â€Å"The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences†, Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 13, No. I (February 1960). An iconic example would be Paul Dirac’s 1928 prediction of anti-ma tter, which he showed to be necessary to satisfy the mathematical consistency constraints  imposed by combining quantum mechanics and special relativity for electrons. See P.A.M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 117, 610 (1928). The cultural differences between more mathematically minded physical scientists and more empirically minded biological scientists are discussed by Evelyn Fox Keller, in a fascinating book: Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines, Harvard University Press, Boston (2002). Such instinctive reactions are what make interdisciplinary research so difficult. Clearly biology has been incredibly successful despite its differences with my scientific culture. I also suggest that as the questions we ask become difficult (often the case for applied subjects like medicine), the tapestries, by necessity, become more fragile. I realize that this is more subtle for historical sciences like geology and cosmology (we have, for example, only observed one universe). Nevertheless, even in these fields, parallel concepts apply. P.B. Medawar, The Limits of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1987) . There are interesting analogies here to making a religious commitment. Christians would argue that important aspects of the Christian life can only be understood and experienced from within a relationship with Christ. That is not to say that a step of faith is just a blind leap in the dark. It should be a decision that is informed by careful thinking and weighing of evidence. But it is more than just that. Augustine, Literal Commentary on Genesis, c AD 391 See e.g. C. J. Collins, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? (Crossway, Wheaton, 2003) ch 11. See e.g. R. Hooykaas, Religion and the Rise of Modern Science, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids,1972) John Donne (Eighty Sermons, #22 published in 1640) John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion , CUP, Cambridge (1991), p147. Leibniz, as quoted by C. Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind, (Paternoster, Exeter, 1984), p 75. Charles Coulson, Christianity in an Age of Science, 25th Riddell Memorial Lecture Series, Oxford University Press, Oxford, (1953). Colin Humphreys The Miracles of Exodus: A Scientist’s Discovery of the Extraordinary Natural Causes of the Biblical Stories, (Harper Collins, San Francisco, 2003). R. Hooykaas, op cit One could argue that God must nevertheless employ divine action to set up the conditions necessary for a type i miracle to occur at the right time. In that sense both kinds of miracles may involve violations of normal physical cause-effect relations, but in type i this is more hidden. Note that I am not arguing that miracles  break ultimate cause-effect relationships. Within a divine economy, they may make perfect causal sense. Language like â€Å"violation of physical cause-effect† reflects our limited access to the mind of God.

Rosewood Movie Review

Rosewood A great story based on real example, which happened in small town of Florida. This movie was directed by John Singleton, and based from real incident, that took place in 1923 in Florida. It is a story about how middle class African-Americans were living and enjoying life, until an incident happens in town. A white female is accusing colored person in raping her. From this point main goal of three main characters is to save people from mob attack, and lynching of colored people.This is a great example that we can relate to what he have learned in the class. As we know the main problem of this story is that a white female who had sexual intercourse with her lover, provoked him and he got in a fight with her. Leaving marks on her body and a clear mark on her face, witness of this event were colored people who were working outside and heard everything that was going on. Women was accusing that African-American men raped and beat her. She went outside screaming, and making a trag edy, hiding the truth.This is a great example of what was happening in 19 century, where lynching escalated to a new whole level. According to Jessie Ames, lynching was happening 29% in the North and 71% in the South. And what is the worst that all this killing was happening because of the women that excuse what made in South. Even though that we are knowing according to Jessie Ames that 71% lynching in the South that was happening, this event was instigated against white male, not against female. That said that lynching were happening for no reason, and excuse for it was white women.This move have related and showed us that no one was protected at that time. Living in this small town in Florida, having colored people everyone in middle class, leaving peacefully a knowing everyone. It still didn't help to solve the problem. In the movie was one important scheme when sheriff of the town asked women, if she is sure that it was African-American person or not. It gives us a hint that sh eriff does not belief what she is saying. Knowing that she is capable of not telling truth.White people are getting mad and are crushing and killing African Americans, they re mad and are following each other, while sheriff was trying to make everything fair and find the one who is guilty. But everything collapsed and they started killing and hanging African Americans. The only person who tried to stop and save their lives was owner of the shop. He didn't believed that someone couldn't done this to her. And he was certainly sure that colored people couldn't do that. He tried to save them from their death.He and a new guy, who came in town, team up in order to save kids and women, which ended up being a successful plan. This movie is a great example of what and how was going during mob attacks and racist killings. It showed up that there was a fear of white people to have and realized that colored people are getting educated and are having a better life style. That they are gaining p ower little bit by little bit. And we could see how white people were scared when â€Å"Major† came in to town, and knowing that he is wealthy. This is a story how white folks were scared of colored people, and were doing everything they could

Leukemia essays

Leukemia essays Leukemia is one of the most deadly forms of cancer known today. For some reason it doesn't get the amount of media attention other forms of cancer. For example, if someone has breast cancer they are much more likely to survive than a person diagnosed with an acute or chronic leukemia. I think the reason for that is because they are making much more progress on treating breast cancer then on the treatment of leukemia. There are many different types of symptoms associated with leukemia. Many of the symptoms make the person fell as if they have the flu. Many people don't go to the doctor until their leukemia is in much more advanced stages because they think they have a bad case of the flu. This greatly reduces the patient's chances of survival. The most apparent symptoms of leukemia are weakness or chronic fatigue, fever of unknown origin, weight loss that is not due to dieting or exercise, frequent bacterial or viral infections, headaches, skin rashes, nonspecific bone pain, easy bruising, bleeding from the gums or nose, blood in urine or stools, enlarged lymph node and/or spleen, abdominal fullness, and petechiae. Petechiae is the sudden appearance of small red marks on the skin. There are many different types of treatments for leukemia. The most effective treatment is chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplants are also helpful in treating leukemia. Unfortunately it is had to find a donor with the same blood type, (it usually has to be a close relative) little over half of the people that receive them survive for more than three years. Various anti-cancer drugs are used many times in combination with chemotherapy. The drugs are often antioxidants. These antioxidants stop the dividing of the cells and so the number of white blood cells goes down. There are a large number of alternative treatments to choose from. There are traditional Chinese medicine, juice therapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, meditation, gigong ...

ImpressionEvidencestyle.visibilityppt_xppt_y Essays - Biometrics

ImpressionEvidencestyle.visibilityppt_xppt_y Essays - Biometrics ImpressionEvidencestyle.visibilityppt_xppt_y Types offingerprints There arethree distinct types offingerprintsand they are: 1.Whorl 2.Delta 3.Loopstyle.visibility Whorlfingerprint A whorlpattern consistsof almostconcentriccirclesand two deltas. There are four types of whorls : Plain whorl Central pocket loop whorl Double loop whorl Accidental whorl Whorl patterns account for 25% of fingerprints Loop fingerprint A loop pattern has only one delta. There are two types of loop patterns:1. Ulnar loop2. Radial loop Loop patterns account for @ 70% of all fingerprints Archfingerprint There are two types of arch patterns: 1. Plain arch, 2. Tented arch Arch pattern account for 5% of all fingerprintsstyle.visibilityppt_xppt_y Delta The point on a ridge at or in front of and nearest the center of the divergence of the type lines. The delta area is located as a triangular area where the ridges radiate outward in three directions Minutiae Minutiae refer to specific points in a fingerprint, these are the small details in a fingerprint that are most important for fingerprint recognition. There are three major types of minutiae features: the ridge ending, the bifurcation, and the dot (also called short ridge). The ridge ending is, as indicated by the name, the spot where a ridge ends. A bifurcation is the spot where a ridge splits into two ridges. Spots are those fingerprint ridges that are significantly shorter than other ridges. Techniquesused to develop latent prints Powders Silvernitrate Iodine Fluorochromes Powders-Powders adhere to both water and fatty deposits. These are generally useful on newer prints only. Silver nitrate-Silver nitrate reacts with the chlorides in skin secretions to form silver chloride, a material which turns gray when exposed to light.It is not useful on items which have been exposed to water. Iodine-Iodine fumes react with oils and fatty deposits to produce a temporary yellow-brown reaction product. Fluorochromes-Prints may be treated with special dyes called fluorochromes which easily are made to fluoresce and bond with the print deposits.They require an ultraviolet light source. What is AFIS An automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) is a system that uses biometric technology to store digital imagery of individual fingerprints for database comparison to produce a match. Fingerprints are considered a foolproof method for identification purposes because each fingerprint is unique. As digital technology progresses, fingerprinting is increasingly being used as a fraud prevention measure. This type of technological safeguard may be stored with personal data, such as passwords and personal identification numbers. Live scanning, which offers real-time fingerprint identification, complements AFIS technology. AFIS is gaining popularity as a method used to identify individual user logins. Impression evidence Types of impression evidence Footwear Impression Evidence-Shoe impressions or footprint impression evidence can be used to connect a culprit to the crime Tire Impression Evidence-Tire impression evidence is used to point to the culprit's vehicle. Uniqueness by way of defects, skidding pattern, tire patching traces or uneven wear must first be established before the court dismisses the tire track evidence as class evidence. Tool Mark Evidence-Tool Marks are defined in forensic science as impressions produced by an instrument on a surface. Crime scene investigators determine the nature of the tool by the indentation it leaves on the surface. Bite Mark Evidence-A crime scene investigator must have a keen eye for detecting a bite mark on a dead body. Upon concluding that a bite mark has been impressed on the body, a forensic dentist will be called to measure and record the bite mark. This must be done immediately as bite marks loses its original impression over time. When the dentist confirms that it is a human bite, it will be swabbed for DNA. Impression evidenceused in reality The serial killer, Ted Bundy, who confessed to 30 murders, was linked to two of his murders by bite mark evidence. When done right, the recording and analysis of a bite mark on a victim can provide a great deal of evidence in legal proceedings. References "Next Generation Identification (NGI)." FBI. FBI, 06 May 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/fingerprints-and-other-biometrics/ngi. "Fingerprint Patterns." Fingerprint Patterns - Fingerprinting.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. fingerprinting.com/fingerprint-patterns.php. T Martin Crime Scene Forensics, LLC. "Fingerprints." Fingerprints. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. crimescene-forensics.com/Fingerprints.html.

How Runoff Primaries Work in US Politics

How Runoff Primaries Work in US Politics Runoff primaries are held in nearly a dozen states when no candidate in a race for their partys nomination for state or federal office is able to win a simple majority of the vote. Runoff primaries amount to a second round of voting, but only the two top vote-getters appear on the ballot - a move that ensures one of them will win support from at least 50 percent of voters. All other states require the nominee to win only a plurality, or the most number of votes in the race.   This requirement that you have a majority vote is hardly unique. We require the president to get a majority in the  Electoral College. Parties have to get majorities to choose presidents. As John Boehner can explain, you also need to have majority support in the  House  to become  speaker, Charles S.  Bullock III, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, said during a 2017 panel discussion held by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Runoff primaries are  most common in  the South and date back to single-party rule. The use of runoff primaries is more likely when there are more than two candidates seeking the nomination for a statewide seat such as governor or U.S. senator. The requirement that party nominees win at least 50 percent of the vote is seen as a deterrent to electing extremist candidates, but critics argue holding second primaries to achieve this goal is costly and often alienates large swaths of potential voters.   10States That Use Runoff Primaries The states that require nominees for state and federal office to win a certain threshold  of votes and hold runoff primaries when that doesnt happen, according to FairVote and the National Conference of State Legislatures, are: Alabama: Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Arkansas:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Georgia:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Louisiana:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Mississippi:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  North Carolina:  Requires nominees to win at least 40 percent of the vote.  Oklahoma:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  South Carolina:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  South Dakota:  Requires certain nominees to win at least 35 percent of the vote.  Texas:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.   History of Runoff Primaries The use of runoff primaries dates to the South in the early 1900s, when Democrats held a lock on electoral politics. With little competition from Republican or third parties, the Democrats essentially chose their candidates not in the general election but the primaries; whoever won the nomination was guaranteed electoral victory. Many southern states set artificial thresholds to protect white Democratic candidates from being toppled by other candidates who won with mere pluralities. Others such as Arkansas authorized the use of runoff elections to block extremists and hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan from winning party primaries. Justification forRunoff Primaries Runoff primaries are used for the same reasons today: they force candidates to achieve support from a broader portion of the electorate, thereby reducing the chance voters will elect extremists. According to Wendy Underhill, an expert on  elections and redistricting,  and researcher  Katharina Owens Hubler: The requirement for a majority vote (and thus the potential for a primary runoff) was intended to encourage candidates to broaden their appeal to a wider range of voters, to reduce the likelihood of electing candidates who are at the ideological extremes of a party, and to produce a nominee who may be more electable in the general election. Now that the South is solidly Republican, the same issues still hold true. Some states have also moved to open primaries to try to reduce partisanship. Downsides of Runoff Primaries Turnout data show that participation declines in runoff elections, meaning those who do turnout might not fully represent the interests of the district as a whole. And, of course, it costs money to hold primaries. So taxpayers in states that hold runoffs are on the hook for not one but two primaries. Instant Runoff Primaries An alternative to runoff primaries growing in popularity is the instant runoff. Instant runoffs require the use of ranked-choice voting in which voters identify their first, second and third preferences. The initial count uses every voters top choice. If no candidate hits the 50-percent threshold to secure the party nomination, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped and a recount is held. This process is repeated until one of the remaining candidates gets a majority of votes. Maine became the first state to adopt ranked-choice voting in 2016; it uses the method in state races including those for​ the legislature.

The effects of the titanic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The effects of the titanic - Essay Example The Titanic had enough lifeboats for first and second class passengers, but not for steerage. So the poor passengers almost all drowned, while the rich passengers mostly survived. Titanic carried 20 lifeboats, enough for 1178 people. The existing Board of Trade required a passenger ship to provide lifeboat capacity for 1060 people. Titanic's lifeboats were situated on the top deck. The boat was designed to carry 32 lifeboats but this number was reduced to 20 because it was felt that the deck would be too cluttered and thus pose an inconvenience to the first class passengers whom enjoyed strolling the deck. On a luxury ship, lifeboats for everyone would mean less room for games and sports on the upper decks. Passengers would have had to give up play areas for lifeboats (Lord, Lives On 85). White Star line tragically sacrificed safety for luxury. The question remains whether or not first and second class passengers received preference on the lifeboats. The White Star line claims there was no distinction between the three classes of passengers, however, only 25 percent of third class passengers were saved compared to 53 percent of first and second class passengers. The White Star line explained that third class passengers were more reluctant to leave the ship and they did not want to part from their belongings.

AI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

AI - Essay Example Incase the machine fails to imitate such unintelligent behaviors, it fails the test altogether. The second reason is that some of the intelligent behavior exhibited is inhuman. The test is not testing for highly intelligent behaviors such as the ability to solve problems. It requires the machine to lie. In this case the machine is much intelligent than a human being thus it must avoid exhibiting more intelligence. Incase the test required solving a practical problem that prove difficult for a human being, the interrogator would definitely distinguish between a human being and a machine. But in this case, it cannot build intelligence beyond the ability of human beings. The machine is a good test of human intelligence. This is because it requires the two players A and B to deceive the interrogator and find out if they can detect. In the two players, there is a man and a woman. They can both deceive the interrogator into believing that they are either of

Occupy Wall Street Movement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Occupy Wall Street Movement - Research Paper Example The movement, which initially took off as a local one, went on to expand exponentially across hundreds of cities in the US, inciting equally vigorous movements around the world. The reason for such a rapid growth of the movement stems from the accumulated grievance of the people all over the world at economic and social inequalities. The movement is meaningfully significative and distinctive, as it was purely started by people who denounced corrupted multinational corporations and the exploitative rich. It has spread to more than 100 cities in the US and 1500 cities all over the world ("From Tahrir Square to Times Square"). It is believed that the movement took its inspiration from the Arab Spring and European uprisings, and all it took was a challenge from the magazine, Adbusters, to bring this movement to fruition (Gelder 1). The gap between the rich and the poor has been increasingly widening as greedy companies and corporates, who are solely interested in their self-interests, ig nore the consequences of their actions that affect 99% of the people, resulting in economic inequalities (Feller & Stone 1). The Occupy Wall Street movement aimed to lash out against the rich 1% of the society, which includes banks on Wall Street, big corporations, etc. who not only claim and amass wealth at the expense of the remaining 99%, but also have "their way with our governments" (Gelder 1). According to protesters, this 1% was bailed out by tax from people during the great recession, and it is now celebrating its superiority at the expense of the rest of the people by giving out enormous amounts of bonuses to executives (Gittins). According to protesters of the OWS movement, rich corporations take advantage of students who are under the burden of student loans, and also constrict the job market by outsourcing labor (occupywallst.org). Figure 1: A young protester at the Occupy Texas State protest (occupytxstate.org) The OWS movement brought the people's attention to societal and economic inequalities deeply rooted in the society. As part of their demands to decrease these inequalities, the people command equal educational opportunities for the masses. They assert that economic inequalities are related to educational inequalities and that by providing equal educational opportunities and eliminating the self-interests of corporations and for-profit organizations from the educational system, this endeavor would be possible. This raises the question whether such claims are justified. Is economic inequality connected to educational inequality, and has the educational system really suffered at the hands of big corporations and profit oriented individuals and organizations? In an attempt to answer these questions, the present paper asserts that the demands of the OWS movement for equal educational opportunities are absolutely justified. It is true that the educational system has suffered at the hands of big corporations and profit-oriented individuals and org anizations, and that equal educational opportunities are vital for ensuring economic equality in society. According to Goldstein and Chesky, educational improvement is "an economic imperative". This is because when a nation does not work towards the improvement of its educational system, development of its teachers, and improvement of students achievements in national and international tests, it goes into a "downward economic spiral", both at national and international levels (Goldstein and Chesky 1). Educational progress translates into economic progress of a nation. The OWS movement aims to achieve economic stability and equality, and for this, it demands reforms in the educational s

Lessons learned from the collapse of bear stearns Essay

Lessons learned from the collapse of bear stearns - Essay Example All the major cause will be expansively presented in this paper. The valuable lessons learnt from the crisis will also be thrown light upon in this paper. Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehmann Brothers, Northern Rock, Goldman Sachs are some elite names that suffered the most because of the economic crisis also known as recession. Lehmann brothers filed for bankruptcy while AIG and a few other elites just hung in there with the skin of their teeth. This economic crisis is still having repercussions on countries like Greece and Spain; the whole of Euro Zone is facing a financial turmoil. There are a few other countries that have been not so severely affected by the same. The crisis triggered off because of unchecked debt, banks kept issuing loans to people who invested heavily in buying assets, several things were taken for granted but when proved otherwise there was hardly a place in the world to hide. Overvaluation in real estate is perhaps the biggest cause of the current economic crisis, it i s better known as the subprime crisis in the US. The likes of Lehmann Brothers and other financial services went bust because they kept issuing credit to the people who thought the property price would increase and they would be easily able to pay off the debt that they are borrowing. It did not turn out that way and there was a short of equity, this is exactly why the financial institutions went bankrupt. The overvaluation is the biggest factor that caused the current economic crisis. Factors like bad income tax practices have added insult to injury, bad mortgage lending also contributed heavily to this current economic crisis. â€Å"The way to address the root cause is to let house prices drop to where an average house is within the means of an average household.   (Or, alternatively, boost the income of the average household to the point that they can afford an average house.   But that's very hard.   Letting houses prices go on falling, although painful for everyone who o wns a house or who has lent money to someone who owns a house, is very easy.)† (Root Cause of the Financial Crisis) Role of Monetary Policy Some of the main plausible reasons that caused the recent financial crisis have been identified in the above sections. According to Brunnermeie (2009), cheap mortgage financing to sub-standard borrowers fuelled the boom in the U.S. housing market. Three factors were primarily responsible for the fall of the housing market in the U.S. (which in essence, constituted a very small segment of the financial market in the country) transforming into a global contagion. First, the â€Å"originate and distribute† banking model, together with the high rate of securitization, led to declining lending standards and made it impossible to re-price the complex structured products. This significantly eroded the confidence level of banks, thereby disrupting the inter-bank markets and credit flow. Second, banks relied heavily on short-term funding sou rces, hence raising the risk of funding. Finally, the ever-growing integration of global financial systems and the increasing interest towards structured financial instruments quickly transmitted the crisis to all the major regions of the world. Gourinchas (2010) focused on the role of monetary policy in the recent financial contagion as well as the role played by exogenous influences, particularly the rising external deficits referred to as ‘Global Imbalances’. According to Gourinchas, both explanations are not satisfactory as the sole

Request for proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Request for - Research Proposal Example The firm is seeking an appropriately qualified contractor to provide a â€Å"turnkey† solution of an Integrated Information system that will cover the operation and business needs of the business. Your firm is invited to submit a proposal for undertaking the work described in this Request for Proposal (RFP). The IT system to be delivered by the contractor must fully cover the business needs of the restaurant business. Following are described the main components of the system, which include the Ordering (POS) application, the back office/finance subsystem and the website application. Ordering Application (POS System). The POS system will provide a full flow of a customer orders from the time they are ordered, until the final bill issuance. The waiter must be able to register the order of the customer, and pass it via the restaurant wireless network to the kitchen. Kitchen personnel will receive the order and start preparing the food. Waiter in charge of the order must be informed with a message when the order is ready, and will serve it to the customer. In that way no time will be missed at all as the waiter can be busy with many orders in parallel without having to be all the time close to the kitchen, waiting for the food to be served. At the time when the customer asks for the bill, waiter sends a message to the central computer system. The receipt is automatically printed by the POS portable device printer and is delivered to the customer, so that the waiting time for bill issuance is minimal. The POS system must support 5 waiters, and should be expandable t o 15. POS application must have a graphical interface that will display a plan of the restaurant at any time, so that the waiter is able to easily select and monitor the orders of each table in a convenient way. In addition, POS application must support a user friendly menu table, as

Lessons learned from the collapse of bear stearns Essay

Lessons learned from the collapse of bear stearns - Essay Example All the major cause will be expansively presented in this paper. The valuable lessons learnt from the crisis will also be thrown light upon in this paper. Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehmann Brothers, Northern Rock, Goldman Sachs are some elite names that suffered the most because of the economic crisis also known as recession. Lehmann brothers filed for bankruptcy while AIG and a few other elites just hung in there with the skin of their teeth. This economic crisis is still having repercussions on countries like Greece and Spain; the whole of Euro Zone is facing a financial turmoil. There are a few other countries that have been not so severely affected by the same. The crisis triggered off because of unchecked debt, banks kept issuing loans to people who invested heavily in buying assets, several things were taken for granted but when proved otherwise there was hardly a place in the world to hide. Overvaluation in real estate is perhaps the biggest cause of the current economic crisis, it i s better known as the subprime crisis in the US. The likes of Lehmann Brothers and other financial services went bust because they kept issuing credit to the people who thought the property price would increase and they would be easily able to pay off the debt that they are borrowing. It did not turn out that way and there was a short of equity, this is exactly why the financial institutions went bankrupt. The overvaluation is the biggest factor that caused the current economic crisis. Factors like bad income tax practices have added insult to injury, bad mortgage lending also contributed heavily to this current economic crisis. â€Å"The way to address the root cause is to let house prices drop to where an average house is within the means of an average household.   (Or, alternatively, boost the income of the average household to the point that they can afford an average house.   But that's very hard.   Letting houses prices go on falling, although painful for everyone who o wns a house or who has lent money to someone who owns a house, is very easy.)† (Root Cause of the Financial Crisis) Role of Monetary Policy Some of the main plausible reasons that caused the recent financial crisis have been identified in the above sections. According to Brunnermeie (2009), cheap mortgage financing to sub-standard borrowers fuelled the boom in the U.S. housing market. Three factors were primarily responsible for the fall of the housing market in the U.S. (which in essence, constituted a very small segment of the financial market in the country) transforming into a global contagion. First, the â€Å"originate and distribute† banking model, together with the high rate of securitization, led to declining lending standards and made it impossible to re-price the complex structured products. This significantly eroded the confidence level of banks, thereby disrupting the inter-bank markets and credit flow. Second, banks relied heavily on short-term funding sou rces, hence raising the risk of funding. Finally, the ever-growing integration of global financial systems and the increasing interest towards structured financial instruments quickly transmitted the crisis to all the major regions of the world. Gourinchas (2010) focused on the role of monetary policy in the recent financial contagion as well as the role played by exogenous influences, particularly the rising external deficits referred to as ‘Global Imbalances’. According to Gourinchas, both explanations are not satisfactory as the sole

An Analysis of Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur Research Paper

An Analysis of Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur - Research Paper Example Many movements like the Black Panthers Party had recognized the rise of racism in American society during the seventies but could not do much during the eighties when it was finally dissolved. Afeni Shakur was a part of this party. People who were born into the eighties were thus born into an environment of hatred that Tupac speaks of in his song when he says,Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her face Ain't a woman alive that could take my mama's place Suspended from school; and scared to go home, I was a fool with the big boys, breaking all the rules I shed tears with my baby sister (Shakur). In these lyrics, there is an understanding of the fact that the poverty and hardships that were faced were not a reflection merely of class but also of race. An understanding of the hardships that were faced by African Americans in the eighties is clearly outlined in these lines when one takes the context of the song into account. A historical analysis of the song would thus, lead one to believe in the importance of the song that speaks of the poverty that people of a certain race had to suffer and the hardships that they had to undergo as a result of the discrimination that they had to face. The analysis of history would lead one to believe that the destructive potential that racism had in the United States of America was channelized into creating the songs that Tupac did. His songs were an exposition of the racist mentalities that were prevalent in the minds of people in the eighties. Tupac is aware of his personal position within the historical times that he was a part of. The pe rsonal dedication of the song to his mother is a proof of the fact that the song owes its existence to the personal experiences that Tupac went through as a child. The song incorporates the problems that the poverty of the African Americans could lead them to. Poverty in many cases also coincided with the use of drugs and other substances that were banned. Afeni Shakur was addicted to crack and this is referred to in Tupac’s song. When he says that despite the fact that his mother was a â€Å"crack fiend†, she â€Å"always was a black queen† (Shakur), he means to understand the troubles that she went through and also the paths that she took to avoid those troubles. The anger that Tupac feels towards the society for making him and his mother face hardships because of their skin color comes through in Dear Mama. The importance of this lies in the fact that current policy decisions may be able to gain from rap music like the one that Tupac produced. Writers like Ro nald J. Stephens and Earl Wright II talk of the possibility of using songs such as Dear Mama as a â€Å"qualitative data source† (Stephens and Wright). The personal experiences of Tupac find mention in Dear Mama and these can be used to analyze the conditions that have shaped race relations in the America of today. The song also reveals the conditions of struggle that were to be endured by black women in urban areas of America during the eighties. In this song, Tupac talks about the problems that had to be faced by his mother as representative of the problems.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay #1 -Huck has a grim attitude towards Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Huck has a grim attitude toward people he disagrees with or doesnt get along with. Huck tends to alienate himself from those people. He doesnt let it bother him. Unlike most people Huck doesnt try to make his point. When Huck has a certain outlook on things he keep his view. He will not change it for anyone. For instance in Chapter Three when Miss Watson tells Huck that if he prayed he would get everything he wished for. â€Å"Huck just shook his head yes and walked away telling Tom that it doesnt work because he has tried it before with fishing line and fishing hooks. † This tells us that Huck is an independent person who doesnt need to rely on other people. #5 How is Jim betrayed? How does Huck react? What does this show about his character? How has he changed his mind about Jim at this point? Jim is very much like a father to Huck. He looks out for Huck and he is respected and looked upon by Huck. This is also more significant because Huckleberry Finn never had a father and he never really had a role model. Jim serves this purpose perfectly. Throughout all of his adventures Jim shows compassion as his most prominent trait. He makes the reader aware of his many superstitions and Jim exhibits gullibility in the sense that he Jim always assumes the other characters in the book will not take advantage of him. One incident proving that Jim acts naive occurs halfway through the novel, when the Duke first comes into the scene â€Å"By right I am a duke! Jim’s eyes bugged out when he heard that † In the novel, Huck Finn, one can legitimately prove that compassion, superstitious and gullibility illustrate Jim’s character perfectly. To begin with, among the many characteristics of Jim, his compassionate nature shows throughout the book. When Huck and Jim come across the floating boathouse, Jim finds a dead man inside. He advises Huck not to look as he says, â€Å"It’s a dead man dead two er three days come in Huck, but doan’ look at his face. † At the end of the book the reader finds out that the dead man turns out as Huck’s father. Further on down the river, Huck and Jim engage in a deep conversation. Jim speaks of the family he feels he has left behind. Jim tries hard to save up all his money in hopes of buying back his wife and children when he becomes a free man. He expresses that he feels terrible for leaving behind his family and misses them very much. As a result, Huck feels responsible and guilty for ruining Jim’s freedom. Huck decides that he wants to reveal the truth, that Jim really isn’t a free man. His conscience tells him not to and instead he finds himself helping Jim rather than giving him up. Jim feels so thankful to Huck when he says . . . it’s all on account of Huck, I’s a free man, you’s the best friend Jim’s ever had † #6 Huck is constantly rebelling against â€Å"civilization† in the story. Has he become more â€Å"civilized† at the end of the novel? Why or why not? The conflict between society and the individual is a theme portrayed throughout Twains Huckleberry Finn. Huck was not raised in accord with the accepted ways of civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him through life. As portrayed several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right, yet he does not realize that his own instincts are more moral than those of society. From the very beginning of Hucks story, Huck clearly states that he did not want to conform to society; The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied. When Pap returns for Huck, and the matter of custody is brought before the court, the reader is forced to see the corruption of society. The judge rules that Huck belongs to Pap, and forces him to obey an obviously evil and unfit man. One who drinks profusely and beats his son. Later, when Huck makes it look as though he has been killed, we see how civilization is more concerned over finding Hucks dead body than rescuing his live one from Pap. This is a society that is more concerned about a dead body than it is in the welfare of living people. The theme becomes even more evident once Huck and Jim set out, down the Mississippi. Huck enjoys his adventures on the raft. He prefers the freedom of the wilderness to the restrictions of society. Also, Hucks acceptance of Jim is a total defiance of society. Ironically, Huck believes he is committing a sin by going against society and protecting Jim. He does not realize that his own instincts are more morally correct than those of society. In chapter sixteen, we see, perhaps, the most inhumane action of society. Huck meets some men looking for runaway slaves, and so he fabricates a story about his father on the raft with smallpox. 6. Huck constantly rebelling against â€Å"civilization† in the story. This is a book of social criticism. Twain has his ways of criticizing people of their actions and the things they do. Twain does a good job expressing the characters social behaviors. Instead of upfront making fun of Hulks actions he hints towards them or tries to glorify them when he does something that is socially wrong or unintelligent. Huck stages his death. This is not a real bright thing to do even though Hucks father is real mean and is a threat to his life and Hucks life. Huck wants to get away from him so bad that the first thing that comes into his mind is to stage his death so Pap will think hes dead and wont be looking for him ever again. Twain feels that by making Huck do this Twain is poking fun at Hucks intelligence. Not his nature intelligence but his book intelligence. In other words Twain is making fun of Huck. #8 – In what way is Huck a slave? Throughout the incident on pages 66-69 in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck fights with two distinct voices. One is siding with society, saying Huck should turn Jim in, and the other is seeing the wrong in turning his friend in, not viewing Jim as a slave. Twain wants the reader to see the moral dilemmas Huck is going through, and what slavery ideology can do to an innocent like Huck. Huck does not consciously think about Jims impending freedom until Jim himself starts to get excited about the idea. The reader sees Hucks first objection to Jim gaining his freedom on page 66, when Huck says, Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free-and who was to blame for it? Why, me. I could get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way. Huck is hearing the voice of society at this point, not his own. He does not see a moral dilemma with Jim being free; he is opposed to the fact that he is the one helping him. This shows Huck misunderstanding of slavery. Huck does not treat Jim like a slave when they travel together, this shows the reader that Huck views Jim as an equal in most ways. Huck sees having a slave only as owning the person, not actually being a slave to someone. Therefore, when he helps Jim runaway it would be like stealing. This conscience is telling him that Miss Watson, Jims master, never did anything wrong to him and that he shouldnt be doing a wrong to her by helping Jim escape. This is a totally different view of Miss Watson from Hucks perspective. Huck always disliked Miss Watson, but now that this society voice plays a part in Hucks judgment his views are changed. This society views allows Huck to see Jim, a friend, only as a slave and Miss Watson, almost a foe in his young views, as a dear friend. Twain is showing the reader the gross injustices of slavery in this little incident, as well as his moral opposition to slavery. #2 – Describe Pap. Use his own words (textual examples) to support your description. My heart wuz mos broke bekase you wuz los,(Pg. 85) was what Jim told Huckleberry when he found him again after they had been separated. This is a perfect example of how much Jim sincerely cares about Huck. Huck definitely has very close and father-like relationship with the runaway slave, Jim. On the other hand, his real father, Pap, is less father figure to Huck than a runaway African American slave. Pap is very violent and abusive towards Huck. By looking at Hucks relationships with Pap and Jim and how they are different and similar in some ways, Hucks relationship with Pap, and Hucks relationship with Jim the reader can see how they all relate. Although the relationships between Huck and Pap and Huck and Jim may seem extremely different, they are also quite similar in some ways. Both are father figures for Huck in a way. Although Huck is related to Pap through blood, Jim, who is a slave, cares more for Huck and is more nurturing than Pap is. Come in, Huck, but doan look at his face its too gashly. (Pg. 50) Jim said this as he found the body of Hucks father, Pap. This shows how Jim didnt want Huck to be upset by knowing that his father is dead. Also, Huck is in danger staying with both of these people. With staying with Pap, Huck is in danger because of his fathers abusiveness. Jim and Pap are also alike because of the fact that both of these people dont like their place in society. Pap wants to be wealthier and higher up in society, whereas Jim only wants to escape slavery and own himself. Pap is a very violent drunk. He lives on the outskirts of town, and goes into town only to get alcohol and become intoxicated. I borrowed three dollars from Judge Thatcher, and pap took it and got drunk, and went a-blow-ing around and cussing and whooping and carrying on; and he kept it up all over town, with a tin pan, till most midnight; then they jailed him, and next day they in had him before court, and jailed him again for a week. , (Pg. 21) #2 – What commentary is Mark Twain making about his society in this novel? Choosing Right Over Wrong Maturity is knowing when to do the right thing and following up on ones commitment even when he or she is tempted to do wrong. Huck Finn, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is faced with such temptations and situations where he is able to make the right choice and mature physically, mentally, and spiritually. He is able to avoid bad decisions, which leads him to become a more mature, established young man. Although Huck Finn finds himself acting immature at times, he still fully demonstrates maturity by the end of the novel. Throughout the novel, Huck is able to recognize what is wrong and decipher what should be right. Huck realizes that the King and Duke are taking advantage of the girls inheritance money. He realizes that what they are doing is incorrect and something should be done. This is first demonstrated when Huck states, It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race (175). This shows that Huck is developing a conscience and that he is able to recognize that what the Duke and King are doing is morally wrong. He determines that taking and robbing from innocent people is not what humans are supposed to do. This is also evident when Huck states, I say to myself this is a girl that Im letting that old reptile rob her of her money! (188). This thought established by Huck shows that he can distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Huck also shows maturity by allowing negative situations to pass by and misdirected conversation to stop, by not arguing more excessively than necessary. This is recognized when Huck states, Well, I couldnt see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldnt try for it. But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldnt do no good (11).

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects A STUDY OF OUTSOURCING CLINICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS TO ASIAN COUNTRIES (INDIA): ITS GROWTH AND FUTURE PROSPECTS ABSTRACT Outsourcing is increasingly becoming a trend within the clinical research industry. The pharmaceutical and biotechnological spend on outsourcing was estimated to be $48 million in the year 2008 and is expected to increase to $48 million by 2010 [Bloch et al, 2006]. The concept of outsourcing for the development and global studies on new drugs has become widely accepted in the pharmaceutical industry due to its cost and uncertainty. India is going to be the most preferred location for contract pharma research and development due to its huge treatment naà ¯ve population, human resources, technical skills, adoption/amendment/implementation of rules/laws by regulatory authorities, and changing economic environment. But still ‘miles to go to fulfil the pre-requisites to ensure Indias success. In spite of all the pitfalls, the country is ambitious and optimist to attract multinational pharmaceutical companies to conduct their clinical trials in India. The research methodology is done mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Six interviews were conducted; two interviews to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and four interviews to evaluate the strategies employed by the CRO in order to improve the relationship with key clients. The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research mainly to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research projects. Chapter 1- Introduction and Background 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"Outsourcing allows companies to reduce costs, benefits consumers with lower cost goods and services, and causes economic expansion that reduces unemployment, and increases productivity and job creation.† [Elder, 2009] According to the American heritage dictionary outsourcing is defined as the â€Å"procurement of services or products from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to cut costs† [Amiti, 2004] This chapter aims to understand the rationale behind this project which is on understanding the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. The cost of drug development has been consistently on the rise, which has led to the pharmaceutical industry looking for new methods for conducting clinical research [Jayshree, 2005]. These companies have also been trying to develop strategies in order to identify and focus on their core competencies [McIvor, 2000]. This has now been achieved by the process of outsourcing. Contract research was initially limited to pre-clinical studies and clinical trial services; however it now covers a varied range of activities. [Jayshree, 2005] Outsourcing therefore has become a customary business strategy. [Editors, May 2005]. As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] In order to meet the project requirements and timelines the pharmaceutical companies attempt to select the best service provider from several CROs. There is an intense competition between these organisations. I.1 illustrates the results of a survey conducted by Contract Pharma in 2005 wherein the respondents have graded the various characteristics they expect from a CRO in terms of very important and / or important. 1.2 RESEARCH TITLE A study of outsourcing clinical research project to Asian countries (India), its growth future prospects 1.3 RESEARCH BACKGROUND As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] Clinical trials are designed to help us find out how to give a new treatment safely and effectively to people. With escalating pressure on research and development (RD) cost-containment across the global pharmaceutical industry, there is increased focus on reducing the cost of clinical development. The additional problem of delayed development is also affecting new drug introductions, losing incremental revenues. This dual challenge of accelerating clinical development and reducing costs has forced major pharma companies to look at alternative destinations for sourcing patients for their global studies. Exploration on these lines guides pharma industry to take interest in the countries like Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Amongst Asian countries, India stands out prominently due to its huge treatment-naà ¯ve patients population, English speaking doctors and a large pharmaceutical presence that has dominated the world market due to cheap generics. As the multinational drug co mpanies in the United States and Western Europe look east to outsource research and clinical trial activities, countries such as India will gain proficiency and expertise, assisting its move from generic and speciality contract manufacturing to innovative drug discovery and development in its own right, setting the stage for increased global competition. [Unknown, website:http://www.cyfuture.com/history-ofoutsourcing.htm]. India has emerged as a strong base for clinical trials in recent times. Due to the multitude of benefits it offers, the country is fast growing as a centre of conducting clinical trials for many international companies. India, with its huge patient base, low cost advantage, completion of cilia trial on time, improving infrastructure, and with a strong government support is witnessing a double digit growth in its clinical trial market. All major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organisation (CROs) have already started conducting their clinical trials in India, and with improving infrastructure, industry friendly regulations and trained workforce, the growth is only likely to increase in future. 1.4 RATIONALE FOR CHOSEN TOPIC I decided to do my research on outsourcing because my personal interest and also clinical research outsourcing became the most important factor in the economic growth of many developing countries. I strongly believe that this paper provide some good literature along with some organizational evidences which will be beneficial to other pharmaceutical industry to outsource their clinical trials to India. Further as I have chosen my area as a clinical research outsourcing from European countries to many developing Asian countries along with the risk involvement in it so I will be collecting theories and information from pharmaceutical companies which will provide some evidence to the topic. In addition to the theories, I will be interviewing the mangers of pharmaceutical companies to find out their opinion and on that basis I will further review my topic. Also my personal interest in this topic is that I have worked in the clinical research industry for around 3.5 years. I know many of the processes and whole flow of the study completion. I have worked in CRO for top pharma companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline so I know all the insights of clinical research its importance, criticality and confidentiality. Also by working on this thesis I will get to know UK pharmaceutical market and how they carry out their clinical research. It will definitely help me in my job search as I want to work in clinical data management field in UK pharma or CRO. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: They are a means to structure, focus and direct the dissertation and to reconcile the objectives with the primary research. (I need your inputs regarding how to reference this portion of work as I have taken it from your notes) Research is an organised and systematic way of finding answers to questions. Questions are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose. Research questions:- 1) To understand the UK pharmaceutical/clinical research Industry. 2) To define the nature and characteristics of outsourcing 3) What is the importance of Clinical Research industry? 4) What is the relationship between pharmaceutical industry and CR industry? 5) Why outsource clinical research? 6) Why outsource clinical research mainly to Asian countries? 7) What are the effects of outsourcing clinical research on a pharmaceutical industry? 8) How to improve relationship between pharma and CRO in the process of outsourcing? 9) Which elements are most important for relationship between pharma and CRO both now and in future? 10) How to manage performance throughout the outsourcing process to improve its future? 1.6 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Outsourcing is a fascinating field which now forms a core component of business within the clinical research industry. This chapter aims to understand the aims and objectives which are intend to be completed during the course of this project. 1.6.1 Aim: To understand the growth and future prospects in outsourcing of clinical research projects from UK Pharma to Clinical Research Organisation in Asian countries. This research was conducted in order to understand the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. This research is mainly based on pharmaceutical companies in UK and Europe who outsources their most of the clinical trial work to overseas companies mainly in Asian countries .The actual aim of this research is to find out why there is an increase in outsourcing of clinical trials to Asian countries and what are the future prospects for both pharma companies and CRO where the projects are getting outsourced. This research also talks about what benefits the companies have due to outsourcing its clinical trials to developing countries. 1.6.2 Objectives: The following are the objectives of the research 1. To understand the current scenario of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. 2. Analysis of UKs Pharmaceutical industries where companies are going for outsourcing 3. What are the various reasons behind outsourcing? 4. Analysis of Clinical Research Organisations in Asian countries were outsourced jobs get done. 5. Overlook on the procedure of outsourcing and the basis on which selection outsource company is being done. 6. To identify the risks and benefits involved in outsourcing from the perspective of a client and service provider. 7. To develop a questionnaire in order to establish the internal views of a leading Pharmaceutical (Client) and CRO (service provider) on outsourcing. 1.7 THE STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION This paper consists of following chapters which are, Dissertation document structure: Chapter 1: Introduction In chapter 1, an introduction to outsourcing and clinical research industry was given in order to provide the reader a good background of outsourcing and clinical research industry. The Chapter also addresses why UK Pharma companies choose CRO in Asian countries (India) for outsourcing and the relationship between them. Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter provides background information on the processes of outsourcing as well as gives an overview of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. Chapter 3: A structured research methodology A background on the research methodologies, knowledge claims, research strategies, and data collection was given as the first part of this chapter. The implemented research process and methodology for this research study was explained subsequently. The last part of the chapter addressed the validation process and the objectives achieved through the research study. The author of this thesis selected a research methodology mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Chapter 4: Company Case Chapter 5: Data Collection and Analysis of the project Six interview were conducted from the UK Pharma and CRO in India to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and what is the future prospects of outsourcing clinical research by developing good relationship between client and CRO. Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within in the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study also concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous chapters I have presented the overall background to the topic and also supportive literature to the outsourcing of clinical research along with relationship building in between CRO and pharma. The main aim of this chapter is to outline the research methodology used for this topic. In this chapter we will provide and discuss the content of the research approach towards the topic and designing of it used throughout the study of it. 3.2 RESEARCH PROCESS This is traditional and highly structured view of research process. This model also provides research as neat and orderly process, with one stage leading logically on to the other. As provided in step 1 research topic can be identified as a result of your course, work, job, interest area or general experience. On the basis of research topic in order to narrow down the research area, research problem is defined which focuses on particular research problem with small enough of investigation. Next step is to tell how exactly the research is to be conducted which is followed by the collection of the data which includes primary and secondary data. After analyzing and interpreting this collected data final report is being written. 3.3 NATURE OF RESEARCH PROBLEM Conducting research in the real world was a challenge for dissertation due to the lack of a central body/authority to provide information related to pharmaceutical and CRO confidential data regarding outsourcing of clinical research. The followings are some of the key challenges faced during the research process: 3.3.1 Lack of transparency An effort was made to address some questions through the questionnaires related to the outsourcing of clinical research and its benefits, the risks you face when you outsource processes to the CRO, the key issues that lead to a loss of business from the clients, and the competencies that differentiate the CRO from its competitors. These questions were either not answered or answered with uncertainties by some respondents. The author has to take out the information through indirect ways of addressing the questions over the interviews conducted with some of the Operational managers and employees in person or through phone interviews. This indeed increased the time and effort in the data collection phase in the research process but was overcome with certain limitations. 3.3.2 Inadequate references: The author had struggled to find good references or documents related to outsourcing clinical research, its future and all the other relevant data was offered either through the common portal or the business departments sites. The lack of academic case studies on information security, publications, or white papers was a challenge for the extraction of information in the literature review and data analysis. Despite the above challenges, the objectives of the research as mentioned in Section 1.4 were the pillars of the research methodology and the research process was implemented to achieve them. 3.4 RESEARCH METHOD Research method tells about the methodologies used for the research topic. The main aim of this method is to discuss and select the appropriate method to achieve the research objectives which also provide the structured and systematic way throughout the process to perform the research. A Research Method is nothing but a way in which the data is arranged to get desired output. It can also be defines as a systematic and orderly approach to the collection and analysis of data. In any research collected or gathered is always called as samples or data, which is raw, specific, untreated, undigested and therefore largely meaningless. The analysis arranges the data in a meaningful manner and resolves research questions. So it is very important to select a correct analysis method on the correct set of data to get accurate results and outputs for the research problem. There are several different analytical methods, which are commonly used in business and management research works. These methods vary according to the nature and scope of the topic and thesis, the sources of data to be used, the purposes of gathering data, the amount of control in obtaining the data, and assumptions to be made in analyzing the data. 3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is a ‘Science of planning procedures for conducting studies so as to get the most valid findings (Vogt, 1993, P.196). Research design will give you detailed plan and guide about focus of your research. Research design is a strategic research approach which is adopted to answer the research questions. The research approaches are classified as exploratory, descriptive or analytical research. Exploratory research is generally conducted for the topics where hardly any few or nothing to refer for the researcher in terms of work done by previous researcher. Researcher conducts the exploratory research for three main purposes a) diagnosing a situation, b) Screening alternatives, C) Discovering new ideas.(Zikmund,200). In general exploratory research is meaningful in any kind of situation where there is not a exact understanding in order to proceed with research (malhotra, 2004). Research conducted for this project was largely exploratory, which involved brand equity research; a research wherein the researcher determines the favorability of a particular brand among its customers [Trochim, W.M.K, 2006]. In order to fulfill the aims and objectives set for this project a schedule of tasks to be completed was drawn up: 1. A comprehensive study of article and reports which dealt with basic outsourcing as a concept. 2. A study of articles and reports related to outsourcing within the clinical research industry to provide an insight into the functioning of pharmaceutical companies. 3. Evaluation of the information gathered so as to compile a literature review. 4. Preparation of questionnaires as tools to obtain the generic information about outsourcing within a leading pharmaceutical company. 5. Selecting relevant interviewees for conducting the interview. 6. Preparation of questionnaires in order to interview key people within the organisation who were responsible for ensuring that deliverables are met in a timely manner. 7. Conducting the interviews 8. Transcription of the responses obtained during the interviews 9. Analysing the responses obtained and generating the results. 10. Conclusions and recommendations from the results obtained. These tasks required a comprehensive collection of information from various sources. The collection of data for analysis and interpretation was done in two phases: 1. Desk Research 2. Field Research 3.5.1 Desk Research The desk research comprised a comprehensive and extensive literature review in order to gain a thorough understanding of the industry, outsourcing. This took place during the first four weeks of the project. The reading material covered a range of internet articles and industrial reports. The majority of the articles were found by using internet research. This method of research involved the extensive use of the Internet especially the World Wide Web [Berry, D. M. (2004)]. The search engines used to look for information included Google, Yahoo, MSN, Google Scholar and the UWIC library search hub. Some reports were also provided by the Industry Supervisor. The articles were read and the information which was relevant to the project aims was reviewed and included in the literature review which forms the second chapter of the thesis. Some of the well known reports such as the Tufts reports and a report by Alison Sahoo, (2006) on Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Strategies did not only provide very good background information but also provided a plethora of information on outsourcing. Name of report Kind of information provided McKinsey Reports These reports provide comprehensive information on issues such as consolidation, licensing, biotechnology pipeline, outsourcing within the industry etc [McKinsey company website, accessed on 12 Dec 2009] Tufts Reports Strategic information for drug developers, regulator and academic researchers to help improve the quality of pharmaceutical development, review and utilisation [Tufts website, accessed on 15 Dec 2009] International Biopharmaceutical Association Publications The publications give information on product updates, news and industry trends, these journals have articles on the current issues related to the industry [IBPA website, accessed on 20 Dec 2009] William Blair Company reports These reports provide information on research providers and high quality growth companies. [William Blair and Company website, accessed on 22 Dec 2009] International Monetary Fund reports These reports provide information on high quality research and publish articles by a variety of guests on a number of topics [IMF Staff Papers, accessed on 27 Dec 2009] 3.5.2 Field Research The research on the subject of outsourcing included the construction of questionnaires and interviewing internal members of a leading CRO in order to fulfil the aim of the project. There are two types of research classified on the basis of type of questioning: 1. Quantitative research 2. Qualitative research Quantitative research is research which uses a combination of inferential statistics and descriptive statistics as tools to analyze data and draw conclusions. It involves random sampling techniques to enable valid and credible sampling from a particular population. This kind of market research includes surveys and questionnaires which express a statistically significant result. [Bradburn et. Al. 1988] Qualitative research, on the other hand, generally precedes the quantitative research. It aids in understanding a problem, setting up a hypothesis and determining the route to be taken for the quantitative research. This type of research is expensive and does not progress as rapidly as its counterpart. The number of respondents in this type of research is few and therefore the results of such a research cannot be extrapolated to the entire population [Malhotra, 2006]. The essential guide to doing research The research carried out in this study was qualitative in nature and hence did not generate a large amount of statistical information. It was decided, with the consent of the University and the Industry Supervisors, that the aims and objectives of the project could be fulfilled by interviewing relevant people within the CRO itself. There were four interviews, in total, which were conducted. Two interviews were conducted from the members which belong to pharmaceutical company and other two were conducted from CRO, which is service provider for this pharmaceutical company. 3.6 Data collection There are two main types of data collection primary data collection and secondary data collection. Primary data is the one which can be obtained by researcher directly, by observation or measurement of phenomenon in a real world without any disturbance of third party involvement. (walliman,2005). In every case researcher is answerable for his sources and should be able to argue in defense of quality of his sources. In secondary data the information is subjected to the source of reference. The main difference between primary and secondary data is, Primary data is originated by researcher for specific purpose of addressing the problem where as secondary data have been already collected for the purpose of other than problem (Malhotra, 2005). In the data collection process, both questionnaires and interviewing methods were adopted. The interview data were analyzed using the immersion approach (Robson, C., 2002) The questionnaires were designed to include open ended questions and closed ended questions in order to give the participants the flexibility to add more comments and points and not be restricted to the answers provided for any question (Creswell, J. W., 2003). 3.6.1 Review of secondary resources: * Related research papers, journals, industrial white papers, and surveys were researched, collected, indexed, and reviewed by the author. The objective of this step was to have a good repository of all journals and conference proceeds addressing the topic of outsourcing, different methods of outsourcing, clinical research industry, pharmaceutical industry , and increase in the outsourcing of CRO projects to developing countries like India , china etc. * During the course of the research, the author had either read or skimmed through more than 50 journals, whitepapers, conference proceedings, and books. Only 50 references regarded useful to the research were indexed and documented. 3.6.2 Identifying Interviewees: It was of paramount importance to select the right people to interview from a plethora of people, each skilled in their own field. With the intention of obtaining the maximum amount of information from the interviewees about outsourcing within the clinical research industry, people who were crucial to increasing the business opportunities for the leading pharmaceutical were chosen for these interviews. These people form a bridge between the top pharmaceutical companies and the CRO; hence it was decided that they were the best in the field of outsourcing within the CRO and therefore were selected for the interview. The questionnaires for the interviews were prepared accordingly. The field research was carried out in two phases: 1. Phase I: Preparation of questionnaires 2. Phase II: Conducting the interviews Phase I (the preparation of the questionnaire) required the author of this thesis to have an appreciation of the challenges of the industry and the current state of the art with respect to outsourcing in order to be able to target the questions in the most appropriate manner. There were two different questionnaires employed and these were directed at two different business activities that could be outsourced. These were: 1. Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company. 2. Questionnaire for members who are part of CRO Structured interviews: Two questionnaires (A and B) were created and were sent to Pharmaceutical Company (Pharma) and the CRO (Clinical Research organisation) respectively with specific and direct questions related to the areas of research interest. A preliminary interview with the head of Outsourcing Department in the pharmaceutical company was conducted to explain the purpose of the research and seek his opinion on the questionnaires and their objectives. Some of the heads of the departments did not have the chance to fill questionnaire and requested the author to fill them during their interviews. Mailed/Online questionnaire Both questionnaires A B were sent to the appropriate participants. The participants were invited based on their management involvement and based on their strong background on the outsourcing issues. The questionnaires were sent via email to them and the feedbacks were received through email. Both questionnaires A and B were developed as an output of this phase with different sets of questions addressed to the two categories of respondents (pharmaceutical company and Clinical Research Organisation). The questionnaires were sent and assistance offered to clarify the questionnaires questions if needed. The background information was obtained by a comprehensive study of the available literature and that has been reported in Chapter III. This chapter aims to report the results obtained during the interviews which were conducted as part of the research. 3.6.3 Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company related to outsourcing This questionnaire was designed to obtain informat