Attila, Flagellum Dei The Scourge of God essays

Attila, Flagellum Dei The Scourge of God essays In this essay I would like to discuss the influence of the Huns, and their King, Attila, plus other barbarian peoples of the period on the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. I will also discuss the changes that were brought about by the contact between the Barbarian and Roman cultures on the peoples of Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries. This is too large a topic to discuss in an essay like this, but by the example of Attila and the Huns, I hope to highlight problems and changes of this period. From the plain of central Hungary, the Huns controlled, through subject people and alliances, the area from the Urals to the Rhone in the 5th century. Only one of their kings is known outside of Hungary, Attila, whose name is passed down to the modern world as The Scourge of God. To the modern world he is known as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but there is a first hand account of his appearance, his royal court and the culture of his people , which portrays him as a distinguished ruler, as well as, a aggressive king, which is complimentary if not admiring. The question must be asked, Why Attila and not any other of the barbarian kings of the time? It was Alaric of the Visigoths whose army captured Rome in AD 410, but it is Attila who is remembered in the modern world as the sacker of cities. It was the Vandals who marched across Europe and eventually settled in North Africa. The Vandals created a dynasty that was to last for generations. Not until the time of the Emperor Justinian was North Africa returned to the Roman Empire, but the Huns are the peoples that are remembered today as the conquerors of the West. It is Attila and the Huns that have passed from history into folktale and legend as the ultimate in Barbarians who eat children and butcher whole nations, but they were no worse than the other nations of the 5th century. Attila only ruled the Huns for eight years, but during his r...

Julia Ward Howe Biography

Julia Ward Howe Biography Known for: Julia Ward Howe is today best known as the writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She was married to Samuel Gridley Howe, educator of the blind, who was also active in abolitionism and other reforms. She published poetry, plays and travel books, as well as many articles. A Unitarian, she was part of the larger circle of Transcendentalists, though not a core member. Howe became active in the womens rights movement later in life, playing a prominent role in several suffrage organizations and in womens clubs. Dates:  May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910 Childhood Julia Ward was born in 1819, in New York City, into a strict Episcopalian Calvinist family. Her mother died when she was young, and Julia was raised by an aunt. When her father, a banker of comfortable but not immense wealth, died, her guardianship became the responsibility of a more liberal-minded uncle. She herself grew more and more liberal- on religion and on social issues. Marriage At 21 years old, Julia married the reformer Samuel Gridley Howe. When they married, Howe was already making his mark on the world. He had fought in the Greek War of Independence and had written of his experiences there. He had become the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, where Helen Keller would be among the most famous students. He was a radical Unitarian who had moved far from the Calvinism of New England, and Howe was part of the circle known as the Transcendentalists. He carried religious conviction in the value of the development of every individual into work with the blind, with the mentally ill, and with those in prison. He was also, out of that religious conviction, an opponent of slavery. Julia became a Unitarian Christian. She retained until death her belief in a personal, loving God who cared about the affairs of humanity, and she believed in a Christ who had taught a way of acting, a pattern of behavior, that humans should follow. She was a religious radical who did not see her own belief as the only route to salvation; she, like many others of her generation, had come to believe that religion was a matter of deed, not creed. Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe attended the church where Theodore Parker was minister. Parker, a radical on womens rights and slavery, often wrote his sermons with a handgun on his desk, ready if necessary to defend the lives of the runaway slaves who were staying that night in his cellar on their way to Canada and freedom. Samuel had married Julia, admiring her ideas, her quick mind, her wit, her active commitment to causes he also shared. But Samuel believed that married women should not have a life outside the home, that they should support their husbands and that they should not speak publicly or be active themselves in the causes of the day. As director at Perkins Institute for the Blind, Samuel Howe lived with his family on campus in a small house. Julia and Samuel had their six children there. (Four survived to adulthood, all four becoming professionals well known in their fields.) Julia, respecting her husbands attitude, lived in isolation in that home, with little contact with the wider community of Perkins Institute or Boston. Julia attended church, she wrote poetry, and it became harder for her to maintain her isolation. The marriage was increasingly stifling to her. Her personality was not one which adjusted to being subsumed in the campus and professional life of her husband, nor was she the most patient person. Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote much later of her in this period: Bright things always came readily to her lips, and a second thought sometimes came too late to withhold a bit of a sting. Her diary indicates that the marriage was violent, Samuel controlled, resented and at times mismanaged the financial inheritance her father left her, and much later she discovered that he was unfaithful to her during this time. They considered divorce several times. She stayed, in part because she admired and loved him, and in part because he threatened to keep her from her children if she divorced him - both the legal standard and common practice at that time. Instead of divorce, she studied philosophy on her own, learned several languages - at that time a bit of a scandal for a woman - and devoted herself to her own self-education as well as the education and care of their children. She also worked with her husband on a brief venture at publishing an abolitionist paper, and supported his causes. She began, despite his opposition, to get more involved in writing and in public life. She took two of their children to Rome, leaving Samuel behind in Boston. Julia Ward Howe and the Civil War Julia Ward Howes emergence as a published writer corresponded with her husbands increasing involvement in the abolitionist cause. In 1856, as Samuel Gridley Howe led anti-slavery settlers to Kansas (Bloody Kansas, a battlefield between pro- and anti-slavery emigrants), Julia published poems and plays. The plays  and poems further angered Samuel. References in her writings to love turned to alienation and even violence were too clearly allusions to their own poor relationship. When the American Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act- and Millard Fillmore as President signed the Act- it made even those in Northern states complicit in the institution of slavery. All U.S. citizens, even in states that banned slavery, were legally responsible to return fugitive slaves to their owners in the South. The anger over the Fugitive Slave Act pushed many who had opposed slavery into more radical abolitionism. In a nation even more divided over slavery, John Brown led his abortive effort at Harpers Ferry to capture arms stored there and give them to Virginia slaves. Brown and his supporters hoped that the slaves would rise in armed rebellion, and slavery would end. Events did not, however, unfold as planned, and John Brown was defeated and killed. Many in the circle around the Howes were involved in the radical abolitionism that gave rise to John Browns raid. There is evidence that Theodore Parker, their minister, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, another leading Transcendentalist and associate of Samuel Howes, were part of the so-called Secret Six, six men who were convinced by John Brown to bankroll his efforts which ended at Harpers Ferry. Another of the Secret Six, apparently, was Samuel Gridley Howe. The story of the Secret Six is, for many reasons, not well known, and probably not completely knowable given the deliberate secrecy. Many of those involved seem to have regretted, later, their involvement in the plan. Its not clear how honestly Brown portrayed his plans to his supporters. Theodore Parker died in Europe, just before the Civil War began. T. W. Higginson, also the minister who married  Lucy Stone  and Henry Blackwell in their  ceremony asserting womens equality  and who was later a discoverer of  Emily Dickinson, took his commitment into the Civil War, leading a regiment of black troops. He was convinced that if black men fought alongside white men in the battles of war, they would be accepted as full citizens after the war. Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe became involved in the  U.S. Sanitary Commission, an important institution of social service. More men died in the Civil War from disease caused by poor sanitary conditions in prisoner of war camps and their own army camps than died in battle. The  Sanitary Commission  was the chief institution of reform for that condition, leading to far fewer deaths later in the war than earlier. Writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic As a result of their volunteer work with the  Sanitary Commission, in November of 1861 Samuel and Julia Howe were invited to Washington by President Lincoln. The Howes visited a Union Army camp in Virginia across the Potomac. There, they heard the men singing the song which had been sung by both North and South, one in admiration of John Brown, one in celebration of his death: John Browns body lies amouldering in his grave. A clergyman in the party, James Freeman Clarke, who knew of Julias published poems, urged her to write a new song for the war effort to replace John Browns Body. She described the events later: I replied that I had often wished to do so.... In spite of the excitement of the day I went to bed and slept as usual, but awoke the next morning in the gray of the early dawn, and to my astonishment found that the wished-for lines were arranging themselves in my brain. I lay quite still until the last verse had completed itself in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saying to myself, I shall lose this if I dont write it down immediately. I searched for an old sheet of paper and an old stub of a pen which I had had the night before, and began to scrawl the lines almost without looking, as I learned to do by often scratching down verses in the darkened room when my little children were sleeping. Having completed this, I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling that something of importance had happened to me. The result was a poem, published first in February 1862 in the Atlantic Monthly, and called Battle Hymn of the Republic. The poem was quickly put to the tune that had been used for John Browns Body - the original tune was written by a Southerner for religious revivals- and became the best known Civil War song of the North. Julia Ward Howes religious conviction shows in the way that Old and New Testament Biblical images are used to urge that people implement, in this life and this world, the principles that they adhere to. As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free. Turning from the idea that the war was revenge for the death of a martyr, Howe hoped that the song would keep the war focused on the principle of the ending of slavery. Today, thats what Howe is most remembered for: as the author of the song, still loved by many Americans. Her early poems are forgotten- her other social commitments forgotten. She became a much-loved American institution after that song was published but even in her own lifetime, all her other pursuits paled besides her accomplishment of one piece of poetry for which she was paid $5 by the editor of Atlantic Monthly. Mothers Day and Peace Julia Ward Howes accomplishments did not end with the writing of her famous poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. As Julia became more famous, she was asked to speak publicly more often. Her husband became less adamant that she remain a private person, and while he never actively supported her further efforts, his resistance eased. She saw some of the worst effects of the war- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war, the restructuring of the economies of both North and South. In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause. Distressed by her experience of the realities of war, determined that peace was one of the two most important causes of the world (the other being equality in its many forms) and seeing war arise again in the world in the Franco-Prussian War, she called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a  Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action. She failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mothers Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who had attempted starting in 1858 to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. Ann Jarvis daughter, named Anna Jarvis, would of course have known of her mothers work, and the work of Julia Ward Howe. Much later, when her mother died, this second Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mothers Day was celebrated in West Virginia in 1907 in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. And from there the custom caught on- spreading eventually to 45 states. Finally the holiday was declared officially by states beginning in 1912, and in 1914 the President, Woodrow Wilson, declared the first national  Mothers Day. Woman Suffrage But working for peace was also not the accomplishment which eventually meant the most to Julia Ward Howe. In the aftermath of the Civil War, she, like many before her, began to see parallels between struggles for legal rights for blacks and the need for legal equality for women. She became active in the  woman suffrage movement  to gain the vote for women. T. W. Higginson wrote of her changed attitude as she finally discovered that she was not so alone in her ideas that women should be able to speak their minds and influence the direction of society: From the moment when she came forward in the Woman Suffrage Movement ...  there was a visible change; it gave a new brightness to her face, a new cordiality in her manner, made her calmer, firmer; she found herself among new friends and could disregard old critics. By 1868, Julia Ward Howe was helping to found the New England Suffrage Association. In 1869 she led, with her colleague  Lucy  Stone, the  American Woman Suffrage Association  (AWSA) as the suffragists split into two camps over black versus woman suffrage and over state versus federal focus in legislating change. She began to lecture and write frequently on the subject of woman suffrage. In 1870 she helped Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell, found the  Womans Journal, remaining with the journal as an editor and writers for twenty years. She pulled together a series of essays by writers of the time, disputing theories that held that women were inferior to men and required separate education. This defense of womens rights and education appeared in 1874 as  Sex and Education. Later Years Julia Ward Howes later years were marked by many involvements. From the 1870s Julia Ward lectured widely. Many came to see her because of her fame as the author of the  Battle Hymn  of the Republic; she needed the lecture income because her inheritance had finally, through a cousins mismanagement, become depleted. Her themes were usually about service over fashion, and reform over frivolity. She preached often in Unitarian and Universalist churches. She continued to attend the Church of the Disciples, led by her old friend James Freeman Clarke, and often spoke in its pulpit. Beginning in 1873, she hosted an annual gathering of women ministers, and in the 1870s helped to found the Free Religious Association. She also became active in the womans club movement, serving as president of the New England Womens Club from 1871. She helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW) in 1873, serving as president from 1881. In January 1876, Samuel Gridley Howe died. Just before he died, he confessed to Julia several affairs hed had, and the two apparently reconciled their long antagonism. The new widow traveled for two years in Europe and the Middle East. When she returned to Boston, she renewed her work for womens rights. In 1883 she published a biography of Margaret Fuller, and in 1889 helped bring about the merger of the AWSA with the rival suffrage organization, led by  Elizabeth Cady Stanton  and  Susan B. Anthony, forming the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In 1890 she helped to found the General Federation of Womens Clubs, an organization which eventually displaced the AAW. She served as director and was active in many of its activities, including helping to found many clubs during her lecture tours. Other causes in which she involved herself included support for Russian freedom and for the Armenians in the Turkish wars, taking once again a stand that was more militant than pacifist in its sentiments. In 1893, Julia Ward Howe participated in events at the Chicago Columbian Exposition (Worlds Fair), including chairing a session and presenting a report on Moral and Social Reform at the Congress of Representative Women. She spoke at the to the  1893 Parliament of the Worlds Religions, held in Chicago in conjunction with the  Columbian Exposition. Her topic, What is Religion? outlined Howes understanding of general religion and what religions have to teach each other, and her hopes for interfaith cooperation. She also gently called for religions to practice their own values and principles. In her last years, she was often compared to Queen Victoria, whom she somewhat resembled and who was her senior by exactly three days. When Julia Ward Howe died in 1910, four thousand people attended her memorial service. Samuel G. Eliot, head of the American Unitarian Association, gave the eulogy at her funeral at the Church of the Disciples. Relevance to Womens History Julia Ward Howes story is a reminder that history remembers a persons life incompletely. Womens history can be an act of remembering- in the literal sense of re-membering, putting the parts of the body, the members, back together. The whole story of Julia Ward Howe has not even now, I think, been told. Most versions ignore her troubled marriage, as she and her husband struggled with traditional understandings of the wifes role and her own personality and personal struggle to find herself and her voice in the shadow of her famous husband. Im left with questions to which I cannot find answers. Was Julia Ward Howes aversion to the song about John Browns body based on an anger that her husband had spent part of her inheritance secretly on that cause, without her consent or support? Or did she have a role in that decision? Or was Samuel, with or without Julia, part of the  Secret Six? We dont know, and may never know. Julia Ward Howe lived the last half of her life in the public eye primarily because of  one poem  written in the few hours of one gray morning. In those later years, she used her fame to promote her very different later ventures, even while she resented that she was already remembered primarily for that one small accomplishment. What is most important to the writers of history may not be necessarily the most important to those who are the subject of that history. Whether it was her peace proposals and her proposed  Mothers Day, or her work on winning the vote for women- none of which were accomplished during her lifetime- these fade in most histories beside her writing of the  Battle Hymn of  the Republic. This is why womens history often has a commitment to biography- to recover, to re-member the lives of the women whose accomplishments may mean something quite different to the culture of their times than they did to the woman herself. And, in so remembering, to respect their efforts to change their own lives and even the world. Source Hungry Heart: The Literary Emergence of Julia Ward Howe: Gary Williams. Hardcover, 1999.Private Woman, Public Person: An Account of the Life of Julia Ward Howe from 1819-1868: Mary H. Grant. 1994.Julia Ward Howe, 1819 to 1910: Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott. Reprint.Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement: Florence H. Hull. Hardcover, Reprint.Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe: Deborah Clifford. Hardcover, 1979.Secret Six: The True Tale of the Men Who Conspired with John Brown: Edward J. Renehan, jr. Trade Paperback, 1997.

Current issues in entrepreneurship Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Current issues in entrepreneurship - Coursework Example In addition to these staples, many quick-service restaurants sell an extensive menu of Western, Mexican, Greek, and Chinese foods. Some fast-food outlets offer specialty items, like sushi, clams, or ribs, and others even sell complete "home-cooked" meals over their counters. Though menus and delivery formats vary greatly, fast food's chief common denominators include immediate customer service, packaging "to go," and inexpensive pricing. However, despite the pervasive reputation of fast food in modern American culture, criticisms proliferate. Since the 1930s, articles and books have censured the industry, purportedly divulging poor sanitary conditions, unhealthy food products, environmental problems and unfair working conditions. Whether it warrants the attention or not, the fast-food industry is still regularly cited for exploiting young workers, polluting, and contributing to obesity and other serious health problems among American consumers. Specifically, American beef consumption (fast-food hamburger industry) is often blamed for the burning of the Amazon rain forests to make way for more grazing lands for beef cattle. Former enemies of fast food cited the shocking grime of many hamburger stands, in addition to the claims that the ground beef used in sandwiches was either spoiled, diseased, or simply of low quality. In fact, many critics maintained that much of the meat used in fast-food hamburgers came from horse carcasses. Likewise, the high fat content of fast food s also became sensational. Notwithstanding deceptive industry claims about the high quality and the health benefits of their products, in the 1920s and 1930s concerned nutritionists warned the public about the medical dangers of regular burger consumption. Currently, this skepticism and condemnation of fast food persists, extending even further to include ominous vigilance regarding the industry's use of genetically modified and antibiotic-laden beef products. In many major chains, these attacks have been countered by posting calorie and nutritional charts inside restaurants, advertising and claiming the use of fresh ingredients and presenting alternatives to their fried foods. Despite a few more health-conscious items on the menu, fast-food chains today assertively promote the idea that bigger is better, thus the emergence of such offerings as "super-size" or "biggie" portions of French fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes. Critics point to this marketing emphasis as a reason for an excessive and greatly increasing per-capita caloric intake among fast-food consumers, resulting in fast-growing rates of obesity in the United States and in many parts of the world. Obesity in Children Obesity is no longer just an American problem. The UK House of Commons Health Committee gave out its finding on obesity foreseeing that obesity would soon surpass smoking as the primary health problem in the United Kingdom (House of Commons Health Committee, 2004). All throughout Europe, obesity has increased by 10%-50% within the past ten years and by as much as 75% in the developing world (IOTF, 2004). Globally, over a billion adults and children are overweight and most experts have projected that today's generation of children are likely to have shorter life expectancies than their parents because of obesity. The World Health Organization's latest global

Environmental Science Lab IP 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Environmental Science Lab IP 5 - Essay Example This is deposited at the bottom of the lake bed and then undergoes decomposition, yielding nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that then accelerate the growth of algae species (Vanderploeg, et al., 2001). Using MUSE, the numbers of phytoplankton, zooplankton, Cladophara, Foraging fish and Lake Trout were recorded at intervals of 0, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 20 years after the introduction of the Zebra and Quagga mussels to the ecosystem. The recorded results showed that the population of the Zebra and Quagga mussels, as well as the Cladophora biomass increased rapidly from 0-13 years. It then decreased in the subsequent years (16-20). Conversely, the populations of phytoplankton, zooplankton, Foraging fish and the Lake Trout decreased from 0-13 years, and then increased afterwards. The results showed that between 0-13 years of introduction, the population of the Zebra and Quagga mussels increased and that of the phytoplankton reduced since the mussels feed on the phytoplankton. The reduction of the phytoplankton population led to a reduction in the populations of the species that come next on the food chain (zooplankton, Foraging fish and Lake Trout). The biomass of Cladophora algae rose like that of the mussels rose because of the increase in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus due to decomposition of pseudofecal matter. The population of the mussels rose up to the point where the available phytoplankton could not sustain their survival, resulting in a large number dying off. This led to a subsequent drop in the biomass of Cladophora algae because of the reduction in the amount of nutrients available. As the population of the mussels dropped, there was a slight increase in the population of the phytoplankton. This lead to a subsequent rise in the population of the species dependent on it both directly and indirectly. Benson, A. J., Raikow, D., Larson, J., & Fusaro, A. (2012, 06 06). Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771).

ATPase Site Architecture and Helicase Mechanism Essay

ATPase Site Architecture and Helicase Mechanism - Essay Example Studies have also indicated that a means of communication takes place between the N-terminal and the C-terminal region of archaeal MCM complexes, aiding in the overall high level of conservation possessed by the complex. The beta-7 and beta-8 regions of the N-terminal are composed of highly conservative amino acid similarities, which additionally accounts for the conservative nature of the MCM protein. Although it has been mentioned that MCM proteins are largely responsible for DNA replication and helicase activity, studies indicate as well that the MCM proteins are what not only â€Å"unzip† dsDNA prior to replication but also maintain a separation between the two strands once bound together, in order to efficiently perform DNA replication and synthesis without ssDNA sticking to one another. An equally important structure, similar to MCM proteins and relavant to this topic is the GINS complex. It is necessary to touch on the function of the GINS complex when examining functions and structure of the MCM complex. The GINS complex is composed of 4 protein subunits known as paralogues. Like the MCM complex, the GINS complex is integral in DNA replication initiation and synthesis. The GINS complex works in partnership with Cdc45 (cell division control 45) in regulating the process of recruitment of DNA polymerase (pol and ) to the site of initiation and elongation. The GINS complex is also fundamental in genome duplication as shown in most vertebrates. Additional studies have indicated that the GINS complex, along with MCM proteins and Cdc45 (as well as check point factors) are all involved at replisome at paused DNA replication forks. This indicates that the human GINS complex is an equally important part of DNA replication and synthesis, to the MCM protein complex. Even more recent studies indicate that the GINS complex is present with MCM proteins 2-7 at the progressing replication fork. At this time,

Exploratory research

Exploratory research Exploratory Exploratory research is usually carried out when problem is not well identified or it has not been visibly defined as yet, or its real scale is as yet unclear. It allows the research person to collect the information as much as possible relating to a specific problem. Exploratory research helps conclude the best research design, data collection methodtechnique and selectionchoice of subjects, and sometimes it even concludesconcluderesults that the problem does not existbe present. Exploratory research is quite informalcasual, when it relying on secondary researches such as reviewing available literature, data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumerscustomers, employees, management or competitorscompetitoropponents, and more formal approaches through in-depthin depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot studies (Yin, 1994). Explanatory This is a research type in which the primary goalobjective is to understand the naturetemperament or mechanisms of the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. This approach is used when its is necessary to show that one variable causescauses or determines concludes the value of other variable. This research is good to use when there is no clearunambiguous apprehension about what model that should be used and what qualities and relations that is importantsignificant (Zikmund, 1994). Descriptive Descriptive research is used to obtainget information concerning the currentpresent status of the phenomena to describeexplain what exists with respect to variables or conditions in a situationstate. Descriptive research is used when the objectivegoal is to provide a systematic description defination that is as factual and accurateexact as possible or when the problem is well structuredordered and there is no intentionobjective to investigatestudy cause/effect relation. It provideprovidess you the number of occurrencestimes something occurshappens, or frequency, lends leads itself to statistical calculationscalculationcomputation such as determining calculating the average number of occurrences or central tendencies (Yin, 1994). One of its major limitationsrestrictions is that it can not help determineconclude what causes a specific occurrence, behavior, or motivation or occurrence. We can say thatIn other words, it cannot establishcreate a causal research relationship betweenamong variables. My research purpose and research question reveal that this study is mainlyfor the most part exploratory. It is exploratory because the data has been collected through questionnaires and unstructured interviews and questionnaires to explore the issues that influence Pakistani community intentions to adopt Internet banking services. Research Approach There are two basic types of research approaches, qualitative and quantitative. In the quantitative approach, resultsoutcomes are based on numbers and statistics and numbers that are presented in figures, whereas in the qualitative approach where focus lies on describing an eventoccurrence with the use of words. Although this research on adoption of Internet banking services adoption in Pakistan is not very extensive as compared to discussiondebate of the benefits, most of the concepts in this study have been occasionallyrarely examined before, but mostlygenerally in the western context. Only a littleslight research covers usually Singapore, Hong Kong or China, which are very developed economies and not representativeenvoys of all Asian countries. Thusso to gain deeper understanding of the issues in the Pakistani context, this research is conducted as a qualitative study to explore the perception of internet banking in Pakistani community. The Usinge of this approach provides richer and forensic detailsparticulars for exploring viewpoints in the early stage of research. Hence the aimintend is not to make any simplification, but instead establishset up a closer contact with the objectives of priorpreceding research, which intendhave it in mind to provide us a deeper understanding of the participants attitudes and perceptions. Finally my intentionobjective with this research is to describe, and explore, and find complete and detailed information about the issues of Internet banking adoption in Pakistan, so quantitative qualitative approach is the most suitable method for my research. Research Strategy Research strategy is a generalbroad plan which shows that in which wayhow this research will go on, and how researcher person will answers the questions that has been set by the person conducting the researcher. It will containhave clear objectives, derived from research question that specify the source from which researcher person intendbe going to to collect data and consider the constraintsconstraintlimitations that research peopleers will inevitably have such as access to data like , time, location and money, ethical issues (saunders, 2000). Qualitative research can be conductedconductcarried out using severalquite a few strategies including: case study, experiments, surveys, histories, and analysis of archival information (Yin, 1994). Following are the short descriptionexplanation of above five research strategies: Case Study Case study refers to the collection and presentation of detailedthorough information about a particularspecific participant or small group of participants. A case study is a written descriptionexplanation of a problem or situation and typicallynormally examines the interplay of all variables in order tofor providinge ass complete an understanding of an event or situation as possible. Case study is preferredideal when the researcher has littleslight control over the events, and when there is a contemporaryup to date focus within a real life context. The purposerationale of a case study is to place participants in the role of decision- makers, asking them to distinguishdifferentiate relevant from unimportant facts, to identify central alternatives among severalnumerous issues competing for attention, and to formulateprepare strategies and policy recommendations (Yin, 1994). Experiments The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determinedecide if changes in one variable causeground changes in another variable. This method reliesdepends on controlled methods, random assignment, and the manipulation of variables to test a hypothesis. This strategy is used when the researcher person need to comparecontrast two variables and examine their cause and effect relationships (Malhorta, 1996). Survey Its a research technique in which information is collectinged by interviews with a largehuge number of respondents using a pre-designed questionnaire (Zikmund, 1994). This research technique has three important characteristics: Purpose: The purpose of survey research is to generate quantitative descriptions of some characteristics of the population in study. Survey analysis may be mainly related either with associations between variables or with projecting results descriptively to a pre-defined population (Yin, 1994). Basically Survey research is a quantitative approach, calling for standardized information about and/or from the subjects being studied. The subjects under study might be individuals, groups, organizations or communities; they also might be projects, applications, or systems. Procedure: The most important way of collecting information is by raising people structured and predefined questions. Answers of questions given by people, which might refer to themselves or some other unit of analysis, comprises the data to be analyzed (Yin, 1994). Analyses: Information is usually collected about only a portion of the population under study, but information is collected in such a way as to be able to take a broad view the whole population. Usually, the sample is huge enough to allow broad statistical analyses. History This method is deals with the past, and is in used when none of the relevantconcerning persons are alive to interview or report (Yin, 1994). This method is specificallyspecially used to describe the content, structure and function of the data which collected for the research. Analysis of Archival Information The purpose of this techniquemethod is to describeexplain the incidence or prevalencepervasiveness of a phenomenon (Zikmund, 1994). The use of the archival information is difficult when this topic is coming research area. The following table displaysdisplaydemonstrates the conditions that need to be addressed when determiningshaping on a strategy. Most importantsignificantconsiderable condition for selecting research strategy is to identifycategorize the type of research question being asked. Based on the research question what that I set for this research, I have chosen to follow case study and survey research strategy, because this research is not dependentreliant on a single critical, extreme, uniqueexclusive or revelatory case. Sample Selection Sampling is a survey- based research where researcher persons needs to analyze the sample about a population toin order to answer the research questions or meetmeetsfulfill meet the research objectives (Saunders, 2000). Once the problem has been carefullyvigilantly defined, the researcher person needs to establishset up the sample that will outlinesketch out the investigation to be carried out. It is necessary for researcher person to clearly define the target population from whom the specific sample will be taken. Sampling is importantsignificant if budget cost and time constraints preventstops research from surveying the entire population. Sample gives higher level of accuracy and fast accurate result. Occasionally, the whole population will be adequatelysufficiently small, and the research person can take account of the entire population in the study. This kind of research is named a census study since data is collected on each member of the population . Generally, the population is quite large for the research person to attempt to survey the entire of its members. A small, but vigilantly chosen sample can be used to symbolize the population. The sample represents all of the characteristics of the population from which it is taken out. Sampling technique can be classified into two types (Saunders, 2000): Probability Sampling Non-Probability Sampling Probability sampling While using In probability sampling, the sample is selectedion is done in such a way that each every unit of the population has a known probability of getting selected.within the population has a known chance of being selected. It is this conceptperception of known chance that allows permits for the statistical projection of characteristics features based on the sample tof the population (Saunders, 2000). The benefit of probability sampling is that sampling error can be intended. Sampling error is the amount to which a sample might be different from the population Probability method includes. Random sampling Systematic sampling Stratified sampling Non-Probability Sampling While using In non- probability sampling, the selection of the sample is selected done in such a way that the chancepossibility of being selected offor each unit withinin the population is unknown. In deedfact, the selectionprocess of choosing of the subjects is random or subjective, since the researcher person relies on his/her experience, gut feeling and judgment. As a resultConsequently, there are no statistical techniquestechniqueprocedures that allowpermit for the measurement of sampling error, and the amount to which the sample variesdiffers from the population remains unknown and therefore it is not appropriatesuitable to project the sample characteristicsdistinctiveness to the population (Saunders, 2000). Non-probability includes: Convenience sampling Judgment sampling Quota sampling Snowball sampling Convenience sampling Convenience sampling is used in investigative research where the research person is concerned in getting a low-priced approximation of the reality. As the name shows, the sample is chosen because they are convenient. This non-probability technique is time and again used during preliminary research times to get a gross approximation of the results, without increasing the cost or time required to choose a random sample (Saunders, 2000). Judgment sampling Judgment sampling is a common non-probability technique. The research people choose the sample depending on judgmental approach. This is generally an addition of convenience sampling. For example, a research person may make a decision to draw the complete sample from one representative city, albeit the population comprises all cities. When using this method, the research person must be in no doubt that the selected sample is accurately representative of the whole population (Saunders, 2000). Quota sampling Quota sampling is the non-probability the same of stratified sampling. Like stratified sampling, the research people first recognizes the stratums and their magnitude as they are symbolized in the population. Then convenience or judgment sampling is used to choose the necessary quantity of subjects from every stratum. This diverges from stratified sampling, where all of the stratums are filled by random sampling (Saunders, 2000). Snowball sampling Snowball sampling is a special non-probability technique used when the preferred sample attribute is exceptional. It may be extremely difficult or unaffordable to find respondents in these situations. Snowball sampling depends on referrals from starting subjects to produce additional subjects. Whereas this technique can noticeably reduce the research costs, it comes at the cost of bringing in bias because this method by itself decreases the likelihood that the sample will symbolize a good cross-section from the population (Saunders, 2000). Sampling in qualitative research involves two actions; (Miles and Huberman 1994): Setting of boundaries: To define aspects of cases that we can study and connecting it directly to the research question. Creation of frame: to help us uncover, confirm, or qualify the basic process or constructs that strengthen our study Non-probability (convenience) sampling has been chosen for this research because we have targeted the Pakistani community which is dealing with the banks. Sampling procedure Sampling The process of sampling involves using large number of items or parts of subsets of population to make conclusion regarding the whole population. The purpose of sampling is to estimate some unknown characteristics of population. Population Population is any complete set of group of object. Like people, stores, students, industries etc. Sampling frame A sampling frame is the listing of the elements from which the actual sample will draw. Keeping the research in view we will draw the sampling frame as under. Population is the people of Pakistan having bank accounts, we narrow down our study only to Punjab province Sampling frame will be the major cities of Punjab like Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, and Sahiwal. Keeping in view the time and cost available for the research we have narrowed down the research only to four major cities of Punjab. Data Collection Methods As data collection method is highly influenced by the methodology, which is chosen (Saunders and Thornhill, 2000), questionnaire are used to collect the empirical data for this research in order to identify the issues that affect the adoption of Internet banking services in Pakistan. As this researchs main concern is examining the issues that have influence on the adoption process of Internet banking in Pakistan, the questionnaire are designed based on the requirements for adopting such a service Questionnaire The questionnaire consists of three pages and twenty questions (Appendix A). It has different type of questions including open end question, close ended questions and multiple questions. It was designed to capture all the segments of community which uses the banking services. Validity and Reliability In order to reduce the possibility of getting incorrect answers, attention needs to be paid to validity and reliability (Saunders et al., 2003). Validity Validity is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear to be about (Saunders et al., 2003). Validity defined as the degree to which data compilation method or methods correctly measure what they were anticipated to measure (Saunders et al., 2003). Yin (1994) stateys in these words, no singlesolo source has a completeabsolute advantage over all of the all others (P.85). The different sourcessources of different types are highly complementary, and as many sources as possible should be used for a good case study should use as many sources as possible. The usage of various sources of evidence can increases the validity of scientific studyThe validity of a scientific study increases by using various sources of evidence (Yin, 1994). The following steps were taken to ensure the validity of this research: The needed data was collected in the format of a structured questionnaire that had been designed based on the literature related to adoption of innovation. The questionnaires were pre-tested. A pilot test was conducted with the questionnaire. Reliability According to Saunders et al. (2003), reliability refers to the extent to which data collection method or methods will produce consistent results, analogous observations would be made or results reached by other research persons or there is clearness in how sense was made from the unprocessed data. Reliability can be assed by the following three questions: Will the measure yield the same results on other occasions? Will other observers reach similar observation? Is there precision in the method how sense was made from the unprocessed data? The role of reliability is to minimize the errors and biases in a study (Yin (1994). This means that reliability is to demonstrate that the operations of the study, such as the data collection procedures, can be repeated with the same result. Saunders et al. (2003) asserts that there may be four threats to reliability. The first of these is subject of participant error, which means that a questionnaire may generate a different result at different times of the week. The second threat to reliability is subject or participant bias, which is when interviewees may have been saying what they thought their bosses, wanted them to say. Third, there may have been observer error that different interviewer may approach the questions in different ways. Finally, there may have been observer bias, which means that there may have been different approaches to interpreting the replies. The work with this thesis started with a considerable literature study. The literature I came across (mainly articles) was from several authors and often had Internet banking and adoption of e-banking topics, which meant that I covered the area of Internet banking surroundings. This would suggest that bias, form reading only one author and reading only about one topic, be held at a minimum level. Widersheim-Paul and Eriksson (1997) describe some other erroneous belief that is to be avoided in order to attain high reliability. One of these is measuring error, which in turn consists of respondent errors, gauging errors and errors that are effect of interplay between the interviewer and the respondent. As I used a questionnaire, this latter error was avoided in advance. The respondent errors are such errors that are due to the fact that respondents sometimes are unable or unwilling to provide truthful answers. In order to minimize effects of this kind of errors, I found it necessary to be careful about the language and the wording. Furthermore, the use of wording in the questionnaire was of major concern to avoid ambiguous or emotional charged formulations. The chosen wording and language was simple, direct and as far as possible without technical terms. The gauging errors arise when a questionnaire entails erroneously formulated question, wrong order of question etceteras (Widersheim-Paul and Eriksson, 1997). The order of the questions was also subject to analysis and it was found to be suitable to have a disposition where the initial questioning concerned facts that the respondents easily could give an answer to. Numbers of different steps were taken to ensure the reliability of the study: Case studies were used during the data collection. The same type of questions were asked from companys respondent in order to increase the reliability Since the generalization is not the purpose of the study, multiple cases have been used to increase the degree to which the findings can be the same. It might be possible to get the same result on the findings to a larger number of similar cases. The theories that have been selected for the study were clearly described and research questions have been formulated based on the previous theory. Data has been collected based on the research model that was drawn from the discussed theories. The objective is to make sure that if another investigator will follow the same procedures and used the same case study objects, the same conclusions would be made. Study A pilot test of the questionnaire was carried out. All the test respondents filled in the questionnaire and their opinions how they felt about filling in the questionnaire. The test was followed by many revisions, before it was sent to respondents. After refining some questions and items within the questions, the second pilot study was run and asked respondents to check for the wording, coverage, relevancy of the items listed within the questions. Finally, at this stage little modifications were needed and finally, the well-improved questionnaire was developed. By using these tools (reliability, validity and pilot study) I can further analyze the data that the respondents provided me in a more accurate way. Data Analysis Data analysis can be defined as consistingconsistent of three concurrent flowsflowstreams of activity: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing/verification (p.10) by Miles Huberman (1994). Data reduction should not be considered thought to be separate from analysis, but a part portion of it. Data reduction stage of the analysis helps the researcher to make the data sorted, sharpen, sorted, focused, organized and discarded, and organized in order to be able to draw and verify conclusion (ibid.). The data reduction stage of the analysis helps the researcher to make the data sharp, sorted, focused, discarded, and organized in order to be able to draw and verify conclusions. The data display is a way to organize and compress the reduced data so that it will make it easier to draw conclusions. This phase is useful when the researcher studies more than one case, a so-called multiple case. In the conclusion drawing and verification the researcher notes regularities, patterns, explanations, possible configurations, casual flows and propositions. Data analysis involves examining, categorizing, tabulating or otherwise recombining the collected data (Yin, 1994). Every investigation should have a general analytical strategy in order to determine what to analyze and why. Two general strategies are suggested. The researcher can either follow the theoretical propositions that led to the case study or develop a descriptive framework to organize the case study. Within these strategies, there are four different techniques for analyzing the collected data. The first is pattern matching, which means to compare an empirical based pattern with a predictable one. The second technique is explanation building, which refers to a kind of pattern matching where the goal is to analyze the case study data by building an explanation about the case. The third is time-series analysis that refers to repeated measures of the dependent variable/variables in order to look at changes over time. The last technique is to use program logic models, which is a combination of pattern-matching and time-series analysis where the analysis specifies a complex chain of patterns over time. Data analysis of this thesis is based on the three steps defined by Miles Huberman (1994) i.e., data reduction, data display and conclusion. After completing the data collection I have organized the data for every case study based on the issues that has been selected from research model according to the research question and literature review. Within-case analysis I compared the findings of each case based on my research question and issues that selected from research model. Furthermore, I conducted a cross-case analysis to compare the different case study in order to find the resemblance and variation between the cases.

A Society in Danger Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Stranger

In the book The Stranger, Camus characterizes Meursault as an atheist, an unemotional robot, and an outcast to demonstrate how he threatens society. The way Camus characterizes Meursault impacts the book in views to which he threatens society, like when he seems useless, has no compassion or feelings, and when he does nothing to help society, making him seem like society’s worst enemy. How he characterizes Meursault proves how he becomes a threat to society through the use of syntax by displaying insensitivity, and diction to prove his atheism. He also only focuses on physical objects, and the way he sees life causing him to be a stranger. Meursault can be a threat to society by just not fitting in with everyone else and preventing everyone from being united, so he continues to be seen as a threat. Camus manipulates syntax to show how Meursault’s insensitivity symbolizes danger to society. When Camus makes Meursault be an insensitive person that does not care or feel anything for anyone else, he puts society in danger. When Meursault says, â€Å"I had never been able to truly feel remorse for anything† he never reveals any emotion at all even though the sentence sounds a little long and he also never gives a sign of compassion (Camus 100). Also, the very first sentence that Meursault states in the book only contains three words, which reads, â€Å"Maman died today† (Camus 3). No matter how long or short the sentences are Meursault never shows a little bit of compassion or feelings for her mother’s death. He just states it all plain and unemotional with only three words almost making it a fragment. For example, when Camus writes this long sentence, â€Å"He said the truth was that I didn’t have a soul and that nothing human, not one of the mo r... ...or a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me† which tells that he does not feel security of himself because he always thinks people are judging him (Camus 10). This thought of insecurity can be dangerous to society because Meursault will not trust the people in any way because he thinks they will always be judging him for any little thing. In conclusion of how Meursault threatens society, Camus does an outstanding job. The insensitivity and focus of physical objects only threatens the good of society by letting Meursault be part of them even though he has no feelings to offer. The atheism and way he sees life threatens society in different ways but the main one keeps society form reaching unity because they cannot exclude him from everything just because he does not believe in God and because he has a different view of seeing life.