1. Develop an argument supporting the importance of a strategic plan for the success of the defined business.
2. Create a mission statement for the company explaining how the mission will be essential to the company’s success.
3. Create a vision statement for the company explaining how the vision statement supports the company’s mission.
4. Establish five (5) key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business and justify why each of these objectives is essential to the success of the business.
5. Justify how the five (5) key objectives established support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined in the assignment.
6. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Please read first and then respond/answer to their questions in a simple paragraph to each one bellow (separate) #1 through #5
SUBSTANTIVE 1 full paragraph on each of the responses (separately)
• Greet a specific student or a group of fellow students by name.
• Put key concepts in own words and provide unique examples
•Add substantive information, asks meaningful questions to peers and provides substantive responses
•Draw insightful conclusions that are thoroughly defended
Write responses that can be easily understood and are clear and concise
• Clearly identify the source of information and evidence that you do use.
• Include detail from our text and common reading as evidence for what you have to say (Remember that others will need to draw on our readings, too, so only use just enough information from our readings to make your point clearly).
#1. Professor,
Class, this week we will be learning about multiple regression analysis and its uses in real life. Multiple regression analysis is based on the assumptions of linearity and normality. However, the multiple regression analysis is limited to the fact that it can only ascertain relationships without necessary providing the causal mechanism for the given relationship. Multiple regression deals with several independent variables at the same time, making it more difficult to fit the straight line to all of the data points.
Class, what are some of the applications that you have used multiple regression analysis in real life applications (school, work, research, etc)?
#2. Donna,
The article I chose for this week’s discussion of multiple linear regression is the effects of military preparedness and its effects on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for service members who have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The study included a sample of 418 veterans who had been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. The study showed a negative correlation between military preparedness and an increase in PTSD and when the service member was deployed more than one time and an even stronger correlation when the service member’s combat exposure increased. The study further suggested that combat units that had greater cohesiveness were less susceptible to PTSD, unless the unit was exposed to high levels of combat. The study goes on to say that active duty service members had less PTSD symptoms than reservists. This would relate to active duty service members having greater preparedness training and a greater cohesiveness among the unit than reservists.
Personally, I believe any profession, military, police, fire, first responders, etc. who has a high likely-hood of witnessing horrific events should receive PTSD preparedness training. Furthermore, I think that if anyone is witness to such an event they should receive counseling immediately.
#3. Ammon,
As a former baseball player and a fan of the recently released movie that was an adaptation of a recently released book Moneyball, I found what I thought was a very interesting article regarding a regression analysis to determine different things in Major League Baseball.
In his study, Houser uses regression analysis to test three different hypotheses. The hypotheses are: Teams with higher win totals will have better offensive statistics. Team with better offensive statistics will have higher payroll figures. OBP (on-base percentage) will be the best statistic in determining team wins. (Houser, n.d.) Team statistics for every team in the MLB from 2000-2004 was used to test the above theories.
For the purposes of this discussion, I will point out some of Houser’s most interesting findings. First of all, batting average, one of the most common measurements in all of baseball, had a negative relationship with wins. Conventional wisdom would tell you otherwise, since it would make sense that teams with higher batting averages would win more games. Also interesting was the fact that payroll had absolutely no relationship at all to wins. (Houser, n.d.) In conclusion, the stats that show the highest correlation to win totals and overall team performance were on-base percentage (measurement of how often someone reaches base when they bat) and WHIP (a pitching metric that measures the number of walks and hits given up on average per inning pitched). (Houser, n.d.)
#4. Jon,
With regards to the relational aspect of the stakeholder association with business, the two articles chosen to compare were both taken from the Journal of Business Ethics on managing stakeholders. The first of these articles, “Stakeholder Management Capability: A Discourse-Theoretical Approach,” deals with the foundational principles that must be present in stakeholder management. The article breaks this down into three distinct phases. These phases are the stakeholder mapping to achieve mutual understanding, overcoming gaps between discourse and practice, and that transactional involvement with stakeholders must be viewed from a moral point of view (Zakhem, 2008). These phases will help to develop a practice for managing stakeholder for a win-win relationship.
The second article, “A Stakeholder Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Fresh Perspective into Theory and Practice, “ deals with the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its different meaning among different experts (Jamali, 2008). According to some quoted in the article CSR may mean more about stakeholder relations than helping society in general. The article further explored the motivation behind stakeholder relations depending on the current goals of the organization. In addition, the article listed out several examples of the business practices that organizations may use in relating to different groups of stakeholders.
While both articles touch on stakeholder relations, the first article deals more with the phases of effective stakeholder management and the second article speaks more about the motivation behind stakeholder relations.
#5. Leah,
This article speaks on Stakeholder Management Capability (SMC). Under SMC managers create mapping which identifies stakeholders perceived states, align organizational processes and goals to reflect stakeholder expectations, and bargain with stakeholders when competing interest surface. The article also speaks about Habermas’ concept of communication practices and the need for stakeholder management to be handled from a moral point of view (Zaklem, 2007).
Undivided Corporate Responsibly: Towards a Theory of Corporate Integrity
In this article Dr. Thomas Maak makes a point that CSR is a poor term for defining social responsibilities of a corporation. Main reasons that Maak deems CSR as a poor choice lay within the historical baggage and un-clarity of the term, ethical instrumentalism/hypocrisy, and corporate ethical challenges that span further than social responsibilities within the range of corporate responsibility. According to Maak a better term for CSR would be corporate integrity which would include the corporation’s 7 C’s (commitment, conduct, content, context, consistency, coherence, and continuity) (Maak, 2008). Maak states “integrity is quite possibly the biggest asset a corporation can have” (Maak, p.365, 2008). As such the idea of corporate integrity would provide a better umbrella term than CSR which speaking of corporate social and responsibility actions while meeting and raising expectations from stakeholders. Since corporations are tasked with challenges within social, environmental, ethical, humanitarian, and political areas, it’s ever more important to engage stakeholders in analysis and strategic solution developments. Maak states that “good stakeholder relationships are key to organizational viability and success” (Maak, p.357, 2008).
Stakeholders should be considered as a valuable asset when it comes to CSR activities and moral issues. As such, both articles express the importance of treating stakeholders morally and how to get the most from current stakeholders. Companies would do good to understand that satisfied stakeholders benefit the company and creating win-win situations are crucial to success.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Grading Scheme: (20 marks)
? Integration of course materials
? Self: categories
? Substance of response to questions: critique/insights
? Recognition of effects of pop culture: subjective
? Style (spelling, grammar, clarity, bibliography)
FYI:
Tough Guise, Dreamworlds3, Advertising and the End of the World and The Ad and the Ego are available at many university and public libraries.
OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY :
The Proper Self?
Due Date: by SATURDAY NOON( OCT 26)
Value: 20%
Length: 2 pages, double spaced
Submission: electronic
What varieties of men and women prevail in this society and this period?
?the individual can understand his [sic] own experience and fate only by locating himself [sic] within his period?
(C. Wright Mills)
We must get the fish to think about the water.
(Jhally, The Ad and the Ego )
Background:
Your sex/gender, your social class and your ethnicity/race are three categories that intersect and have the most profound effects on your biography, self-image and life chances. As well, the mass media and popular culture are powerful socializers and affect your self-image and self-concept as you attempt to conform to their representations of the proper ? ideal ? self.
Auferheide contends that ?images and music are more powerful than text? and, thus, make ads more potent. Music videos are ?stories? (Jhally) that represent contemporary masculinity and femininity: do they affect YOUR sense of self, the ?proper? self?
Sut Jhally has critiqued the mass media (e.g., advertising) and popular culture (e.g., music videos, wrestling) for several years. As a commentator in The Ad and the Ego and later, in his own production, Advertising and the End of the World, he has argued that we should ask:
What are the consistent stories told by the whole range of advertising ?
and which values does advertising address?
Music videos, of course, are essentially ads for a product and, as Aufderheide points out, music is a particularly powerful medium.
Jhally has also directed his attention to gender: ?Manhood on the Mat? (2000) critiques the messages inherent in professional wrestling whileTough Guise (video) offers insights into male socialization. An important video is Jhally?s Dreamworlds3: Desire, Sex and Power in Music Video. Here, Jhally asks, ?How are we men?? ?How are we women?? He also directs our attention to the racism, classism and heterosexism within music videos; the objectification of women (men, too, I would add); and the gendered ?presentation of self? (Goffman). Social analysts have expressed concerns about the socializing effects of pornography on young people; Jhally refers to aspects of music videos as pornographic.
The images in ads have been critiqued for some decades ? particularly women?s images (men?s images are increasingly standardized, however). Indeed, these images have been linked to an increase in eating disorders and there has been outrage expressed about pro-anorexia web sites. In response, some fashion houses have set weight limits on their models and Dove has instituted new ads ? yet, these changes have been found to be ineffective?the audience prefers the conventional cachectic or air-brushed model!
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to examine how we are shaped by the mass media/popular culture ? in this case, ads and/or music videos ? and to make you conscious of their representations of the ideal/proper self. The assignment is designed to start to develop your understanding of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that society ?gets inside you?, an opportunity to see the general in the particular (and maybe the strange in the familiar) and to perceive the ?machinery by which we have been moved? (Berger, Unit I).
Some new analyses are suggesting that there has been a recent, subtle shift in advertising: ads that are ?plugged in? to the successful self-esteem movement and have adjusted their message to the ?already perfect (and entitled) self.? These ads flatter their audience and promote their products as your entitlement to maintain your ?perfection?. You may see evidence of this new ?pitch? as you analyze your sources.
Your task:
1. Carefully read all course materials for Unit V (this includes the Aufderheide guide, to be used in your analysis). Chapter 5 is essential, of course.
2. If you have specific interests relative to videos or ads, you may wish to look at: Chapter 1 (?Seeing Sociologically: Marginality and Crisis? or Chapter 8: ?Date Rape? or ?Sexual Orientation? or Chapter 21: ?Eating Disorders.?
3. Google Jhally’s Media Education Foundation (or particular titles [see above]).
4. View Jhally’s ?Dreamworlds: Desire, Sex and Power in Music Videos? (video: available at other libraries, Jhally’s internet site) or view at least four (4) music videos or at least ten (10) ads (print, TV, internet). Aa an alternative, you may analyze the lyrics of eight (8) popular songs (attach lyrics). Students have also attached print ads ? helpful, but not required.
5. Write paper that de-constructs ? analyzes — the video or videos, ads or lyrics. Your paper should respond to the following questions:
a. Who ARE you?? (i.e., introduce yourself ? the categories you belong to)
b. How do your sources represent masculinity, femininity? (What is the ?proper? self?)
c. How do your sources represent relationships? What ?stories? do they tell? WHOSE stories do they tell?
d. What norms and/or values do your sources endorse?
e. Whose ?fantasies? are portrayed?
f. Can you relate to these representations/values/stories? Are they ?YOU?? OR ? is there a disjunction between the ?proper self? portrayed and your ability (or desire) to conform?
6. Conclusions: Effects of pop culture on you, your self-image. What have you learned from this exercise?
For example:
Prof?s Notes
If you asked a group of friends about their personal attributes, you would no doubt discover that they judged themselves to be friendly or approachable, trustworthy, loyal and sincere rather than antagonistic, untrustworthy, disloyal and insincere or hypocritical. Why, do you think? Are we humans hard-wired for these characteristics? Are we taught that ?proper selves? have these characteristics? Or ? yet another alternative ? have your friends simply given the culturally-appropriate answers? Your responses to the questions reflect, on a ?homely? level, the hoary nature-nurture debate: is human behavior hard-wired or culturally constructed? Nature/Biology or Nurture/Sociocultural? As noted in Unit III, the debate about nature versus nurture has been a long-standing one and has become more heated due to the sophistication of modern genetics (e.g., the Human Genome Projects). This may be a false, certainly simplistic, dichotomy at this time in human history — research into the biogenetic substrates of happiness, spirituality and sexual attraction question this dichotomy. Sex-gender research is also important here: there is some re-thinking about only two sexes and the assumption that gender (cultural) could trump sex (nature) has been weakened by failures in sex-reassignment (cf. ?The Boy Who was Raised as a Girl?). Indeed, as late as the 1990s, the film about David Reimer was used as evidence for the cultural determinist position. Reimer?s own life experiences ? from having his penis fried, to being reassigned as female, to reverting to male, to suicide ? revised our thinking, albeit through his tragic life.
The nature-nurture debate ? what makes us human? — has been around for centuries. Darwin?s theory of evolution was interpreted as encompassing humans within this broad theory of biologically based evolution ? an inherent ?human nature.? More recently, the Human Genome Projects, sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists have advanced the notion that genetic, biochemical and biological factors determine fundamental human behaviors/characteristics (e.g., risk-taking behavior, anxiety) and ailments (e.g., schizophrenia). There is not, however, a 1:1 correspondence between behavior and genetic make-up. The human gene pool has been relatively unchanged for the past 10,000 years, yet human behavior has undeniably changed over this period of time.
This suggests that sociocultural forces act upon humans ? that humans are, to some extent, flexible or plastic creatures; they must be humanized or socialized (?the lifelong experience by which individuals develop their human potential and learn patterns of their culture?). Indeed, what we perceive as our ?unique? human personality (?a person?s fairly consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and acting?) is also rooted in the sociocultural environment, according to sociologists. Studies of feral or ?wild"2 children (e.g., Anna, Isabelle and Genie, text) have strengthened the sociological argument that we neither become human nor develop a personality unless we bond with other humans, and can communicate(i.e., develop a language). Chapter 3 of your text and Unit III argue for the critical importance of language/communication.3
Human scientists perceive humans ? those ?bundles of bones and dreams,? in John Cage?s fine phrase ? as created/constructed. Socialization is an ongoing humanizing process, we create or ?train? humans congruent with their place and time in history. In today?s western world, this humanizing process is accomplished through:
1. the family (what Erving Goffman called the ?socialization depot?)
2. schooling (including nursery and pre- and post-schools)
3. peers (particularly important for adolescents)
4. the media and popular culture4
5. the prevalent attitudes, ethics and public opinion to which we are exposed5
6. various associations: social groups, religious organizations, sports groups, occupational groups/associations
It is important to remember that socialization is:
1. SOCIAL: we only become human as we associate with other humans. Feral (?wild?) children are children who are unsocialized or have had grossly pathological childhoods.
2. CULTURE-BOUND: we are shaped by the culture in which we exist, and we are shaped for that culture.
3. ONGOING: socialization is a lifelong process; there is no point at which socialization ceases. As we pass through life-stages (age-grades, in some cultures, and cf. Erikson?s stages) and experience new situations, we are continuously learning how to be a proper person in each context. In short, our socialization is until further notice…
4. DIALECTICAL: As we are shaped, we shape the society in which we live; socialization is a two-way process.
There are several models of socialization discussed in your text.
The importance of Freud?s psychoanalytic model is that Freud incorporated both biological and social factors into his theory of personality. (While Freud focused on the family constellation as the primary formative factor, neo-Freudians attend to broader social environmental factors.) Freud argued that the id (?pleasure principle?) is the biological base of personality: this is the self-centered drive for satisfaction. Thesuperego (?conscience?) is the internalization of society (norms, morality) that puts the brakes on the id. The ego (?reality principle?) mediates between the id and the superego aspects ? a balancing act. The sex drive figured prominently in Freud?s model (shockingly for his Victorian period) and the interplay of the three components of personality reflects this emphasis:
1. the id: unbridled sex, anyone, any time
2. the superego: no (repress)
3. the ego: appropriate partners, age (culturally-constituted sublimation)
Freud?s model has generated controversy; however, his argument that childhood experience is fundamental to one?s lifelong adaptation to the world and that one must internalize social norms in order to negotiate the social world influenced the social behaviorism of Charles Cooley and George Herbert Mead.
While Piaget?s and Kohlberg?s models (and Gilligan?s critique of Kohlberg) are important components of our cultural dialogue about human development, the sociological, symbolic interactionist model of the development of a ?self? (or Erikson?s term, ?identity?) is grounded in the theories of Cooley and Mead.
?Self and Society are twinborn.? (Cooley)
This quotation expresses the dialectical nature of the socialization process: humans interact, thereby shaping themselves as humans while they create their human societies. We cannot become human outside of social interaction. Our sense of self, then, is what Cooley called the ?looking-glass self?: we see ourselves as we think others see us, our self-concepts are shaped by our perceptions of others? evaluations of us ? humans are self-reflective.
?We think to act.? (Mead)
Mead argued that the self (?the part of an individual?s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image?) is both individual and social, the ?I? and the ?Me".6 Meanings are central to the socialization process, the self emerges from the social experience of exchanging symbols and gestures. Again, the critical importance of language and symbolic culture are apparent: words, gestures (including facial expressions) ?meanings. Ultimately, we internalize the general attitudes, norms and values (the ?generalized other?, society), we can take the role of the otherand thus we can anticipate and understand the actions of others, as they can anticipate/understand our actions. Again, we see that humans are characterized by self-reflexivity (i.e., we can look at ourselves as ?objects?).
?It is the social process itself that is responsible for the appearance of the self.? (Mead)
Mead contended that there are four stages in the socialization process:
1. Imitation or mimicking (make a face at a baby, watch the response).
2. Play. This stage entails taking (or imitating) the roles of others, particularly significant others (e.g., playing house, playing school, acting out media heroes). Here children manipulate language and symbols as they imagine being another person.
3. Games. This is more complicated role play; children not only imagine others? roles but internalize the rules of the game and anticipate the actions of multiple others relative to the rules. (Remember when someone would call out, ?cheater, cheater!?? Or ?rules are rules??)
4. The final stage is the internalization of the ?generalized other?; that is, we internalize the rules of the larger ?game? ? the ground rules of social intercourse, the game of life ? in short, we have learned to conform to the values and norms of the group (cf. Freud?s superego).
Keep in mind:
1. internalizing the rules does not always mean mindlessly following the rules. The ?Me? knows the rules, but the ?I? may manipulate, reject or follow those rules.
2. socialization is ongoing throughout one?s life and one?s identity changes with age, life changes and experiences. Some of these changes may be abrupt (e.g., conversion to a new religion) or may be imposed (e.g., the purpose of confinement in a ?total institution"8is to re-socialize an individual).
To summarize…
The ME [YOU]/I that you uniquely experience bears a strange similarity to the other MEs who surround you! Indeed, recent evidence has determined that even our fingerprints are less unique than once accepted. The selves attached to those whorls and lines certainly have distinctive characteristics (your ?I?) but your ?MEs? are contingent on multiple, ongoing social forces, from primary socializers (e.g., family) to other institutional forces (e.g., schooling), to the groups with which we associate and sudden changes in direction (e.g., conversion). As you examine your additional text references, you will be able to understand how your categories of personhood (sex/gender, ethnicity, social class) impact on your sense of self and how you negotiate the world. However distinctively we may act out our roles, these roles are structured by cultural rules. Yet, as we follow the rules of the game, we subtly try to manipulate these rules to our advantage even as we try to present ourselves as ?proper selves.?
This is a social constructivist approach to the development of ?self?: our interactions with others create ? construct ? us as humans: ?our nature is our nurture,? as your text points out. The underlying notion is that humans are not only premature at birth (i.e., need care) but that they are unformed, plastic, malleable. It is not that we are complete tabula rasas (?blank slates?), we realize today, but becoming human is a very complex process involving the interaction of biological limitations and propensities within cultural and historical contexts/milieux:
CULTURE (NORMS, VALUES, SANCTIONS)
+
HISTORY/TRADITION
+
UNIQUE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES/BIOGRAPHY
+
BIOLOGY/GENETIC INHERITANCE
+
ONGOING SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
=
THE SELF
Society, as noted above, is the ?only game in town? and we must learn to play it! An increasingly significant part of learning the game is the mass media and popular culture. Therefore, before you begin your assignment, let?s spend some time examining the media.
The Mass Media
Neither Mills nor Berger defined our worlds as the best of all possible worlds; both analysts argued that we could make our world better by understanding it. We ?understand? much of our everyday world through what we read (newspapers, magazines, Internet, books), see (TV, ads, commercials, billboards, performances) and hear (commercials [again], music, radio, urban myths). If we understand what we are reading, seeing and hearing, if we recognize the themes, concepts and ideologies being conveyed, we will be less vulnerable to those messages ? empowered. This is particularly significant during our current information/communications technology revolution.
From the beginning of the wide dispersion of print in the fourteenth century to the infinitely expanding technology of today, the media10 and then telecommunications have become powerful forces in our society, and the world. ?Mass media?: mass (?a quantity of matter [in this case, people] cohering together to make one body?), media (?middle?); thus, the notion of media communicating to a large number of people (?impersonal communications directed to a vast audience?). Unlike two-way telecommunications (e.g., telephone, email, even chat rooms) with (usually) known sources, mass media communication is one-way communication through an identifiable medium (e.g., TV, radio [and spam?]). We will focus on the mass media (including popular culture).
Query: The mass media are becoming institutionalized to some extent ? do they perform specific functions for integrating and maintaining society? ?Functions? presupposes ?needs?: what needs do you think are fulfilled by the mass media?
Did you think of entertainment, information? What about socialization, social control? Values and norms are transmitted by your favorite TV shows, sometimes subtly (e.g., gender norms, appearance norms [the predominant ?Look?], reiteration of good/bad [crime shows are hugely popular and ubiquitous]).
Graham Knight11 argues that the mass media fulfill four primary functions:
1. Entertainment
2. Dissemination of information
3. Socialization
4. Social control
Television…a source of comfort and pleasure to the elderly, the infirm and, indeed, all people who find themselves in motel rooms…for creating a theater for the masses…its emotional power is so great that it could arouse sentiment against the Vietnam war or against more virulent forms of racism…(Postman)
Neil Postman12 is very uneasy about the power of TV to influence ? and television viewing and ownership have swelled since he wrote his critique and since your text?s data were collected (Figure 5-2). Critical analysts fault the mass media for trivializing our social world and world events (thus, the news is sometimes referred to as ?infotainment?). Social conflict analysts argue that the media reproduce the dominant ideology (i.e., the ideas and values of the dominant class) and, since the media are monopolized by a few large corporations/conglomerates (e.g., AOL-Time Warner), the control of the media endows the owners with significant power. And, the media are pervasive.
The media do not simply entertain and inform us. They shape our values and basic orientations to our world ? they do indeed socialize us. The media represent us to ourselves. Television both reflects and shapes our social reality and it is a primary source of self-knowledge today.
Television remains the dominant medium today (but internet increasingly potent). According to Postman, television is fundamentally show business, and programming must be accommodated to visuals and the show business genre. Therefore, educational programming, religious programming and national and international news programming must be presented in the idiom of entertainment. Postman studied under Marshall McLuhan (a Canadian, see chapter 1) who argued that the ?medium is the message? and that the telecommunications revolution would shape a ?global village.? The revolution was in its formative stages when McLuhan wrote; today, Postman asserts that the ?medium is the metaphor.? Why metaphor? Because messages are concrete statements while media symbols provide ?like? or ?as if? implications to define the world ? framed, sequenced, enlarged or reduced. Postman argues that the media are an epistemology13 that has reduced public discourse to ?dangerous nonsense.? In short, the media (Postman emphasizes television) reduce the ability to exchange ideas or enter into reasoned dialogues.
Is what is diffused from the west into the global village banal? The western dominant ideology? This is the concern of critics who label the transmission of western culture into non-western cultures electronic ?colonialism? or ?imperialism.? This is the intrusion of western values and a marketplace mentality into cultures with very different values and approaches. Indeed, as you watch the news here in Canada, analyze what is depicted about other (particularly developing) countries…is it the sensational, the catastrophic, the crises? Does this enhance our understanding of these peoples, or are we encouraged to stereotype ?the other??
Gossip: ?the chance for the coyote to nip at the heels of the wolf?
Our news programs/media present even the big news in easily digested, brief facts (or factoids). It is difficult to see beyond the talking heads, the spin doctors and the optics to gain an understanding of the world we inhabit. Breaking news (?if it bleeds, it leads?) is the life blood of daily/weekly news programming, newspapers and comedy routines. Yet, even here, critics have argued that the speed of transmission has generated ?personality-driven stories? and a journalistic desire to know ?hidden? things.14 In short, journalism has increasingly become gossip; gossip has become central to our information-centered society, a form of cultural narrative. ?Trash-talk? shows may be denigrated, but they command huge audiences and the viewers relate to these morality plays/players, however distorted, sensationalized or reductionistic they may be.
Urban myths are a form of gossip that is less personalistic, even though couched in personal terms (the typical ?a friend of a friend? opening). Urban myths allow us to share15 ? gossip about ? our fears and our contemporary concerns and they can function as cautionary tales. While urban myths have been embarrassingly printed as ?truth? (e.g., Ann Landers) and are sent as such over thousands of e-mails, the largest consumers of gossip are attracted to TV shows that feature gossip about a famous personality (e.g., Britney Spears). Indeed, during the very serious United Nations debate on Iraq (14 February 2003), the commentator pointed out that Colin Powell was ?angry,? ?sarcastic? and ?insulted? by the other speakers before commenting on the substance of his speech. Similarly, both Hillary Clinton?s and Sarah Palin?s clothes were a focus during the 2008 American presidential campaign.
The media, even their gossip (Collins) and trivialization (Postman), send us messages and we must ponder those messages. A message has three components:
1. The message, which consists of both manifest (obvious) and latent (not so obvious) content.
2. The sender: who is sending the message? Who benefits? What is excluded or edited out?
3. The audience.
We must become a more aware ? critical ? audience. The messages we receive may tell us what to think; more importantly, they tell us what to think about.
Violence:
There are ongoing discussions and research about the direct effects of television. Violence is often the topic of interest: is aggressive behavior a consequence of watching violence? Your text documents some of the research and concerns in this area and the violence that is a component of video games is attracting research attention. We may assume that exposure to media violence may either generate violence or desensitize us to violence; however, Knight (1995: 8?19) argues that this assumption:
…highlights the fact that concerns about the effects of media violence overshadow concerns about its causes. Focusing on effects suggests the need for social control to resolve the problem, by limiting or eliminating the supply of violent imagery, and overlooks the need to understand what creates the demand for it.
Crime shows are a popular ? and expanding ? genre. We have little discourse on what creates the demand for violence; Knight clearly suggests that we must look to the roots of the ?problem.? In the past, both the movies and radio were defined as negative forces and reduction/control were the proposed solutions during these earlier historical eras.
We do know that the visual media encourage young men to be ?tough? and ?cool.? Even young boys will mimic the swagger of the ?tough guys.? A video available in schools and libraries (Tough Guise) documents the negative effects of the tough image; male students have discussed the personal reality of this effect in the classroom, the need to be cool and detached that is engendered by visual images.
Minorities and other categories:
The media?s depiction of minority groups, women and the social classes has also been criticized. You may want to review your assignment readings here and the ?Social Diversity? inset (?How Do the Media Portray Minorities??) of your text.
The media have been accused of rendering minorities invisible, stereotyping minority groups or simply exploiting minorities as ?tokens.? The Latinos have recently (2003) become a larger minority group in the United States than the African-Americans. What proportion of American television characters are Latino? And, how are they portrayed? Since 2001 (the World Trade Center tragedy), racial profiling has become a part of public discourse (e.g., both the Toronto and western police departments have been investigated). This has made us very conscious of how stereotypically we may regard other groups. Try to imagine how it would feel to be a member of a minority group trying to attain ?proper? personhood as depicted in the media (and ads) ? depictions in which the images are white, able-bodied… However, recent ads have been more diverse; this is particularly apparent in TV car ads, medical health insurance ads, and erectile dysfunction ads on American television (CNN, for example). In Canada, however, our First Nations? peoples are increasingly represented through their own programming (e.g., ?Dead Dog Caf?), as well as well-received novels, comedy routines (see Unit VI) and plays. But, ads?
Think: is the ?bad guy/gal? portrayed as having lower or upper social class origins? Again, imagine the impact on self-concept of the social class depictions presented to us.
Finally, an enormous amount of research has been directed to how women are portrayed in the media. While there have been improvements in this area, ageism and sexism (and heterosexism) remain common criticisms (including criticisms by actors/entertainers themselves). Remember, sex is innate (nature) but gender is the cultural overlay on sex (nurture): the media (and, again, ads) instill the notions of propermasculinity and femininity.
While a critical approach has been taken to television and other media, your text also points out some of its benefits. Becoming ?media-savvy? allows us to derive those benefits from the media.
Popular Culture:
The mass media represent our popular culture to us. Popular culture includes all those cultural forms that are accepted or widespread within a group or society. As your text notes, sociologists do not distinguish ?high? culture (e.g., violin concertos) from popular culture (e.g., fiddling) ? they are the same phenomenon and the same instrument. Examples of popular culture are music, novels, plays and movies and video games. Sports, jokes and urban myths are part of popular culture. The content of popular culture is dependent on the context and milieu, we createpopular culture for this time, this place.
Students have indicated that music is one of the three most important influences in their lives.16 Rap music is currently a hugely popular genre, a genre which originated in the American ghettoes. What meanings are conveyed by rap ?music?? Do these meanings shape and/or reflect your worldview? The messages conveyed by rapping clearly differ from the messages of ?grunge,? ?country and western,? the ?swing? era or the ?jazz age.? Indeed, they are similar to the protest songs of the nineteen-sixties, albeit more personal. What is significant about this inward-looking rap, the angst expressed and the focus on material goods?
In neurologist Oliver Sacks? latest book, Musicophilia (2008), he claims that, ?For virtually all of us, music has great power. It is manifest and central in every culture, and lies so deep in human nature that one must think of it as innate.? (So?humans are the joking and musical species?) Indeed, Hawkesbury Hospital is experimenting with harp music as a treatment for chronic pain. In ?Dreamworlds 3, Desire, Sex and Power in Music Video,? Sut Jhally critically examines how masculinity and femininity are portrayed in various genres of music ? this is a powerful video. (Note: Sut Jhally also produced Tough Guise and has critiqued the cultures of both professional wrestling and advertising.)
Advertising: The Life-Blood of the Media
A democratic civilization will save itself only if it makes the language of the image into a stimulus for critical reflection ? not an invitation to hypnosis. (Umberto Eco, The Ad and the Ego )
Ads are the life-blood of the media. The media are humongous commercial enterprises and, while they must appeal to us, they must also cater to their financial supporters ? advertisers. Withdrawal of advertising revenue sounds the death knell for a newspaper, magazine or TV show.
What is advertising all about? First and foremost, it is a way to subtly (sometimes not so subtly) manipulate your desires, your wants. Evidence that advertisers consider ads a successful way to manipulate your wants is the fact that corporations were willing to pay $2,400,000 for 30 seconds of advertising at the 2005 Super Bowl (which a considerable proportion of the audience watches for the ads). Ads are pervasive: we will spend approximately one and one-half years of our lives just viewing ads (approximately 600 to 2000 ads daily), the effects of those ads (beyond stimulating spending) are of interest to sociologists (see footnote re: TV, music videos).
Here, stop and pick up any handy publication or turn on the television. Attend to the advertising. What are the ads saying? What is the language of their images? Do they say ?you are great?? Or ? do they say ?You need improvement, you can become this ideal person by buying…a new look, a new attitude, new things??
The effects of ads (and music) that you will be exploring in your essay are manifold. The Principles and Guide (end of unit) demonstrate just how effective the popular media can be for shaping/representing self-perception (and self dissatisfaction). Ads are seductive (the ?dream-life of our culture,? Sut Jhally): they must generate our emotional engagement and provide images that resonate with us in order to manipulate our desires. Indeed, they must be credible enough to neutralize our doubts as they play upon our insecurities and offer their solutions. The evolution of cigarette ads demonstrates how hard advertisers work at making even a dangerous substance credible and attractive by catering to our fantasies. (Ads for cigarettes are only found in American publications.)
A new concern of media critics is not ?subliminal? advertising but ?covert? advertising. Covert advertising18 is not just the expanding placement of products in a film or video or TV show, but the hiring of shills posing as tourists who approach unwary actual tourists, for example, and ask them to take their picture with their incredible camera X ? all the while, of course, expounding on the virtues of camera X. Similarly, shills will buy free rounds of brand Y in a bar, again lauding (scripted lauding) the product. The editor of Advertising Age is quoted as saying: ?It is impossible to be too cynical about marketing right now? (Skenazy, 2002: A9). Ads attempt to appeal to target markets, and ?cyber tots? are a lucrative market that is being tapped as children play their video games and surf the Net.19 These are not just ads but games (e.g., ?NeoPets?) that are, in essence, 20 minutes of ?immersive advertising,? and the children are encouraged to sign up friends and complete surveys, or enter contests, and thereby win points or product samples. Concerns about kiddie-marketing are sufficiently serious that there is a United States law ?protecting the privacy of children under the age of 13? (Snider, 2002: 37). Indeed, scanning the brain to discern responses to products – ?neuromarketing? – is a new development in how to appeal/sell.
Should we be concerned about the increasingly blurred line between entertainment and marketing? About the fake interactions with hired shills posing as bon vivants? About the product placements in films/TV shows? Psychologists and marketers themselves are concerned (Snider, 2002; Skenazy, 2002; Eisenberg, 2002) ? ?branding? is big business and your generation has been a prime ?beneficiary? of the new market tactics. Your assignment will help you develop a healthy dose of skepticism.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Use Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems model to analyse the influences that shape the professional therapeutic practices a person with a specified impairment may experience. Provide a critique of those influences and practices, using a
Disability Studies perspective?
This assessment requires you to take a step back from the day-to-day practice of therapeutic interventions and consider how socio-cultural forces shape such practices. So rather than describing the details of professional practice, your focus is how such practices come about, or why things are the way they are. To do well, you will need to show you have thought about the different levels in Bronfenbrenner?s model and how they interrelate. You will also need to use key concepts from the course to help explain the factors that shape professional practice. Useful concepts might include, but are not limited to: hegemony; ableism/disableism; normalising difference; ideologies; power; agency; ethics.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
The purpose of the essay is to critically examine (assess and evaluate the impact of the medium/technology on and its relationship with society) a medium or technology using themes and concepts from research.
Choose either a medium or technology (examples are listed below) and critically examine it using themes and concepts from research. The objective is to assess and evaluate the impact of the medium/technology on and its relationship with society.
Examples of medium or technology include:
– Media content: audio, audiovisual, visual, news, text, film;
– Online services: online news, eBooks, user-generated content sites such as YouTube, social networking sites, streaming sites of music (e.g Pandora) and audiovisual content (e.g. Hulu, NetFlix);
For example, you might choose to examine the introduction & use of smartphones. Or you could examine the move away from purchasing music on CDs to purchasing online. You could examine the introduction & development of gaming consoles and compare/contrast that with online gaming. You could examine the advent of eBooks and the impact on printed books. Or you could examine the production and distribution of online news and the relationships with printed and mobile news platforms. You could look at a social networking site and, depending on your focus, you could examine its actual use compared with its ‘ideal’ use &/or you could examine the economics of user-generated content and how this does/does not influence the ongoing development of the site.
For your chosen medium/technology, critically examine (assess and evaluate the impact of the medium/technology on and its relationship with society) it using themes and concepts from research.
The following questions* are provided as starting points for your analysis. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM. You should choose which are the most appropriate for your chosen medium/technology as well as developing your own in the context of themes and concepts from this course:
– Histories:
When and how did the medium/technology appear? Who and what was involved in its invention and development? What did people imagine would its main use and significance? How was it actually adopted, resisted or ignored? Was the medium/technology used differently by different groups or people or in different parts of the world? Who were the early/late adopters of the medium/technology and what impacts did this have?
– Discourses and ideologies:
What are the ideas or discourses associated with the medium/technology? What do people think they do with the medium/technology? What are the affects and emotions associated with the medium/technology? How is the medium/technology represented/portrayed and written and spoken about in the media? How are ideas about what media is and what it does changed by this medium/technology?
– Existing media:
How did/does the medium/technology fit into or disrupt existing media? Are there new companies and organisations responsible for delivering new kinds of media associated with the medium/technology? What are the features and characteristics of these new companies/organisations? What are the economics of production, distribution, exhibition, consumption and business models of these companies/organisations? Who are the audiences and publics that come into being or realign with the medium/technology?
– Cultural and social:
How do/did people use the medium/technology? What is their actual experience of it, independent of the marketing/promotion of the intended experience of the medium/technology? What do they do with it and with whom? What are the particular cultures associated with the medium/technology? How does the medium/technology affect the larger culture and society? How are relations among different groups of people, and groups of things, altered, or believed to be altered, through the introduction of the medium/technology? Have there been ‘moral panics’ associated with the medium/technology? What are the ethical issues/implications of the medium/technology?
2,000 word essay (+/- 10%), not including long quotes (>40 words in APA), list of References.
At least 10 academically credible sources cited.
Essays will be marked on the following criteria which are weighted equally:
1. Analysis of medium/technology using key ideas/concepts from the course.
2. Research on medium/technology and presentation of appropriate academically credible evidence.
3. Analysis of the academically credible evidence and the wider implications of it for the medium/technology and the wider society.
4. Clear, concise and comprehensible written expression appropriate for university level and an academic audience.
5. Adherence to APA referencing, number and strength of References and word count met.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Board, R.D. (1998) Counselling for Toads. Routledge, London. UK
What interpersonal skills did Heron use in the book and how effective were they?
How has the book developed your own awareness in a practical setting (school)?
1. Analyse how Heron used techniques and what were they: silence, challenging, how he responded to Toad, ego states he used and other skills he used dealing with Toad: playing games Poor Little Me PLOM
2. What elements influenced me
3. How the situation might be dealt differently?
4. What skills I am lack of.
5. What skills have I developed?
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
The vice president of the services division stresses to you, "This is a new department that requires a good manager who has the following skills: conceptual, communication, effectiveness, and interpersonal. I need someone who is experienced in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling a new service department to provide excellent customer service."
Based on her comments/expectations and your knowledge of management functions, behaviors, and skills, draft a 2–3 page document on the following:
A description of the types of characteristics and experience that you will look for in the candidate. Be specific and include the various management functions and roles that this individual must have experience with as well as the skills he or she must possess to be effective in the specific role of a manager for a new department within the service division. Make sure your description is not a job specification (tactical candidate requirements) list.
List 5–10 questions that will determine if this candidate can take charge, organize things, and get people motivated and working again in a service department. These should give you insight into why the candidate can fulfill the requirements outlined by the vice president of services. Be sure to explain what information you are looking for with your questions (i.e. temperament, interpersonal skills, etc.)
Remember to use the library or other credible resources to support your argument. Be sure to cite your sources using the correct standard of APA.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
This is an online posting, no need to make it into essay. Answer all six questions separately. Answers should be based on PowerPoint attached and the links in it. Here are the questions:
This is an in-depth assignment, requiring you to think deeply and to look at this play in a broad view about its meaning and message.
1. What about this play makes it different from a conventional play; what qualities are the same, what are different?
2. What would you say was the overall theme in this play?
Use quotes from the text to support your answers:
3. There is extensive stage direction in this play, but very little actual description about the physical appearance of the characters. There are references to what they are doing and therefore certain physical aspects are revealed. From what you have read, do you think the videos give an accurate picture of what the 2 main characters look like? Substantiate your answer with quotes from the book. What do you think they should look like- not just their size, but what they are wearing? What kind of people do they remind of?
4. What do you think is the relationship between these 2 men and why have you come to this conclusion? Substantiate your opinion with quotes from the book.
(Remember that this was written 60 years ago in France and certain American modern assumptions are not relevant here.)
5. Look up the philosophy of ‘Existentialism’ and determine whether this play
relates to that philosophy and why. Again, use the text to support your conclusion.
6. Think carefully- what are these 2 men doing and what are they waiting for? What does the little boy at the end of the act symbolize? Support your view.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Our next step in the research process is to evaluate our sources and explore why they are appropriate for our essays and how we will use them.
During Weeks 8 and 9 I will be lecturing extensively on source evaluation, and we will be doing a number of in-class activities that will help students practice evaluating sources. Our third essay will then be an in-depth evaluation of one (1) of the student’s sources for the final paper.
For this assignment, all students must choose a print source, preferably a book or a substantial academic-quality essay or article and discuss the merits of this source in relation to your topic and outline how it will be used in the final essay. Students cannot use web or audiovisual sources for this assignment. Students who do not use print materials will receive no credit for this assignment.
Students should choose a source that has a credited author, and this author’s credentials should be discussed in the body of the essay. Students should also consider the type of publisher, the benefits of print materials, the publication date, organization, and any other relevant criteria that have been discussed in class as the basis for their evaluation.
Requirements:
• All essays should be at least 3 pages in length. Well-developed essays may exceed the length, but all essays should meet the minimum requirement.
• All essays should be in standard MLA manuscript form, including size 12.0 Times New Roman font, double-spaced text, and standard 1 inch margins. All essays will have a header with the student’s last name and page number in the top right hand corner of every page ½ inch from the margin.
• All essays should have at least three (3) in-text citations from the source demonstrating that the student understands how to paraphrase, summarize, and quote from his or her materials.
• All essays must have a Work Cited entry. (Singular if only the one source is used; plural if a student uses other materials.)
• All essays should be neatly stapled before class.
• All essays should have a creative and original title.
• All essays should have a clear introduction with a thesis statement, well-supported body paragraphs, and a summative conclusion.
Evaluation:
All papers will be evaluated on both content and mechanics. I will be looking at your personal and academic investment in the topic and how you discuss your intentions for the final research paper. I will also, as usual, be looking carefully at the writing style and language and the mechanics of Standard English and MLA documentation that we must master in academic writing. This is a preliminary essay, but it should still be written smoothly and effectively, as should be all of our writing.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
Some conspiracy statutes require evidence of an overt act by one of the co-conspirators. Examine what the justification is for such a requirement, and in what type of case might an overt act not be required.
Explain why the Fourth Amendment applies to the use of force by a police officer, and how the “reasonableness” standard compares to a “substantive due process” approach.
Discuss the amount of force that may be used in the defense of property today, what is meant by the “castle doctrine” and “make my day” rules.
Use a minimum of two (2) information resources for your research, in addition to the textbook.
Your assignment must:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.
The specific Course Learning Outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Analyze the essential legal elements of criminal conduct.
Contrast crimes against persons, crimes against property, and other types of criminal conduct.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in criminal law.
Write clearly and concisely about criminal law using proper writing mechanics.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
