Branches of Social Sciece Essay Example for Free

Branches of Social Sciece Essay It is a branch of science that studies the customs of human society and the way in which that society functions. Of particular interest is the study of the relationships between the people hat make up that society as well as the behavior of these individuals within that society. Social Science involves any discipline or branch of science that explores the social and cultural aspects of human behavior. The disciplines of social sciences draw from a variety of fields of study and although these different areas of social sciences vary far and wide, they all aim to understand and explain human society and behavior. This study of how groups of people behave is usually done with the aim of being able to predict how they will behave in the future. The Social Science disciplines are branches of knowledge which are taught and researched at the college or university level. Social Science disciplines are defined and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned Social Science societies and academic departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong. Social Science fields of study usually have several sub-disciplines or branches, and the distinguishing lines between these are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. This branch of social science covers the study of the origin of human beings. Of particular interest is the study of the nature of the social relationships between people and how they have developed. Anthropology aims to give a whole and complete explanation of human nature. Anthropology is the holistic science of man, — a science of the totality of human existence. The discipline deals with the integration of different aspects of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Human Biology. In the twentieth century, academic disciplines have often been institutionally divided into three broad domains. The natural sciences seek to derive general laws through reproducible and verifiable experiments. The humanities generally study local traditions, through their history, literature, music, and arts, with an emphasis on understanding particular individuals, events, or eras. The social sciences have generally attempted to develop scientific methods to understand social phenomena in a generalizable way, though usually with methods distinct from those of the natural sciences. The goal of anthropology is to provide a holistic account of humans and human nature. This means that, though anthropologists generally specialize in only one sub-field, they always keep in mind the biological, linguistic, historic and cultural aspects of any problem. Since anthropology arose as a science in Western societies that were complex and industrial, a major trend within anthropology has been a methodological drive to study peoples in societies with more simple social organization, sometimes called primitive in anthropological literature, but without any connotation of inferior. Today, anthropologists use terms such as less complex societies or refer to specific modes of subsistence or production, such as pastoralist or forager or horticulturalist to refer to humans living in non-industrial, non-Western cultures, such people or folk (ethnos) remaining of great interest within anthropology. The quest for holism leads most anthropologists to study a people in detail, using biogenetic, archaeological, and linguistic data alongside direct observation of contemporary customs. In the 1990s and 2000s, calls for clarification of what constitutes a culture, of how an observer knows where his or her own culture ends and another begins, and other crucial topics in writing anthropology were heard. It is possible to view all human cultures as part of one large, evolving global culture. These dynamic relationships, between what can be observed on the ground, as opposed to what can be observed by compiling many local observations remain fundamental in any kind of anthropology, whether cultural, biological, linguistic or archaeological. In this branch of social science, the study of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services are covered. The main focus of economics lies in understanding and explaining how economies work and how factors contributing to economies interact with each other. Economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. The word economics is from the Greek ÃŽ ¿Ã¡ ¼ ¶ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š [oikos], family, household, estate, and ÃŽ ½ÃÅ'ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š [nomos], custom, law, and hence means household management or management of the state. An economist is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university degree in the subject. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by Lionel Robbins in 1932, is the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses. Without scarcity and alternative uses, there is no economic problem. Briefer yet is the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants and the study of the financial aspects of human behavior. Economics has two broad branches: microeconomics, where the unit of analysis is the individual agent, such as a household or firm, and macroeconomics, where the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole. Another division of the subject distinguishes positive economics, which seeks to predict and explain economic phenomena, from normative economics, which orders choices and actions by some criterion; such orderings necessarily involve subjective value judgments. Since the early part of the 20th century, economics has focused largely on measurable quantities, employing both theoretical models and empirical analysis. Quantitative models, however, can be traced as far back as the physiocratic school. Economic reasoning has been increasingly applied in recent decades to other social situations such as politics, law, psychology, history, religion, marriage and family life, and other social interactions. This paradigm crucially assumes (1) that resources are scarce because they are not sufficient to satisfy all wants, and (2) that economic value is willingness to pay as revealed for instance by market (arms length) transactions. Rival heterodox schools of thought, such as institutional economics, green economics, Marxist economics, and economic sociology, make other grounding assumptions. For example, Marxist economics assumes that economics primarily deals with the exchange of value, and that labor (human effort) is the source of all value. The expanding domain of economics in the social sciences has been described as economic imperialism. This branch of social science studies the institution of teaching in human society. Covered in this field of study are the processes by which knowledge is passed on and how specific skills are taught and learned. This process of education is examined throughout an individuals lifetime, that is from childbirth and on to old age. Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgement and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization). To educate means to draw out, from the Latin educare, or to facilitate the realization of an individuals potential and talents. It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning and draws on many disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology. The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. (Some believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some parents playing music or reading to the baby in the womb in the hope it will influence the childs development.) For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide far more instruction than does formal schooling (thus Mark Twains admonition to never let school interfere with your education). Family members may have a profound educational effect — often more profound than they realize — though family teaching may function very informally. This branch of social science can be subdivided into two main sub-disciplines namely; human geography and physical geography. Human geography is mainly concerned with the built environment and the influence humans have on the spaces they occupy. Physical geography on the other hand looks into the natural environment. Of particular interest in this field is the study of how climate, vegetation life, soil, water and landforms are produced and how they interact. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation life, soil, water and landforms are produced and interact. As a result of the two subfields using different approaches a third field has emerged, which is environmental geography. Environmental geography combines physical and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment and humans. Geographers attempt to understand the earth in terms of physical and spatial relationships. The first geographers focused on the science of mapmaking and finding ways to precisely project the surface of the earth. In this sense, geography bridges some gaps between the natural sciences and social sciences. Historical geography is often taught in a college in a unified Department of Geography. Modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline, closely related to GISc, that seeks to understand humanity and its natural environment. The fields of Urban Planning, Regional Science, and Planetology are closely related to geography. Practitioners of geography use many technologies and methods to collect data such as GIS, remote sensing, aerial photography, statistics, and global positioning systems (GPS). The field of geography is generally split into two distinct branches: physical and human. Physical geography examines phenomena related to climate, oceans, soils, and the measurement of earth. Human geography focuses on fields as diverse as Cultural geography, transportation, health, military operations, and cities. Other branches of geography include Social geography, regional geography, geomatics, and environmental geography. This branch of social science covers the study of the human past. It is a field of study that uses past accounts to examine and analyze sequences of events. It also sometimes attempts to investigate in an objective manner, the patterns of cause and effect that have led to particular events taking place. History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research into past human events as interpreted through historiographical paradigms or theories, such as the Turner Thesis about the American frontier. History has a base in both the social sciences and the humanities. In the United States the National Endowment for the Humanities includes history in its definition of a Humanities (as it does for applied Linguistics). However, the National Research Council classifies History as a Social science. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. The Social Science History Association, formed in 1976, brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history. This branch of social science studies the institution of the rule of law in human society and it sometimes crosses over into the humanities depending on the aspect from which it is studied. Of particular interest are its origin and the way in which a supreme power in a state commands what is â€Å"right† and prohibits what is considered â€Å"wrong.† Law in common parlance, means a rule which (unlike a rule of ethics) is capable of enforcement through institutions. However, many laws are based on norms accepted by a community and thus have an ethical foundation. The study of law crosses the boundaries between the social sciences and humanities, depending on ones view of research into its objectives and effects. Law is not always enforceable, especially in the international relations context. It has been defined as a system of rules,as an interpretive concept achieve justice, as an authorityto mediate peoples interests, and even as the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction. However one likes to think of law, it is a completely central social institution. Legal policy incorporates the practical manifestation of thinking from almost every social sciences and humanity. Laws are politics, because politicians create them. Law is philosophy, because moral and ethical persuasions shape their ideas. Law tells many of historys stories, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. And law is economics, because any rule about contract, tort, property law, labour law, company law and many more can have long lasting effects on the distribution of wealth. The noun law derives from the late Old English lagu, meaning something laid down or fixed and the adjective legal comes from the Latin word lex. In this field of study, the theory and practice of politics is examined. Also covered is the description and analysis of political systems including political behavior. Political science is the branch of social science that deals with the study of politics and analysis of its system as well as political behavior. Political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Fields and subfields of political science include political economy, political theory and philosophy, civics and comparative politics, theory of direct democracy, apolitical governance, participatory direct democracy, national systems, cross-national political analysis, political development, international relations, foreign policy, international law, politics, public administration, administrative behavior, public law, judicial behavior, and public policy. Political science also studies power in international relations and the theory of Great powers and Superpowers. Political science is methodologically diverse, although recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the use of the scientific method . That is the proliferation of formal-deductive model building and quantitative hypothesis testing. Approaches to the discipline include rational choice, classical political philosophy, interpretivism, structuralism, and behavioralism, realism, pluralism, and institutionalism. This branch of social science involves the study of behavior and mental processes. Of particular interest is the application of this knowledge to the treatment of mental illness. Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek ψυχÎ ®, psyche (soul, mind) and logy, study). Psychology differs from anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology in seeking to capture explanatory generalizations about the mental function and overt behavior of individuals, while the other disciplines focus on creating descriptive generalizations about the functioning of social groups or situation-specific human behavior. In practice, however, there is quite a lot of cross-fertilization that takes place among the various fields. Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior, and of the overall processes of a system, and not simply the biological or neural processes themselves, though the subfield of neuropsychology combines the study of the actual neural processes with the study of the mental effects they have subjectively produced. Many people associate Psychology with Clinical Psychology which focuses on assessment and treatment of problems in living and psychopathology. In reality, Psychology has myriad specialties including: Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Mathematical psychology, Neuropsychology, and Quantitative Analysis of Behavior to name only a few. Psychology is a very broad science that is rarely tackled as a whole, major block. Although some subfields encompass a natural science base and a social science application, others can be clea rly distinguished as having little to do with the social sciences or having a lot to do with the social sciences. For example, biological psychology is considered a natural science with a social scientific application (as is clinical medicine), social and occupational psychology are, generally speaking, purely social sciences, whereas neuropsychology is a natural science that lacks application out of the scientific tradition entirely. In British universities, emphasis on what tenet of psychology a student has studied and/or concentrated is communicated through the degree conferred: B.Psy. indicates a balance between natural and social sciences, B.Sc. indicates a strong (or entire) scientific concentration, whereas a B.A. underlines a majority of social science credits. This is not always necessarily the case however, and in many UK institutions students studying the B.Psy, B.Sc, and B.A. follow the same curriculum as outlined by The British Psychological Society and have the same options of specialism open to them regardless of whether they choose a balance, a heavy science basis, or heavy social science basis to their degree. If they applied to read the B.A. for example, but specialised in heavily science based modules, then they will still generally be awarded the B.A. Covered in this branch of social science is the study of human society and social action. Sociology is the systematic study of society and human social action. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix -ology which means study of, derived from Greek, and the stem soci- which is from the Latin word socius, meaning companion, or society in general. Sociology was originally established by Auguste Comte (1798–1857) in 1838. Comte endeavoured to unify history, psychology and economics through the descriptive understanding of the social realm. He proposed that social ills could be remedied through sociological positivism, an epistemological approach outlined in The Course in Positive Philosophy [1830–1842] and A General View of Positivism (1844). Though Comte is generally regarded as the Father of Sociology, the discipline was formally established by another French thinker, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who developed positivism as a foundation to practical social research. Durkheim set up the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895, publishing his Rules of the Sociological Method. In 1896, he established the journal LAnnà ©e Sociologique. Durkheims seminal monograph, Suicide (1897), a case study of suicide rates amongst Catholic and Protestant populations, distinguished sociological analysis from psychology or philosophy. Karl Marx rejected Comtean positivism but nevertheless aimed to establish a science of society based on historical materialism, becoming recognised as a founding figure of sociology posthumously as the term gained broader meaning. Around the start of the 20th century, the first wave of German sociologists, including Max Weber and Georg Simmel, developed sociological antipositivism. The field may be broadly recognised as an amalgam of three modes of social thought in particular: Durkheimian positivism and structural functionalism; Marxist historical materialism and conflict theory; Weberian antipositivism and verstehen analysis. American sociology broadly arose on a separate trajectory, with little Marxist influence, an emphasis on rigorous experimental methodology, and a closer association with pragm atism and social psychology. In the 1920s, the Chicago school developed symbolic interactionism. Meanwhile in the 1930s, the Frankfurt School pioneered the idea of critical theory, an interdisciplinary form of Marxist sociology drawing upon thinkers as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. Critical theory would take on something of a life of its own after World War II, influencing literary criticism and the Birmingham School establishment of cultural studies. Sociology evolved as an academic response to the challenges of modernity, such as industrialization, urbanization, secularization, and a perceived process of enveloping rationalization. Because sociology is such a broad discipline, it can be difficult to define, even for professional sociologists. The field generally concerns the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, communities and institutions, and includes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. The sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. In the terms of sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, social scientists seek an understanding of the Social Construction of Reality. Most sociologists work in one or more subfields. One useful way to describe the discipline is as a cluster of sub-fields that examine different dimensions of society. For example, social stratification studies inequality and class structure; demography studies changes in a population size or type; criminology examines criminal behavior and deviance; and political sociology studies the interaction between society and state. Deals with processes of human communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols to create meaning. The discipline encompasses a range of topics, from face-to-face conversation to mass media outlets such as television broadcasting. Communication studies also examines how messages are interpreted through the political, cultural, economic, and social dimensions of their contexts. Communication is institutionalized under many different names at different universities, including communication, communication studies, speech communication, rhetorical studies, communications science, media studies, communication arts, mass communication, media ecology, and communication and media science. Communication studies integrates aspects of both social sciences and the humanities. As a social science, the discipline often overlaps with sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, political science, economics, and public policy, among others. From a humanities perspective, communication is concerned with rhetoric and persuasion (traditional graduate programs in communication studies trace their history to the rhetoricians of Ancient Greece). The field applies to outside disciplines as well, including engineering, architecture, mathematics, and information science. Additional Social Science disciplines and fields of study include: †¢Archaeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. †¢Area studies are interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/federal, or cultural regions. †¢Behavioral science is a term that encompasses all the disciplines that explore the activities of and interactions among organisms in the natural world. †¢Demography is the statistical study of all populations. †¢Development studies a multidisciplinary branch of social science which addresses issues of concern to developing countries. †¢Environmental social science is the broad, transdisciplinary study of interrelations between humans and the natural environment. †¢Environmental studies integrate social, humanistic, and natural science perspectives on the relation between humans and the natural environment. †¢Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information. †¢International studies covers both International relations (the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system) and International education (the comprehensive approach that intentionally prepares people to be active and engaged participants in an interconnected world). †¢Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. †¢Legal management is a social sciences discipline that is designed for students interested in the study of State and Legal elements. †¢Library science is an interdisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation and dissemination of information resources; and the political economy of information. †¢Management in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. †¢Marketing the identification of human needs and wants, defines and measures their magnitude for demand and understanding the process of consumer buying behavior to formulate products and services, pricing, promotion and distribution to satisfy these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships. †¢Political economy is the study of production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government.

Characteristics and Gambling Habits of Bingo Players

Characteristics and Gambling Habits of Bingo Players An Investigation into the Characteristics and Gambling Habits of Bingo Players in the UK Introduction Bingo is a popular pastime in the UK, and has grown as an industry over recent years, moving away from local community centres to dedicated bingo halls and numerous online sites. As with all industries, to ensure that there is a continual renewal of customers, those in the bingo industry must be able to target their marketing strategies effectively. This means that they need to be able to identify who their target audience is for them to be able to deliver an effective marketing campaign which is aimed predominantly at those people (Aaker et al., 2000). Studies in the past have suggested that bingo is considered to be a rather low-level leisure activity. As a result, it has also been previously associated heavily with being a pastime of predominantly working class women (Dixey, 1987). In addition, it is generally associated with pensioners, largely due to the sedentary but social nature of the game (Cousins Witcher, 2007). Although this may have been the case a number of years ago, there is little recent empirical evidence to determine whether this is still the main market for bingo. Given the changing nature of the game and its delivery, it is plausible that changes in the main demographic of players may also be in a process of change. This study therefore uses pre-collected data to evaluate whether this may be the case. Rationale of Study Gathering information on the demographics of people who play bingo, or are interested in playing bingo, is likely to be useful to bingo halls for targeting their marketing campaigns. In addition, with the advent of online gambling, understanding whether current online gamblers would be likely to participate in bingo games if they were available may be important in design of online gaming sites. Marketing opportunities online may also be improved if evidence is available of the demographics of the target audience. Consideration will also be given to the expenditure of different demographic groups on bingo, as this information may be useful in the industry for determining customer value. Study Hypothesis Based on the previous literature, it is hypothesised that the main demographic of bingo players will be predominantly women, but that there will be a substantial number of younger players. It is also expected that there will be an association between those gaming online and those playing bingo. Finally, it is expected that there will be no difference in the expenditure on bingo between age groups. Methodology Origins of the Data The data which is used in this study was taken from the British Gambling Prevalence Study 2007, which was the largest study of its kind to be conducted in the UK to the present date. The study was commissioned by the National Centre for Social Research and aimed to collect information on gambling habits and demographics in order to assess the prevalence of problem gambling within the UK. Study Population The study was designed to be representative of all adults in the UK aged 16 years and older who were living within private households. Study Sample All residences in the UK were separated into Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) and 317 of these were randomly selected for the study. The probability of selecting each was apportioned according to the number of addresses within them, but no other demographics were taken into account. For each PSU which was selected, 32 addresses were selected randomly, and this gave a total of 10,144 addresses. After non-completion, the total sample available in the data-set was 9003. Study Instrument The study was conducted using a multiple-choice questionnaire. This clearly explained at the beginning the goal of the study, and explained clearly how the survey form should be completed. A coding document was then compiled to code the answers into statistical software packages, and this was included alongside the data-set. A copy of the questionnaire which was used is available from http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=5836. The data which was included in the data-set was already weighted to account for non-response and bias, and this was completed by the researchers who completed the data collection and original analysis. Results Proportion of Bingo Players in the Sample The results of the analysis indicate that only a small minority of the population sampled had played bingo in the last twelve months, with a total of 7.5% of the sample. This is shown graphically in Figure 1. Table 2 then details the frequency with which that small group had played bingo. It may be seen that 45% of those who had played bingo in the last twelve months had done so less than once a month. A total of 36.4% of those who played bingo in the last twelve months had done so once a week or more, and a further 15.6% reported playing at least once a month. This information is then presented graphically in Figure 2. Table 1. The frequency with which respondents reported playing bingo in the last twelve months. For those who had played bingo in the last twelve months, the mean age was 47.78 with a standard deviation of 18.08, while it was 47.75 for those who had not played bingo in the last twelve months, with a standard deviation of 18.33. Performing an independent two-sample t-test on the data produced a p-value of 0.963, which indicates that the null hypothesis may not be rejected. This means that there is no significant difference between the mean age of the two groups at the 95% confidence level. Age of Bingo Players Table 2 displays the mean age of each group when those playing bingo within the last twelve months were grouped according to frequency of playing. Alongside the mean, the standard deviation is also given. This information is presented in the box-plot in Figure 3. This shows that the mean age of the players appears to increase as the frequency of playing increases. In addition, it would also appear that the variation in age is smallest in the group who play at least twice a week. Performing a one-way ANOVA analysis indicates that there is an association between age and the frequency of playing bingo and that the null hypothesis of no association may be rejected at the 5% level (p Table 2. Mean and standard deviation of the age of players grouped according to the frequency with which they play bingo. Gender of Bingo Players Of those who had played bingo in the last twelve months, 71.4% were female, and this percentage is show graphically in Figure 4. A chi-squared analysis indicates that there is evidence that the null hypothesis may be rejected at the 5% level (p Player Expenditure on Bingo Expenditure and Gender Analysis of the data shows that females who had played bingo in the last twelve months lost a mean of  £319 over the previous 7 days, with standard deviation 506. In contrast, males lost a mean of  £60.50 over the 7 days, with a standard deviation of 4.95. An independent samples t-test revealed that there is evidence at the 0.95 significance level against the null hypothesis of no association. This therefore indicates that there is a significant difference between the amount lost by males and females (p = 0.045). Expenditure and Age Figure 5 shows a scatter-plot of the total amount which each respondent reported losing at bingo in the last seven days plotted against their age. The black dots represent female participants while red dots represent males. It would appear from this plot that there is no association between the amount of money lost at bingo and the age of the player, for either males or females. A bivariate regression analysis of this data confirms this. It indicated that there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association, and so age was not found to be a significant predictor of the amount lost at bingo over the seven day period (p = .489). Figure 6 presents a scatter-plot of age against expenditure on bingo over the previous seven days when winnings are also taken into account in addition to losses. There was far more data available for this analysis, but it would still appear that there is no particular association between age and expenditure on bingo, for either males or females. This was confirmed by regression analysis, which indicated there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .187). Therefore it was concluded that there was no association between age and overall expenditure on bingo over the previous week. Expenditure and Frequency of Playing Bingo Figure 7 presents a box-plot of the amounts lost at bingo according to the frequency of playing bingo in the last twelve months. It would appear from this graph that those playing twice a week lost less than those who played less often, as the mean is lower and the variation is less. An ANOVA analysis however indicated that there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of association. This indicates that there is therefore no association between the frequency of playing bingo over the last twelve months and the amount lost at bingo (p = .925). Figure 8 presents a similar box-plot analysis which takes account of the winnings of players in addition to losses. When comparing the different frequency of playing groups it would appear that overall expenditure appears to be relatively consistent. The variation in expenditure does however appear to be somewhat larger in the group which play two times or more a week. One-way ANOVA analysis of this data confirms that there is no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .731). Therefore it may be concluded that frequency of playing bingo over the last twelve months did not impact on the overall expenditure of the player on bingo over the last week. Online Gamblers and Bingo Table 3 presents a cross-tabulation of the number of participants who reported having played bingo over the previous twelve months and those who reported having gambled online over the previous twelve months. This shows that of those who had reported playing bingo in the last twelve months, only 8% reported gambling online during that time (Figure 9). In contrast, 26.3% of those who had gambled online over the last twelve months reported that they had also played bingo during that period (Figure 10). A chi-squared analysis of this data indicates that there is strong evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p Table 3. The number of respondents who had gambled online over the previous twelve months and the number who had played bingo over the previous twelve months. Figure 11 presents a scatter-plot of the net expenditure on bingo in comparison to the net expenditure on online gambling, both over the previous seven day period. From this chart it would appear that there is no association between the two. A regression analysis confirms that there is no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .882). Therefore it must be concluded that there is no significant association between the total expenditure of the respondents on online gambling and their total expenditure on bingo over the same time period. Discussion From this study it may be seen that there are certain demographic characteristics which are associated with playing bingo. It would appear from the results that bingo players are in the minority, with only 7.5% of the population estimated to have played in 2007, and only 2.7% of the population playing once a week or more. As hypothesised at the beginning, there was no particular age group which was associated with playing bingo. There is however evidence that it is an older age group which is associated with playing bingo regularly, with the mean age being in the mid- to late-fifties for those playing once a week or more. Despite this, there was no association between age and the amount spent on bingo in a week. This indicates that older people are still the main demographic for the industry but that they are not particularly more valuable than younger people. They may however be more valuable if their spend is consistent week after week, when compared to younger players who may play only once a month or less. There was also no association between frequency of playing and expenditure within the week. This is an important implication as it suggests that customers who can be attracted to regularly play bingo will be consistent with their spending, and not reduce spending as they play more over the year. Almost three quarters of players were female, and it was also females who were associated with much larger expenditure on bingo. This finding is however somewhat limited, as only information on the expenditure of two males was available for analysis. Therefore this finding may not have a high statistical power. Finally, there is evidence that there is an association between bingo players and those gambling online. This is important as it suggests that there is potential in both advertising for bingo online and also in online bingo rooms. The extent to which an individual gambles online does not however appear to be associated with how much they spend on bingo. Therefore online players may not be more valuable than those attracted through offline methods. Although this study has provided some useful insights for those interested in the demographics of bingo players, there are some limitations. One of the main limitations is that there was little social information available in the study which related to income and social status of the respondents. It is possible that this may impact on gambling habits, including playing bingo (Barry et al., 2007). This may be important in areas where there are either large levels of population in higher or lower social classes. Therefore further market research in particular areas may be useful in determining the potential for marketing in that particular area. References Aaker, J.L., Brumbaugh, A.M. Grier, S.A. (2000) Nontarget markets and viewer distinctiveness: The impact of target marketing on advertising. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9(3), 127-140. Barry, D.T., Maciejewski, P.K., Desai, R.A. Potenza, M.N. (2007) Income differences and recreational gambling. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 1(3), 145-153. Cousins, S.O. Witcher, C.S.G. (2007) Who plays bingo in later life? The sedentary lifestyles of ‘little old ladies’. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23(1), 95-112. Dixey, R. (1987) It’s a great feeling when you win: Women and bingo. Leisure Studies, 6(2), 199-214. National Centre for Social Research (2007) British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007. Available [online] from: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=5836 [Accessed 12/12/2008].

Fidel Castro :: essays research papers

Fidel Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 (some sources give 1927), on his family's sugar plantation near Biran, Oriente, Province. His father was an immigrant from Galcia, Spain. He attended good Catholic schools in Santiago de Cuba and Havana, where he took the sparten regime at a Jesuit boarding school, Colegio de Belen. In 1945 he enrolled at the University of Havana, graduating in 1950 with a law degree. In 1948, he married Mirta Diaz-Balart and divorced her in 1954. Their son, Fidel Castro Ruz Diaz-Balart, born in 1949, has served as head of Cuba's atomic energy commission. Fidel Castro Ruz, Cuba's enduring "maximum leader," has held power since 1959. He is president (since 1976; formerly prime minister), first secretary of the Cuban Communist party, and commander of the armed forces. His decisions are final on matters of domestic and foreign policy. A member of the social-democratic Orthodoxo party in the late 1940s and 1950s, Castro was an early and vocal opponent of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. In 1952, he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. But troops led by Batista halted the election and ended democracy in Cuba. As a result of Batista's actions, Castro tried to start a revolution against the Batista dictatorship. He eventually succeeded on January 1, 1959 and took control of the Cuban govenment. Castro, who has no rivals for power, demands the absolute loyalty of those around him. As a lawyer by training, Castro led the Cuban Revolution and transformed the island into the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. He has been less than successful as an economic policymaker: Cuba remains a poor country in debt whose livelihood depended on sugar production and Soviet economic aid -- which was cut off after the demise of the Soviet Union.

Disaster Management :: Disaster Preparedness,

The increase in unpredictable natural disasters events for a decade has led to put the disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disaster is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et.al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live in a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% take a preparation for natural disaster (Ripley, 2006). This lack of preparation takes place in different places and involves different hazards. In the case of hurricane, only half of all respondents living in Central Florida have hurricane evacuation plan in place (Kapucu, 2008). Another finding revealed that only 8 percent of all respondent have prepared a disaster supplies kit in home. Kenny (2009) found that most residents in South Florida, hurricane-prone area, failed to take preparatory measures such as securing bottled water and food when storms strike. In another place and a different hazard, the result of study demonstrated the same finding. Paton and Prior (2008) studied bushfire preparation in Tasmania show that most respondents had undertaken some form of protective behavior only minimal and limited. They started to prepare after they were warned by disaster emergency services. According to Nakagawa (2009) people are reluctant to take action by spending money and time because they perceived some disasters have low probability. Earthquake, for instance, due to difficult to predict, in many cases people tend to neglect preparing earthquake risk. In a survey in 1974, Kenny (2009) concluded that only 12 percent respondents in California households have taken action measure preventing earthquakes. However, Nakagawa (2009) also noted that although people living in frequently natural disaster such as floods and typhoons, they do not take a proper action. For example, only 10% people had evacuated to safer locations when the Tokage typhoon hit Japan, in Toyooka city. Some argued that level of preparedness is most likely affected by direct experience of the disaster (Tierney, 1993).

Transnational Social Movements, International Nongovernmental Organizat

Transnational Social Movements, International Nongovernmental Organizations and Our State-centric World The 1999 Seattle protests brought the apparent proliferation of anti-globalization grassroot sociopolitical movements into the limelight of the world stage. Transnational social movements (TSMs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), as well as the loose transnational activist networks (TANs) that contain them—all these came to be seen as an angry and no less potent backlash that's directed at the powerful states and increasingly towering economic IGOs such as the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. In the field of international relations, some regard this as a prophetic watershed event that signals the weakening and perhaps even collapsing of the state-centric system of international relations, while many others insist that Seattle is but an eventually insignificant episode in the book of globalization and state power, as evidenced by the Doha success. This paper attempts to address two questions that are at the heart of this dispute: Do TSMs and INGOs have any real power in today's international political arena against the traditional view of state dominance? And, if the answer to the previous question is yes, then does such a change merit a fundamental revision of the state-centric model of international relations? My answer to these two questions is threefold: First, I assert that TSMs and INGOs can and have posed substantial normative challenges to state hegemony, most commonly the notion that the state enjoys a monopoly on representation of its citizens and their interests. Furthermore, TSMs and INGOs that employ the use of violence (particularly terrorism) breach the conventional notion that states... ...ed Arjomand, Said Amir. â€Å"Iran's Islamic Revolution in Comparative Perspective.† World Politics, Volume 38, Issue 3 (1986. 4), 383-414. Griffith, William E. â€Å"The Revial of Islamic Fundamentalism: the Case of Iran.† International Security. Volume 4, Issue 1, 1979, 132-138. Khashan, Hilal. â€Å"The New World Order and the Tempo of Militant Islam.† British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Volume 24, Issue 1 (1997. 5), 5-24. O'Brien, Robert, et al. Contesting Glboal Governance. Cambridge, 2000. G. Hossein. â€Å"Legitimacy, Religion, and Nationalism in the Middle East.† The American Political Science Review, Volume 84, Issue 1 (1990. 3), 69-91. Tarrow, Sidney. â€Å"Transnational Politics: Contention and Institutions in International Politics.† Annual Review of Political Science, 2001.4. Weaver, Mary Ann. â€Å"The Real Bin Laden.† The New Yorker, January 24, 2000.

Sample work

A postal scale for products weighing up to 2 pounds. Because of the specific words used that sentence they would have to use a direct distribution method. B. Children's toys: (1) radio controlled model airplanes costing $80 or more, (2) small rubber balls. Usually with children toys you are able to use an indirect distribute channel, because you can house all of the supplies for the distribution of those toys. The small rubber balls would be a prime example of this because you would need a facility to house these items for retail.But in the case of the radio controlled airplane hat is a specific item were there would be no need for storage of this item due to not knowing the quantities needed for sale. This would benefit to be a direct distribution method. C. Heavy-duty, rechargeable, battery-powered nut tightness for factory production lines. This would have be an item that would need a storage facility near that production plant; because until they are established and understanding of the demand of this product you would need to know if to stock up on this certain item or is it going to be a product that will sit shelved for a while.D. Fiberglass fabric used in making roofing shingles. Because fiberglass is a product that needs to be handled with care it could become damaged during the shipping and storing of the product even before it would reach the consumer. Since this valued product is need to make the final end product this would have to be a direct method of distribution for the fiberglass. Chapter 12 Question 6: In my community I see with the retailers is also seen across the nation, because the one problem that is developed in these retail stores is taught at all of them.They all use the same approach and utilize the same concept at every store whether it be on the east coast or the west coast. This method is good to cover all spectrums but what now people are doing is seeking out those online retailers to get the specifics for their areas since the r etailers are not adapting their surroundings. I believe that if the retailers want to survive even the cyber wave that is going on now they need to adapt their policy, maybe even reach out their approach into the online markets move With the times and stop trying to fix a broken record.New retailers are developing every day and are becoming just as or more successful than the tradition stores because the online retailers saw the need coming and established the eating for them. Chapter 13 Question 2 The integrated marketing concept will ensure that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together; you would need to use all the promotional tools by integrating them all together and making sure they are working are their peak performance.With a good firm that is in their promotional blend there can be certain aspects of the marketing and the selling that can fall through the cracks. So with the consistent and complete use of the communications even during those pr omotional blends there isn't any form of communications that is going unheard or countryside. All the forms of the sales and marketing efforts need to work at their peak performance also to make the thriving sales. Marketing Strategy The HAVE marketing strategy for the veterinary services is used within a 10 mile radius of Wellington.The campaigning objective is to get the information out there about their products and business. There biggest strategy for promotion is the lighted sign right outside their business. The HAVE will have giveaways of smaller items with the company logos on it (I. E. Magnets, business, leashes, bandannas and food bowls). They had even gone as far as appearing the annually parade held in December where everyone in the community was able to see their promotional campaign of the business.

Politics, Presidents and War Essay

War is inevitably an exercise in politics. In the best case the political process provides checks and balances that can contain or even prevent war. In other cases the political process itself is the primary driving force towards war. These two realities are not mutually exclusive. The Persian Gulf War of 1991 provided evidence of both political realities. Politics influenced the nature and the course of the war, and vice versa. In the context of what has happened since 1991 the Persian Gulf War, also known as â€Å"Desert Shield† and â€Å"Desert Storm†, is a fading memory. The political importance of this war cannot be underestimated, however. The socio-political impact of this war would come to fruition within a decade. This impact is part of a continual process of reflexivity between war and politics, particularly in the United States. For better or worse, the Presidency itself was altered by this war and the associated political processes. Storm Clouds The Persian Gulf War of 1991 had immediate causes. When Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi military invaded oil-rich Kuwait a crisis was created. The United States and a coalition of mostly Western nations were compelled to respond. Kuwait was a strategically important ally in the Middle East. If the invasion was allowed to stand, Saddam Hussein would be in position to launch an attack against Saudi Arabia, another important ally. After working several months for a resolution within the United Nations, the coalition prepared to launch an attack. The agreed upon mission was limited to ousting Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Going any further would require much more discussion. For Iraq, the invasion of Kuwait came on the heels of a failed war with Iran in which millions were killed. War debt was draining Iraq’s coffers. There was also a political angle for Iraq. Saddam sensed that he could not appear to be weak in any way. Using revisionist history, Saddam claimed that the Iran war had somehow been a success. That message was driven home as Saddam erected even more palaces and monuments dedicated to himself. The invasion of Kuwait was a calculated political gamble. The United States and other nations had backed him in the war with Iran. He believed, at worst, that those nations would be ambivalent to his takeover of tiny Kuwait. Meanwhile he peppered the Iraqi media with trumped up charges against Kuwait. Even if he was eventually forced out, Saddam believed that he could plunder the wealth of Kuwait before retreating. With a demoralized military after the Iran war, Saddam also felt he had to keep his army occupied so they could not conspire against him. He tried to put them in a easily winnable situation in an effort to solidify his own power. Knowing how Saddam operated, the United States made certain not to underestimate him. Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R. -Del. ) Said that â€Å"He is as unpredictable as a desert storm and as deceptive as a mirage† (Mitchell, 1991). When Saddam failed to comply with repeated United Nations resolutions, the coalition mobilized itself for war. As in any war, the crisis that caused the start of the war was simply the culmination of many prior socio-political movements and actions. With that in mind the American administration started a concerted political effort to build internal support for the war. The threat was maximized for public consumption. â€Å"President Bush declared that what is at stake is a New World Order† (Abdulla, 1994). Having successfully swayed public opinion, the administration now had to successfully fight the war in both military and political terms. Politics and Policy In Washington politics the terms â€Å"Vietnam War† and â€Å"quagmire† are toxic. Any association with them can mean the quick death of a policy or military initiative. In the lead-up to the war politicians capitalized upon the Vietnam syndrome from a number of angles. Opponents of any military intervention used the phrase â€Å"potential quagmire† numerous times in their arguments. Once it was apparent that a war was going to take place, even supporters used this term in an attempt to shape the type of war it would be. In other words the political situation required that the coalition go in with overwhelming force, but minimize civilian casualties at the same time. The administration knew it could not allow an extended guerilla conflict to emerge. The powerful triangle of war, television and politics had defeated the Johnson administration during Vietnam. This time, the administration was prepared to take extreme measures to prevent such a situation from happening again. Meanwhile, coalition leaders toed a tricky political line in maintaining world support for the action. Since before the war had even begun the issue of oil had prompted loud voices of disapproval about the impending war. Opponents claimed that the U. S. led coalition was not so concerned with Saddam’s violation of International Law or with the freedom of a formerly sovereign nation. Instead, they claimed that the primary reason for the upcoming attack was to secure fuel for the oil-thirsty Western nations. Oil was a vital strategic concern. Access to cheap oil was a pillar underneath the American economy. Two of the most reliable pre-war suppliers were Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In defending these nations, the U. S. hoped not only to secure its oil supply but also force a split between the nations in the OPEC oil cartel. In the political arena, though, this by itself was not a justifiable reason to fight a war. This sentiment was particularly true among the European nations in the coalition. Holding this coalition together was critical to the overall effort. From the perspective of the administration, the war could not be seen as â€Å"trading lives for oil†. That would reinforce world perceptions of the United States as a greedy empire. Eventually the eroding effect of public opinion would have weakened the tenuous coalition. In fact, this had been part of Saddam’s political strategy from the outset. â€Å"Saddam Hussein apparently counted on American public pressure to prevent a committment of troops to defend either Kuwait or Saudi Arabia† (Carlisle, 2003). Vietnam might be thought of as a constrained war, not in terms of casualties but in terms of the lengths the U. S. was willing to go to ensure victory. The Gulf War, in contrast, was a â€Å"careful† war. Every attempt was made to minimize both coalition casualties and the public reporting on those casualties. The military also went out of its way to project the image that Iraqi civilians were not targets. Reports began to surface about large numbers of Iraqi casualties, but they were largely squelched by the constant presentation of surgical strikes on the enemy. For his part Saddam tried to play up images of apparently innocent Iraqi casualties. American officials admit, in hindsight, that Saddam played the political game well. After all â€Å"Saddam is a politician not a soldier† (Dunnigan, 1992). The Outcomes Militarily, the Gulf War at first appeared to be as close to flawless as is possible. The Iraqi military was swept out of Kuwait in a matter of weeks. The military had taken reporters into their ranks while still tightly controlling the flow of information. Images of deadly accurate smart bomb deployments and successful interception of Iraqi SCUD’s by American Patriot missiles permeated the nightly news. President Bush’s approval ratings skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Politically the effort was less successful. According to U. S. News & World Report: â€Å"But inasmuch as victory suggests the decisive defeat of an opponent, there was none. This triumph without victory was perhaps the most striking irony of the entire conflict† (1993). The U. S. had hoped that Saddam would be overthrown in the process, but was unable to make the case that it should be done by the coalition. When parts of the country revolted against Saddam, the lack of coalition help allowed Saddam to crush them brutally. At the time, the outcome seemed acceptable. According to R. W. Apple, Jr. : â€Å"they appear to have done just enough to make it unlikely that a second Persian Gulf war will erupt any time soon† (1991). In hindsight it is apparent that this set the stage for another Gulf War. Ten years later, the U. S. and a smaller coalition of nations launched an attack with the expressed purpose of overthrowing Saddam. The Presidency The Gulf War of 1991 was a watershed moment in the history of the Presidency of the United States. The War Powers Act theoretically reserved the right to make war to the U. S. Congress. An increasingly long line of Presidents have resisted this notion, finding loopholes in order to â€Å"defend American interests†. The Gulf War was unique in that the President undertook a sustained effort to marshal international support before even gaining domestic support. Critics charge that Bush was trying to â€Å"circumvent Congress by seeking United Nations approval† (U. S. News & World Report, 1993). There was dissent in the Congress to the asserting of political power by the President. Many felt that the issue was not thoroughly debated. George Mitchell (D. -ME) wrote that: In effect the President, overnight, with no consultation and no public debate, changed American policy from being part of a collective effort to enforce diplomatic sanctions into a predominantly American effort, relying upon the use of American military force. (Mitchell, 1991) Nevertheless, this would become the template for future Presidents wishing to undertake military action. A formal declaration of war, as they saw it, was unnecessary. As the Commander-in Chief the President is charged with defending American interests. A further asserting of Presidential power was the perceived â€Å"shackling of the press† (U. S. News & World Report, 1993). For the first time, a full-scale effort to control the modern, multimedia press was undertaken. The â€Å"in the National interest† argument was used to full effect. From this perspective the administration could paint uncooperative media as unpatriotic or untrustworthy. Conclusion In Vietnam, television had shown Americans the realities of modern warfare. Political ramifications soon followed. In the Gulf War of 1991, the conflict was, in fact, planned from a political and media perspective. The war marked an increase in the assertion of Presidential power. It also marked an increase in the ability of that branch to use the media, public opinion and internationalism to increase that power. It was a political evolution that has now become commonplace. Was the Persian Gulf War of 1991 a success? Militarily, it was. The military carried out its proscribed mission with remarkable efficiency and media savvy. In terms of international politics, it merely preserved the status quo while not resolving any underlying problems. In terms of domestic politics it allowed for an increase in Presidential power while setting the template for future military conflicts in successive administrations. The template worked efficiently for a while, but by the end of the second Bush’s administration the political pendulum was swinging back toward Congress and more hesitancy in carrying out large-scale military actions. Works Cited Abdulla, Abdulkhaleq. â€Å"Gulf War: the socio-political background. † Arab Studies Quarterly. 16. 3 (1994). Apple, R. W. Jr. â€Å"After the War: Politics: Another Gulf War? † The New York Times. 10 Mar. 1991: B01. Carlisle, Rodney P. Persian Gulf War. New York: Facts on File, 2003. Dunnigan, James E. & Bay, Austin. From Shield to Storm. New York: Morrow & Co. , 1992. Mitchell, George. â€Å"Confrontation in the Gulf: War and Peace: A sampling from the debate on Capitol Hill. † The New York Times. 11 Jan. 1991: A03. U. S. News and World Report. Triumph Without Victory: the unreported history of the Persian Gulf War. New York: Random House, 1993.