Business Information Analysis Structures - Policies and Needs

Question: Discuss about the Business Information Analysis for Structures, Policies And Needs ? Answer: Introduction This report is based on the primary aspects of business information analysis. The paper focuses on assessing the practices regarding defining the needs for change, analyzing the corresponding values to the stakeholders of the organizational business and ultimately recommends appropriate solutions. The fundamental purpose of performing the business analysis activities is to apply a particular set of tools and technologies for understanding the required changes in the structure and policies for the business to be able to recommend the proper solutions so that the organization achieves its objectives successfully. The report includes multiple statements based on the data collection process carried out for yielding valuable information from the respondents. The total number of respondents is 109. The student respondents were asked questions typically about the common concerns and differentquestions about business information analysis and relevant factors that assists in uncovering the aspects and finally achieving the goals and objectives of the study. Statements Majority of the students need improvements in the quality of teaching, social events and class sizes of the University Rationale It is true as the major portion of the students including both male and female of age group between 18 to 41 studies accounting finance and business in the University. As the majority of students are studying in the mentioned subjects so there is a need for larger classes in the University.Majority of students studying Accounting and Finance and Business with Accounting who took the business information analysis test found the urge to participate and experience different social events to enhance teamwork capabilities, introduce recreational activities and establish a sporting spirit inside the University. Analysis The responses to questions range from 1 (Highly disagree) and 5 (Highly agree). It is assumed that a student suggesting 4 or 5 highly agrees to the need of improvements in the facilities of the University.With the large number of students of business, finance and accounting studies, it is important that the Universityfocus on improving the class sizes so that more number of students can be accommodatedeasily inside the classrooms. Apart from that, the quality of teaching was another common factor mentioned by the students. Other factors of concern were improvement of the various facilities, introducing more number of social events in the Universitys educational environment. The majority of the student respondents were male between the ages of 18 to 32 and undertaking business with accounting and finance studies. When asked about their likeliness of the test on business information analysis, most of the responses were either neutral or quite likely. Conclusion and Recommendations The University has the highest number of students studying accounting, finance, and business with accounting, and therefore, most students felt the need of larger class sizes so that greater number of students is accommodated easily. Apart from that, introducing social events in a more frequent basis will help creating a fun environment that will motivate the students even more. It essentially helps boost the students energies and establish productive ways for refreshments and sporting events. Furthermore, it can facilitate the students to improve and increase their level of interaction with each other providing them with enhanced capabilities to collaborate and coordinate with their team members. Majority of the students avail University bus and public transportation to reach the University Rationale This statement is true as out of the total 109 students, 65 of the students avail the public transport or University bus to reach the University for their Study.Another significant portion of the Universitygoers takes a walk or has a Car. Besides, those who stay nearby usually walk to the University and others use cars to reach their University. Most of the students attend the University lectures and workshops four or five days a week. The frequency of students visiting the library is also moderately high. About four or five students visit the library every day. Others moderately visit the library for study purposes. To be more precise, students usually go to the library, at a minimum three to four times. Two of the student respondents specifically replied with zero times that they visit the library. Analysis The various preferences for transportation was gathered form the students to analyze their choices to reach the University.From the received results and outcomes of the information collection process, it is evident that students who live in nearby places to the University prefer walking to the University rather than taking the public transports or even the University bus. On the contrary, among the students who usually stay at faraway or distant locations from the University, mostly choose the public transport to come to the University. Besides, a significant portion of the student population also avail their personal cars to attend the University lectures. Conclusion and Recommendations From the above outcomes and analysis of the results, it can be said that the students mostly prefer the public transport to go to University. However, students living quite closer to the University prefer to come to the University on foot. Apart from that, most of the students visit the library almost four to five days a week. Around five students daily go to the library to study. Therefore, it can be concluded that the University library occupies a major contribution towards the educational improvements of the students. The students were also asked about the frequency in which they attend the different workshops and lectures held at the University premises. The analysis from the outcomes conveys that a significant portion of the respondents population attends the lectures and workshops for four days a week. A fewer number of students replied with three days and a minority answered with five days. On asking them about the time that it takes to reach the University, majority of studen ts responded with around 5 to 10 minutes by walking; whereas, those availing public transport usually come from distant locations, thereby needs much more time to reach the destination. Most of the students are familiar with social media and frequently visits University cafe or restaurants Rationale The visit to University restaurants or cafes are somewhat related to social media as majority of the students like to spend their time in social media while sitting in the University cafes.This statement is true asmajority of the students regularly use the social networking and social media services for more than 20 to 30 hours per week sitting in the University cafes or restaurants. The responses include two females of 19years of age pursuing business and accounting course who spend around 80 hours in the social media and social networking sites. Most of the students speak about three languages, a significant portion speaks about two to five languages, one 24 years old female speaks a total of seven languages studies accounting and finance from theUniversity. Analysis The response to the questions regarding how often the students visit to University cafe or restaurants range from 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Most likely).According to the collected responses received from the students of the University, it can be said that the majority of the population moderately visits the University cafeteria and restaurants (about three times in a week). On the other hand, another significant portion of the University goers eats from the University cafes about twice a week. An ignorable or minor number of people almost daily avail the food services from the University restaurants and cafes. During the term time, about 67 students out of the total 109 respondents stay at home. Another group of students uses either the University accommodation services or private accommodation. Conclusion and Recommendations By analyzing the outcomes and results received from the respondents, it can be concluded that the majority of students stay at home during the term time. Others avail the University accommodation or the private accommodation during the term times. The University restaurants and cafes do moderate business during the weekdays. It can be beneficial for the University business if they improve the products and services of the University caf and restaurant, introduce new attractive food menu items and establish faster and efficient facilities and services. Apparently, majority of the student groups speak multiple languages and spends significant amount of time in the online social media and networking sites. The major number of students are satisfied with their course Rationale It is true as majority of the students responded to be moderately satisfied with their courses. Many of the students are more likely to use the services of the University bus to reach their destination. Lot of the student respondents spends quite significant amount of money on average at lunch. The highest number of students has English as their first language. Apart from that, many other students have first languages such as French, Malayalam, Nepalese, Urdu, Farsi, Somali, Hindi, Kurdish, Norwegian, Tamil, Bengali, Albanian, Italian, and so on. Analysis The response of the questions range from 1 (Not Satisfied) to 5 (Highly Satisfied). It is assumed that a student responding with 4 or 5 is highly satisfied with their course. The major portion of the students presented 3 that means they are moderately satisfied with their courses and thus this statement can be accepted.The students mostly come from an English background that is moderately satisfied with the present courses that are taught in the University. However, from the above fact a recommendation can be drawn for the University to improve or restructure their course content so that more number of students find greater interest in studying the different courses offered in the University. Conclusion and Recommendations From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the majority of students have English as their first language and suggest further enhancements in the course structure of the University as well as they need improved quality of teaching, larger sizes of the classrooms. The students mostly eat food from the canteen, star bucks at the library or fromsubway. Mostly the students prefer business information analysis as their module Rationale It is believed to be true as majority of the students choose Business Information Analysis as their choice of course to study.The University has different types of activities that are performed in the induction week. In this scenario, more number of socializing events can be introduced that will essentially facilitate the University to establish higher level of interaction that in turn increases the amount of coordination, collaboration and cooperation among the students. Furthermore, it is also important to emphasize on the necessity of acquiring adequate skills and competence in team building and development. Analysis The information was gathered on the choice of courses from the students where most responded with Business Information analysis as their module.The students mostly responded with Business Information Analysis as their favorite module. On asking about their part time job, an equal portion of the population of the student respondents either have or do not have a part time job. Majority of the student respondents have already thought about their future career options. Conclusion and Recommendations The Kingston University has multiple choices of activities for the induction week. Some of the example activities for the induction week are socializing events and activities, workshops, team building, lectures, campus tours and so on. Majority of the students have chosen Kingston Universityas their first choice Rationale It is assumedas true because the majority of the students presented Kingston University as their first choice of preference for their study.The Kingston University was the first choice for the majority of the students who participated in the questionnaire survey. Apart from that, a significant portion of the student population also voted for the clearance choice. There are multiple types of societies that the student can be part of such as business or entrepreneur, sports or hobbies, cultural or faith, volunteering, and so on. Analysis This statement can be accepted as out of 109 respondents 49 students responded Kingston University as their first choice. From the collected information, it can be concluded that the most preferred and most favorite social networking and social media app is WhatsApp. On the contrary, Skype is the least used and least favorite social media app as voted by the student respondents. Conclusion and Recommendations From the above data collection and data analysis process, it is evident that most of the students use WhatsApp as their common mode for socializing. Apart from that, various students with significantly diverse cultural and lingual backgrounds have naturally selected Kingston University as their first choice. The majority of students (around 33 students out of the total 109) respondents chose the Kingston Universitys canteen food store for having their lunch; whereas, library Starbucks is also a popular choice among the students. Most students have experience in using both Excel and Statistics Rationale This is true as the students have essentially learnt to use the statistics tools and method as well as operated with the Excel functions both in the schools and throughout their academic careers so far. Analysis 42 out of the total 109 student respondents replied that they have used both statistics and excel in their academic career. Therefore, it can be said that majority of the students are adequately familiar and experienced with using statistics and excel tools. Conclusion and Recommendations Therefore, students of Kinston University are adequately familiar with the tools for data analysis for research and study related purposes. Most students want to go for UK employment after completing their graduation Rationale The students are most likely to obtain the necessary education, required skill set in their academic careers spent in schooling and university. The graduation course helps them in gaining adequate knowledge to be able to start a challenging professional career. Analysis From the 109 student respondents of Kingston University, 55 students responded that they want to go for UK employment. From the rest of students (54) about 23 respondents said they want to for a career that combines study and employment together. Conclusion and Recommendations Therefore, it is obvious that students are mostly inclined towards engaging themselves in employment after successfully passing out their graduation degrees. Majority of students are from United Kingdom Rationale The Kingston University is located in the southwest of London in the United Kingdom. Therefore, it is most likely that the majority of students belong to UK itself. Analysis From a total 109 student respondents, 81 of them are from United Kingdom. Apart from that, 16 students are Non-UK and 12 of them are Non-EU. Conclusion and Recommendations It can be concluded that the University mostly attracts its student base from the country itself. Apart from that, there are significant portions of population who belong outside of UK. Majority of students use WhatsApp and Instagram as their common social media app Rationale WhatsApp can be considered as the most common form of social media use as it facilitates an efficient and easy to use platform for instant messaging that helps the students keep in touch and stay up-to-date. Analysis 34 students out 109 use WhatsApp, whereas 21 of them use Instagram. Rest of them use mostly use Facebook. Apart from them, there are users of Twitter, Skype, Snapchat and many more. Conclusion and Recommendations Students find WhatsApp most feasible and efficient to use as a form of social media app due to is easy to use and efficient features involving easy and instant sharing of messages, videos, or photos. Results Figure 1: University degree Figure 2: Mode of transportation Figure 3: Place to live during term time Figure 4: Favorite Module Figure 5: Favorite Kingston Hill Campus Caf Figure 6: Preferred activity in induction week Figure 7: Preferred activity in induction week Figure 8: Type of choice for Kingston University Figure 9: Favorite social media app Findings The overall data analysis process has been performed to yield some useful information that helps in determining the importance of business information analysis. Each of the statement included in this paper concentrates on the preliminary aspects of studying in University and the associated factors.The analysis establishes some ground rules and enables suggesting some recommendations to improve the Universitys business system. The University infrastructure, for example, can be improved to accommodate the growing number of students. In addition to that, the University restaurants and cafeterias can do better business if variety of high quality food are introduced in the menu. Students mostly mentioned the factors such as quality of teaching, number of social events and size of classrooms as the weak points and in need of improvements. It can further be concluded that students who live closer to the University mostly prefer to walk on foot to reach their University. On the other hand, the students who stay at some distant places require using either public transportation services or University bus to reach the University. Apart from that, the students mostly want to pursue a career and at the same time continue with the higher studies.In addition, very little number of students wants to further study only. Furthermore, almost all of the participant students have thought about their future career options and a significant portion of them already have a part time job. On asking about the workload involved in the part time job, students mostly responded neutrally. However, the degree of comfort or adjustment with the University was either moderate or low for most of the participants. Conclusion The report discusses about the business information analysis and understanding the business Structures, Policies And Needs for change to be able to recommend proper strategies and solutions. The structure of the report consisted of the main statements obtained from the data collection and questionnaire survey conducted with specific objectives. The study included a total 109 student respondents in the question answer session. The data analysis process is carried out in detail in this paper. In addition to that, it includes a comprehensive visual representation of the primary or fundamental factors yielded from the data collection and data analysis process that has been performed with the help of the data formulated in the excel sheet. Lastly, the findings section represents a brief overview of the entire study and analysis performed on the topic of business information analysis involving the University students as participants in the research.

Assess the Contribution of Functionalism free essay sample

Functionalists view the family as an institution that is present in society to maintain social order and stability. Functionalist’s also view society’s functions very similar to that of the human body. The Brain in the human body is the organ that controls all other functions. In Society the Government is the main control over the country as a whole. The heart of the body is what keeps the body alive. In society the family is the heart. Overall if the family and heart is taken out, the body and society would collapse and die. Although both of these have necessary back-up systems, the society has the Army, Police services and Laws if the government should collapse. And the body has immune systems and antibodies to fight of any infections and diseases. Family is seen to be the key to society because it means reproduction to keep the society functioning. We will write a custom essay sample on Assess the Contribution of Functionalism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to Functionalists the only family that would mean perfect functioning of society is the Nuclear Family. The nuclear family consists of a working man, a housewife, and children. The man is the breadwinner, he earns the money that the wife uses to buy food and necessities to help keep the family together. Functionalists views of this concept believe that heterosexual couples, adopted children and divorces do not fit into the smooth running of society. Murdock (1949) states that ‘The nuclear family is a biological necessity because it is universal’. What he means by this is that the main reason that reproduction of children is a necessity to society is because it is world-wide, it is happening everywhere and it can be found in all societies. Murdock also says that there is 4 key points. Stable Satisfaction of the sex drive (Less promiscuity), reproduction, primary socialisation and economic needs. Parsons extends on Murdock’s theory with the warm bath theory. This theory is based on how the family is seen to be a stress reliever. The man arrives home from work and is expected to be presented with a meal cooked by the wife. The family home is supposed to be a relaxed stress free environment for the man to wind down after a long day at work. Parsons also developed the functional fit theory which means a given family will fit the needs of the society in which it is found, for example, the extended family is only usually found in the pre-industrialisation period (according to Functionalists). And the Nuclear Family happens in the industrialisation period. The Nuclear Family is seen to be geographically mobile, higher wages also means socially mobile, and they are able to move up the social ladder. Parsons also adds to his theory the loss of functions; stabilising adult personalities and primary socialisation.

The One Thing Needful Essays

The One Thing Needful Essays The One Thing Needful Paper The One Thing Needful Paper Hard Times is a poignant novel, published in 1854, by Charles Dickens and set in the bleak and dreary workhouses of the Victorian era. Hard Times is in many ways an autobiographical novel. It is based on Dickens own experiences as part of a poor family whose father was in prison for debt. All of the family except for Charles were sent to a workhouse while he worked in a blacking factory in appalling conditions. Although his was a story of rags to riches following the publications of his bestselling novels, he continued to voice his concerns for social problems in Victorian British society. Hard Times is one of the several novels that explore the lives of the poor and working class, who, despite making up the majority of the population, had little or no say in improving their lives. As Britain wound through the Industrial Revolution, producing machinery that had no need for manual labour resulted in hundreds of thousands migrating to the cities in the hope of finding a job- a source of livelihood. These migrants usually ended up in the workhouses, again in manual labour and almost always living in abject poverty. Their children ended up going to school with an education described in detail in the first few chapters of Hard Times. In brief, the children were forced to learn facts by rote the only principle that the Utilitarian masters considered of value. It was their belief that for children who were destined to live lives of misery in poverty, the only thing useful for them would be to become efficient workers. As a result, the childrens education followed the same monotonous, formal and mechanical process like their work in the factories. In Hard Times, Dickens criticises the educational system fiercely, and illustrates his dislike through a wide range of linguistic and other devices. The first chapter named The One Thing Needful has little narrative content but it paints an intense dramatic picture of the harsh teaching system and the mechanical figure of the Speaker who is more of an object than a person. Hard Times is divided into three parts; the first part is named Sowing, the second Reaping and the third Garnering. This extended metaphor is used by Dickens to introduce the sowing of facts as seeds into the fertile innocent minds of the children even though the hard facts seem to yield nothing. However, the Speaker is forceful as he insists on, plant nothing else, and root out everything else, to mould the childrens minds. The image of rooting out illustrates a forceful and painful action in the readers mind. Despite the motif of nature and plants, Dickens paints an austere and insensitive atmosphere as the scene comes into view: a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a schoolroom. The visual imagery emphasizes Dickens belief that no creativity could flourish in a place so dreary. In this scene the Speaker is instructing the school teacher how to teach which adds to the irony and confusion. The description of the Speaker, whose character is summed up as, inflexible, dry and dictatorial, verges on the comical as Dickens uses repetition to emphasize the rigidity (squareness) of the Speaker and therefore the educational system. As the Speaker is depersonalized, the objects around him become animate including his tie, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp. From sowing to strangling, hard times are literally foreshadowed ahead through this unsuitable education. Moreover, Dickens uses exaggeration to the point of making his characters into caricatures. The emphasis was helped by the speakers square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall. The Speaker, to the reader looks more like a dull piece of architecture than a person. In fact, the way in which Dickens makes caricatures is an argument in itself against the facts of Utilitarianism.

Population Growth in Earlymodern Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Population Growth in Earlymodern Europe - Essay Example "Migration to urban centres was a long-term trend over the century; it was also a short-term trend during periods of famine, and it resulted in a disproportionate growth in the numbers of the urban poor," Bonny (1991, p.273). Another obvious cause was the tight-knitted family of those days which gave enough security, care, medical included, and the right atmosphere for the children to survive. "Family was at the foundation of private life. In western Europe, the nuclear family was most common. In eastern Europe, the nuclear family was also prevalent, although extended households were more common than in the west. Kinship ties bound the family to other groups within rural communities" http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_6/0,10852,2350097-,00.html Even though here the discussion is between mortality rate and fertility, there were many other contributing factors to the population. Change in land-labour ratio and hence, in real wages and land rents, affected the economy and the population growth levels. Differences in marriage patterns, modernization of rural societies, loss of communal and private properties, alternation in the social hierarchies, empire building and travels to distant lands resulting in high economic development, scientific discoveries and advancement in medical science, were all such contributors to the population. Representative government, literacy, technology, development are all might not be major factors; still they contributed. It is important to know that population could work in two ways. "Population can function in two ways to explain social and economic change in early Modern Europe. First, changes in the land-labour ratio can explain changes in real... Early modern period is approximately from 1500 to 1750 that includes rise of colonies, agrarian revolution, industrial revolution, initiation of transportation, communications and mobility, and reformation. This was a period of transition and even the people who did not migrate, eventually did well.This was the time when there was a booming increase in the population of Europe. The increase was proportionately larger compared to the increase in the rest of the world and one particular cause of this sudden demographic expansion is difficult to pinpoint. According to Musgrave, countries like Italy, Spain and Southern France developed higher strata of political, economic and social existence, which eventually ensured a much higher standard of living, even better than that could have been offered by the industrial revolution. This development eventually established â€Å"Europe’s place in the world.† In spite of the disastrous Thirty Years' War, this period, comparatively e njoyed a better peace and the earlier crisis-ridden days were forgotten fast enough to give place to a period of growth, arts, creativity and intellectuality. "Although some areas took as much as a generation to recover pre-crisis levels, many managed to do so with surprising speed. Fertility rates have improved with better standard of living and relaxed way of life. It is necessary to conclude that there were many factors that led to an unprecedented population growth during this period.

The Feasibility of Virtual Fitting Room in the Fashion Industry Literature review

The Feasibility of Virtual Fitting Room in the Fashion Industry - Literature review Example The essay "The Feasibility of Virtual Fitting Room in the Fashion Industry" explores Virtual Fitting Room, its Feasibility in the fashion. Technology, in the modern day business, transcends the use of online retail stores towards the use of mobile applications and sophisticated software. It is arguable that the virtual fitting room application is highly feasible in contemporary fashion business. The advent of fashion stores helped transform shopping, as customers would acquire access to products without visiting physical stores. These stores provide applications for carts and financial transaction. Online shopping has recently developed thereby threatening to replace traditional shopping in real shops. Some shoppers, however, still prefer real sopping to online shopping for notable cited reasons. To begin with, there are serious security concerns, as fraudsters establish sites for conning consumers. In addition, there are grave technical difficulties that some customers face while ma king transactions. For instance, remembering passwords is often one of the major technical issues that customers face. In spite of the online shopping development in fashion marketing, the issue of size and measure remains a great hindrance to online shopping. It is essential to highlight that size and fit are rarely standard across all brands. This leads to a significant amount of product returns thereby hindering sales and creating extra costs for retailers. The use of augmented reality directly solves this problem.

Hearing Loss from Mobile Phone Use

Hearing Loss from Mobile Phone Use Discussion Mobile phones have become a part of modern life style. There has been rapid boom in the number of mobile phones in the recent decade. This rapid worldwide expansion of mobile telephones raises questions regarding possible effects of the emitted radiofrequencies on the health of the consumers. The electromagnetic waves can affect the human health ranging from increase the blood pressure, cause memory loss and induce migraines, hearing impairment to even cancer can also occur. Of all the anatomical structures, the ear is in the closest proximity to the mobile phones, hence most potential organ system to be damaged by the electromagnetic waves emitted from the mobile phones. Pure tone audiometry is a key hearing test for assessment of hearing threshold of the individual. It determines the degree of hearing loss and also type and configuration of hearing loss. Pure tone audiometry uses both air and bone conduction audiometry, the type of loss can be identified by the air-bone gap. In our study, while comparing the results of pure tone audiometry in controls (n=60) and total cases (n=60), it was found that in control group 51 individuals had normal hearing threshold, 08 had mild hearing loss and 01 had moderate hearing loss. Of the total cases, 39 had normal hearing threshold, 19 had mild hearing loss and 2 had moderate hearing loss. No individual in the cases or control group had severe or profound hearing loss. Chi square test with yates correction was applied for statistical analysis of the data, and difference was found to be significant (p value0.05). While comparing the results of distorted product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) in controls (n=60) and cases Group A (n=30), it was found that in cases group A, 19 individuals passed the test and 11 individuals failed the DPOAE test. Chi square test was applied for statistical analysis of the data, and results were not found to be significant (p value>0.05). On comparing the results of distorted product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) in controls (n=60) and cases Group B (n=30), it was found that in cases group B, 15 individuals passed the test and 15 individuals failed the DPOAE test. Chi square test was applied for statistical analysis of the data, and results were not found to be significant (p value>0.05). The European project EMFnEAR, was done to assess the harmful effects of short term electromagnetic waves emitted from UTMS mobile device over the outer hair cells. Functioning of outer hair cells was assessed by DPOAE. They concluded that short term exposure to EMFs of mobile phones does not cause measurable immediate effects on the human auditory system. Renzo R et al also conducted a similar study to assess the short term effects of mobile phone use on ear, assessed by transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and brainstem evoked audiometry response. The study parameters were similar to our study but they studied the short term effects of EMFs in contrast to our study where we tried to find the effects of long term exposure. They did not find any change in the auditory functions, before and after the short exposure to electromagnetic radiations. Ozturan et al assessed transient evoked OAE and distorted product OAE in adults exposed to 10 min telephone call using GSM mobile phones. The tests were done before and after the exposure. They concluded that otoacoustic emissions did not change after the electromagnetic waves exposure. Bamiou DE et al also reported that there was no change in the transient evoked otoacoustic emission, due to electromagnetic waves of mobile phones. S Bhagat et al, studied the effects of chronic exposure to EMF emitted from mobile phone on inner ear by using distorted product otoacoustic emissions. Individuals using mobile phones for more than 4 years were studied. It was concluded that long-term and frequent exposure to EMFs from mobile phone does not cause damage to outer hair cells of cochlea. P. Karthikeyan et al did a study on hundred students who were mobile phone users. They were divided into two groups of more than and less than two hours of mobile usage. DPAOE was done and compared to controls. Significant change in DPOAE was seen in cases, more so in group with more than two hours of cell phone usage. Alsanosi AA et al did a study to assess the immediate consequences of 60 minutes exposure to mobile phones on hearing function by determining changes in distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and hearing threshold levels (HTLs). They concluded that sixty minutes of close exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by a mobile phone had an immediate effect on HTL assessed by pure-tone audiogram and inner ear (assessed by DPOAE) in young human subjects. While in our study, on comparing DPOAE, we did not find any significant difference between the total cases and controls. On comparing the each sub group of cases to controls, no statistically significant difference was noted. This is in concurrence with most of the studies done in India and abroad. Though, P. Karthikeyan and Alsanosi have shown different results from those observed in our study. Though a lot of research publications are available in favour of and against the results observed in our study, but in all these studies studied the effects of electromagnetic frequencies of mobile phones on functioning of outer hair cells, but no criteria was taken as standard for comparison as different duration (in years) of exposure, different hours per day of use, and acute effect v/s chronic effects. The major limitation of epidemiological studies addressing the health effects of mobile phone use is related to exposure assessment. Also, other factors were not taken in account like exposure to noise, which is known to cause damage to outer hair cells much before any change in pure tone audiometry is seen (Anjali Desai et al, 1999) (RJ Salvi ea at, 2000). So, with all these factors nothing can be said with much certainty. Further research is needed to establish the effect of EMF on outer hair cells. The present scientific evidences are insufficient to support the belief that there will be no ill effects on human health and the present safety standards are enough to protect users from ill effects, if any. This present situation of scientific uncertainty calls for the requirement of both precautionary measures and further research. Ill effects of mobile phone use on health might be of the field of interest for future research. We conclude from our study that: mobile telephones should be used for short periods only, only for essential purposes, and unnecessary long conversation over mobile phones should be avoided.

Ethics †Utilitarianism Essay

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that assesses an action as morally right and just if it produces the most amount of net happiness. There are two forms of utilitarianism: act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is the standard form, which considers all paths of the action that lead to immediate and long-term happiness, as well has the magnitude and how long the happiness will last. Furthermore, if all paths lead to the same amount of net happiness, each path would be just as morally right as the other. It also does not take into account the number of people it affects – it only considers the amount of happiness. To English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, happiness is pleasure and the absence of pain. He believed that all types of pleasure, if the in same amount, were also equal in quality. However, it is difficult to calculate an amount of happiness. Is the amount of happiness one receives from getting a promotion at McDonald’s the same as happiness one gets from graduating law school? So, John Stuart Mill, fellow philosopher and follower of Bentham’s utilitarian theory, believed that different pleasures have different values. To Mill, physical pleasures are valued less than pleasure that invigorate the mind. Thus, in the McDonald’s promotion and law school degree scenarios, Bentham would argue that they would each render the same amount of happiness, whereas Mill would argue that receiving a degree from law school would render more happiness because it would bring out more possibilities for a career and ultimately increase one’s well-being. In addition to bringing out the most happiness, the utilitarian theory also recognizes that all the possibilities of an action may not bring any net happiness. In these instances, the theory guides one to choose the action that would produce the least amount of unhappiness. There are two major criticisms utilitarian’s face. One is that no one can possibly know all immediate and future ramifications of an action and even if it were possible, it would take too much time in real-life scenarios to practice. A utilitarian would agree that no one can possibly know all consequences of a given situation while defending that the theory is used a guide to maximize happiness. A utilitarian would also note that since people generally know what happiness and one’s well-being consist of, it helps eliminate obvious wrong choices to save time. The second major criticism is that the action itself, though yielding the most happiness, may not be morally right. In these instances, a utilitarian would argue that this flexibility is realistic and can be applied a real-life situation that are not always black and white. In real-life there are often grey areas where one may need to make difficult or seemingly immoral decision, but the end result of the action may bring about the most happiness than an action that was moral. The second form of utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism, is similar to the standard form except that it adapts a set of guidelines, an â€Å"optimal moral code† to determine right or wrong. It is also emphasized in rule utilitarianism that if an action produces the most amount of happiness, yet defies the optimal moral code, it is wrong. Challenger Disaster. In January 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded because the O-rings failed to seal in the booster rocket joints due to low temperatures the day of the launch. Morton Thiokol, Inc. was the manufacturer of the booster rockets and one of Thiokol’s engineers, Roger Boisjoly, found that low temperatures detrimentally affected the seals of the booster rockets. He informed his superiors of his findings, but they were deemed as insignificant. The night before the flight, Boisjoly and his colleagues advised against the launch due to the low temperatures, but their employers ignored the advice and moved forward with the liftoff. All seven astronauts onboard died in the explosion. In accordance with the utilitarian theory, Boisjoly did act morally right. He informed his superiors and NASA of his research findings to avoid failure and reduce the amount of unhappiness – the death of the astronauts. Thiokol and NASA, however, did not act morally right. Though the postponing of the launch was not favorable, it would to allow more time to redesign the seals and most likely avoid the catastrophe. They also could have postponed the launch to a day with optimum temperatures for the seals. Consenting to Sexual Harassment In Vinson v. Taylor, Mechelle Vinson claims that her supervisor Sidney Taylor sexually harassed her. She testified that after a year of working at the bank Taylor made advances on her saying that she â€Å"owed† him for getting her the job. She turned him down initially, but eventually became sexually involved with him for her last three years she was employed at the bank. She claims that Taylor raped her and if she did not submit, she would be terminated. Taylor denied the accusations saying that he has never had any sexual relations with Vinson and that Vinson made advances on him. And in retribution for denying her, she filed charges against him. The courts ruled that the relationship between Vinson and Taylor was voluntary and that the employer was not liable, especially since Vinson to not notify the company. Vinson appealed the case and the Supreme Court then ruled that the advances on Vinson were unwelcomed though voluntary. They did not disclose whether or not the employer was liable for sexual harassment. The rule utilitarian theory applies here in that Courts followed a set of rules to produce an outcome. It’s also a case of what action renders the least amount of unhappiness. Through Vinson’s appeal the court stated that regardless of her willingness to have sexual intercourse with her superior, it was unwelcome. It’s difficult to say what the outcome is since the Court did not state whether or not the employer was liable. Parable of Sadhu In the parable of sadhu, Bowen McCoy makes a 60-day trek with his friend Stephen, a few porters and Sherpas in the Himalayan Mountains. They reach a point of the trip where they must make it over an 18,000 foot pass over a crest to reach Muklinath, an ancient holy village for pilgrims. The take a night’s rest before they make the pass and there are a few groups the are within range; a group of New Zealanders, two Swiss couples and a Japanese hiking club. The next day, the New Zealanders depart for the pass first. Stephen, who is beginning to suffer from altitude sickness, and Bowen begin their journey to the pass when they see one of the New Zealanders carrying an almost naked, barefooted sadhu across his shoulders. The New Zealander leaves him with them exclaiming that he has done what he can and that they should care for him because they have porters and Sherpa guides and that he and his group are moving forward with their trek. Bowen checks his pulse to find that the pilgrim is alive. They wonder why he has hardly any clothes on and why he did not choose the safer route. Stephen and the Swiss couples begin to take off some of their clothing to warm up the sadhu. Bowen does not hesitate to move forward as he wants to make it over the pass and the journey becomes more dangerous as time passes; the ice steps would melt and would make the path slippery. Bowen continues, leaving Stephen, the Swiss, and the Japanese behind. The Swiss catch up to Bowen finds out from them that the sadhu was doing fine and that Stephen is approaching. Stephen is upset with Bowen and asks how he feels about contributing to the sadhu’s death. Stephen tells Bowen that he stayed with the sadhu until the Japanese arrived. He asked the Japanese to borrow their horse to take the sadhu down to the hut, but they refuse and give him food and drink before continuing on. Stephen then asked the lead Sherpa, Pasang, to get a group of porters to carry the sadhu down, but he also refuses because he believed it would exert the porters’ energy and that they would not able to do it before the ice melted into a slippery slope. Pasang encouraged Stephen to continue with the time-sensitive hike and the Sherpas carried the sadhu down to a rock in the sun and pointed out to the hut that was 500 feet away. The last time the Sherpas saw the sadhu, he was throwing rocks at the Japanese’s dog, which had scared him. Though it may seem morally wrong to leave the sadhu and carry on with the journey, Bowman acted correctly according to the utilitarian theory. If he had helped the sadhu get across the pass to Muklinath, where he seemingly came from, Bowman may not have had the energy to do so and risk both of their lives, which would be the most amount of unhappiness. If he backtracked and took the sadhu to a hut for warmth and safety, he would have jeopardized his trip and defeated the purpose of this journey and moreover, the pilgrim may not have wanted to be â€Å"saved† for he was nearly naked and did not chose the safer route. One Nation Under Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is the largest company in retail with nearly 5,000 stores and 140 million shoppers. It continues to grow as they open more and more stores that sell household items at bargain prices. As they expand, they are able to offer lower prices because they can buy in very large bulk quantities and demand better prices from their vendors. Though it seems that everyone would be in favor of this large bargain retailer, who sells consumer necessities at extreme low prices, there are many critics of Wal-Mart’s operation. They stomp out small, local â€Å"mom and pop† shop business and compete with supermarkets, eliminating jobs and disrupting communities. They are also an anti-union establishment, pay low wages and most of their employees do not receive health insurance. Lastly, they are criticized for not carrying certain products like racy magazines such as Glamour or Cosmopolitan. Thus, locals often refuse and dispute the expansion of Walmart in their town. According to the utilitarian theory, Wal-mart is not behaving morally wrong. They are abiding by the laws. Though they may pay low wages and not offer health benefits to part-time employees, they are able to employ 1. 4 million people. Their business also allows consumers to purchase necessities at some of the lowest prices available. Furthermore, the decision to not carry certain products like racy magazine or music with explicit lyrics would outweigh the fact that they carry thousands of household necessities at a bargain. Face Transplant: â€Å"Highly Risky Experimentation† Isabelle Denoire was victim of a terrible incident that left her face, extremely disfigured. Her lips chin, nose were clawed and bitten off by her dog. The events that led up the incident are uncertain. She said that she took meds to help her sleep and that while walking down her hallway on the sleeping medication she stumbled over her aggressive dog that she had just adopted. Her daughter said that Isabelle tried to kill herself and the dog was trying to wake her up after she fell to the ground and lost consciousness. While in the hospital the chairman of the department of Maxillofacial Surgery at Amiens University Hospital, Dr. Bernard Devauchelle thought that she should would be a good candidate for an experimental face transplant that was considered time sensitive because the longer they would of waited the more scar tissue she would have had, which would of made the surgery more dangerous. With consent from Isabelle they partial transplant was done but a wave of criticism came once the news was released. Many in the industry felt that the surgery was too dangerous and other option should have been considered. They thought that Dr. Devauchelle insisted on doing the surgery not because he wanted to do what was best for the client but so that he would get publicity for it. They also believed that he chose the wrong sort of client for such an operation. Since Isabelle had tried to commit suicide she wouldn’t be a good candidate because she might not be able to deal with the cameras and news attention, that it might be more than she can bare and wasn’t mentally strong enough to handle it. According to utilitarianism, an action is right if it brings about as much net happiness as any other action the agent could have performed. I believe that Dr. Bernard Devauchelle did take into account other possibilities before they made their decision to do the partial facial implant. It was a time-sensitive decision his patient needed to make and according to him, she eagerly wanted him to help her so that she could be as normal as possible again. Critics of the transplant dispute that was he did was morally wrong, but ultimately it was Isabelle’s decision. I have learned that all real-life decisions are not just black and white. Some are easy and some difficult and even harder. We all have general innate moral code of conduct and the rule utilitarian theory is one that I relate with the most.