Self Concept free essay sample

Introduction This assignment views my understanding of interpersonal communication. It grasps and discusses the concept of self, theories about self-concept and other elements in non-verbal communication, and how it influences us on a daily bases. Communication makes everything easier and without it we would be lost and always taking things out of context. Conclusion Defining Self-concept The meaning of self-concept is a common word used to discuss how one can describe how they feel and think. This is how they recognize themselves. Self-concept includes your physical appearance, attitudes, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses, mental capabilities, in fact this includes our self both inside and out. On the road to vinegar of oneself is to have a perception of a persons own self The development of self-concept Self-concept is created through our association with other people. The way we notice ourselves rest on on a great extent to how we believe other people see us as human beings. We will write a custom essay sample on Self Concept or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A relationship with others is called communication. As we relate with close relative and brothers and sisters and in the future with class mates and teachers, co- errors and social group, we adopt their outlooks about us so that they grow into becoming a part of exactly how we look at ourselves. A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about ones own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior. Your self- concept is your mental picture of yourself. It is a collection of self-perceptions. Example a self-concept might include such beliefs as l am easy going or l am pretty or l am hard working. Example There once was a little girl who never applied herself in her academics. She always made bad decisions when choosing her peers. She never thought good things about herself. Then there was another girl, who always applied herself academically. She worked hard to accomplish her goals and helped tutor others when they struggled in class. Which little girl are you? What do you think about yourself when you look in the mirror? How do you feel about yourself? Ahead we will discuss what makes up your self-esteem and the different things that influence and mold your self- esteem. (illiterately, October 2008) How self concept influences our communication with others Self Concept By spontaneous

Childrens Testimonies essays

Children's Testimonies essays Every year some hundreds of thousands of children may be involved in the legal system. Most encounters have been with sexual assault cases. Although some children may be capable of giving an accurate testimony most are vulnerable to having their testimony and their memories distorted to the point where the truth may never be known. Children have problems distinguishing reality from fantasy, making them susceptible to the coaching of an authority figure. Award winning development psychologist Stephen J. Ceci, Ph.D., of Cornell University has conducted a laboratory research, studying some factors that can affect a childs testimony. These conclude: Interviewer bias-When the interviewer (parent, therapist, investigator) believes he or she knows what happened and attempts to get the child to confirm it, ignoring anything the child says that does not conform with the interviewers bias and encouraging anything that does. Repeated Questions-Children, especially younger children are more likely to change their answers when asked the same yes or no question repeated during a single interview. Answers from children to yes or no questions repeated over several interviews are likely to become more firm and confident, regardless of whether they are correct. Stereotype induction-Childrens reports can be influenced by stereotypes suggested by the interviewer (or by others before the interview takes place). An interviewer telling a child that the [suspect] is a bad man who does bad things is an example of stereotype induction. Similarly, children can come to assume and report bad things about someone they had previously heard described in negative terms. Encouragement to imagine and visualize-When asked to think real hard about or to visualize events they dont remember, children can come to remember and then present a detailed, coherent narrative o...

How to Make Nylon - Nylon Synthesis

How to Make Nylon - Nylon Synthesis Nylon is a polymer you can make yourself in the lab. A strand of nylon rope is pulled from the interface between two liquids. The demonstration sometimes is called the nylon rope trick because you can pull a continuous rope of nylon from the liquid indefinitely. Close examination of the rope will reveal that is is a hollow polymer tube. Nylon Materials a solution made from 6 g sebacoyl chloride in 70 ml heptanea solution made from 3 g 1,6-diaminohexane in 70 ml watermetal tweezers or forceps Make Nylon Use equal volumes of the two solutions. Tilt the beaker containing the 1,6-diaminohexane solution and slowly pour the sebacoyl chloride solution down the side of the beaker so that it forms the top layer.Dip tweezers into the interface of the liquids and pull them up to form a strand of nylon. Continue to pull the tweezers away from the beaker to lengthen the strand. You may wish to wrap the nylon rope around a glass rod.Rinse the nylon with water, ethanol or methanol to remove the acid from the nylon. Be sure to rinse the nylon before handling it or storing it. How the Nylon Rope Trick Works Nylon is the name given to any synthetic polyamide. Acyl chloride from any dicarboxylic acid reacts via a substitution reaction with any amine to form a nylon polymer and HCl. Safety and Disposal The reactants are irritating to the skin, so wear gloves throughout the procedure. Remaining liquid should be mixed to form nylon. The nylon should be washed prior to disposal. Any unreacted liquid should be neutralized prior to washing it down the drain. If the solution is basic, add sodium bisulfate. If the solution is acidic, add sodium carbonate. Reference Chemical Magic, 2nd Ed., Leonard A. Ford (1993) Dover Publications, Inc.

Operations & Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Operations & Supply Chain Management - Essay Example equent governmental funds and approaches that were taken to effect this, the course in question has been beneficial and instrumental in helping to analyze the way in which a resource dependent economy can utilize the resources that it has, and is able to generate a substantial level of funding from, as a means of developing and diversifying other economic resources that can help the economy in the long run. With regards to the manner through which what has been learned within this course can benefit individuals, and indeed the entire society of the United Arab Emirates, in the future, it must be understood that the progress that has been affected, although impressive, should not be viewed as a victory entirely. The underlying reason for this can be traced back to Chapter 2; Strategy and Sustainability. Within this particular chapter, the class was engaged with the understanding that the United Arab Emirates face a situation in which continued action to leverage further economic development, further specialties, further education, the development of further infrastructure, and a litany of other aspects was a dependent reality of whether or not the nation’s economy would be able to continue its impressive growth rate into the immediate and long-term future (Khalid 3). Another understanding that can clearly be denoted is with respect to the fact that a large level of dependence and continues to exist within the economy of the United Arab Emirates with regards to profitability derived from the sale of natural resources. Ultimately, due to the fact that these resources are non-sustainable, the economy is faced with a situation in which the rapid level of growth that it has experienced over the past several decades is not guaranteed into the indefinite future. Eventually, the resources of natural gas and/or oil will be exhausted. Alternatively, changes in technology could create a situation in which the United Arab Emirates has remaining resources of natural gas

Step 1 of 4 Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Step 1 of 4 Paper - Essay Example How information flows from level to level in a company is also determined by the organizational structure. Decisions flow from top to down in a centralized structure while in a decentralized structure, making decisions is done at various different levels (Wailgum, 2007).Decentralized decision making should be preferred by managers because it gives the opportunity to the employees to participate in decision-making. This makes them have a sense of ownership of the company and, therefore, give their best. Companies can streamline their operations if they establish a hierarchical structure whose chain of command is clear. The organizational leadership structure should be able to provide direct supervision and regular feedback from employees (Lu, 2014). Corporate decision making allows all stakeholders be involved in decision making and their contributions valued. Autocratic leadership makes managers the sole decision makers and deters innovativeness as the creative employees do not get a room of implementing or sharing their ideas. Therefore, participative leadership which boosts the morale of employees because their contribution to the decision-making process is appreciated should be adopted by company heads. The success of any business is determined by the innovativeness of the company. Through innovation, companies bring into the market new products and services. Innovative methods assist companies reduce costs of operation and enhance customer satisfaction through quality improvement. Innovativeness can only be realized if creative employees are given room to share and implement their ideas. Leadership style used should support creativity and innovativeness among the employees to enhance the performance of their companies. Gilmore (2014) observes that the state of the art technology and network design has enabled Wal-Mart to track and predict inventory levels, manage customer service response logistics and relationships, develop more efficient

Overt or covert observations

Overt or covert observations Question 1 The researcher says that [i]ntense observations in the classroom and playground area were completed [and] detailed observations were conducted in lessons(p.184). What can you infer about the things she observed and the methods she used to record her observations? Qualitative research is an effort to understand situations in their uniqueness as part of a particular context and the interactions there. (Merriam, 2009:14) An ethnographer participates, overtly or covertly, in peoples daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions; in fact collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues with which he or she is concerned. (Flick 2005:146) The author, Lisa Russell is a young female ethnographer entering the research field for the first time. This paper is a description of The implications of investigating student resistance and the importance of how the researchers; personal dispositions influence the research process are discussed. (Russell, 2005:181) The research was conducted in three culturally diverse schools of Birmingham and Sydney and the information was gathered through observations and interviews. Students in the age bracket of 14-16 years were identified for observation, especially the ones finding the experience difficult either academically or emotionally (Watts, 2001; Russell, 2005:184) According to Esterberg, ethnography is intensively studying a specific social group by observing the group in its natural setting (Esterberg, 2002:8). Sometimes ethnography and participant observation are used interchangeably. But to its contrary, ethnography requires a participation observation style of fieldwork. Participant observation thus can most usefully be seen as a means of producing ethnographies rather than as synonymously with ethnography. (Thorpe Holt, 2008:100) Russell being new to the field entered her research ground with no ideal, logical step-by-step approach (Russell, 2005:182). She used her relative inexperience to her advantage. She started her research by observing students in various classes and free time. She observed them in their favorite and least favorite modules, covering one of the most popular aspects of student resistance. Once the trust between them grew, she advanced to spending time with them in their own comfort zones, which gave her more of an insight to their personal lives. This way she managed to get valuable information concerning their behavior and problems. There were instances when she witnessed highly disruptive behavior of students, like that of a male student kick and bash a school vendor machine during break-time (Russell, 2005:193) but blinded herself to the situation. At the same time, there were occasions when she found herself caught in uncomfortable circumstances like the time she landed up in the deputys office as she was with students who got late for class. Names like the follower and leech suggest that during the initial stages Russell was not accepted by the students as she shadowed them all around. But gradually she managed to gain one of the most vital aspects of the study trust. Ethnographers are viewed differently as a relationship is built up and trust developed. (Cassell Symon 2004:316). I feel her main tool for recording data was a daily logbook, but filling the same in front of her research subjects could make them very suspicious and inquisitive. Although as her relationship with the students strengthened, she allowed the researched the chance to see what was being written about them (Russell, 2005:187).This she did to gain feedback and more importantly trust. To conclude, I feel the main aspect she focused throughout was to develop a trustworthy relationship with the students. This she did over a gradual period as she observed and learned from them. Question 2 The author is a young ethnographer researching teenagers (p.193). What difference does our knowledge of her age and personal details make to the account? Qualitative research is a form of interpretative inquiry in which researchers make an interpretation of what they see, hear and understand. Their interpretation cannot be separated from their own backgrounds, history, contexts, and prior understandings. (Creswell, 2009:176) The author, Lisa Russell is a young, novice, female, white, northern English ethnographer (Russell, 2005:181). Her smallness in height and build influenced how students and teachers interacted with [her]. (Russell, 2005:182) Russell used a very reflexive approach towards her research and took into consideration how different aspects of her personal disposition affected her entire study. Researchers reflections on their actions and observations in the field, their impressions, irritations, feelings and so on, become data in their own right, forming part of the interpretation, (Flick, 2005:6) I feel her age -23-24 at the time of field work (Russell, 2005:182) and youthful nature helped her immensely in developing a trustworthy bond with the students. The students opened up to her about their grievances which they might not have done with someone older and more experienced. The researchers ability to build relationships and develop rapport with subjects is crucial. (Thorpe Holt, 2008:151) Her repetitive emphasis on her age and naivety throughout the paper shows that these facets of her personal disposition helped her to engage in discussions and activities with the teenaged students, which if she was older wouldnt have been able to do. Her closeness to their age made it simpler for both herself and the students to be able to relate to each other. Although, at the same time it was difficult for her to develop a similar bond with the teachers and she felt exceptionally uncomfortable in staffroom discussions. In my opinion, she put in a lot of effort and time into understanding the point of view of the students and didnt do the same with the teachers. But as she graduated to the third school her heightened confidence and greater experience (Russell, 2005:188) made it easier for her to relate to and interact with the teachers. This paper also brings into account the being there quality. Good ethnography is about communicating the impression of having truly been there, of having had close-in contact with far-out lives while at the same time making the reader feel he or she has been there too. (Bate, 1997:1163) In the context of Russells paper the way she elucidates her experience and subsequently her problems, make it very easy for us to believe and understand her observations. I as a student believed that the intense description about her personal characteristics played a significant role in helping me comprehend her entire research. I also inferred that as an amateur, she mentioned her young and novice personality keeping in mind that even if her study was not up to the mark it would have been excusable. I held a degree of emotional attachment towards some students given the significant time I had spent with them and the nature and detail of their lives they had shared with me. (Russell, 2005:196) This confession of hers illustrates that she let herself get emotionally involved with the students. Students also, at times would seek for support and guidance (from her or consider Russell as a shoulder to cry on (Russell, 2005:196). Since this was her first ever ethnography leaving the field and detaching herself from her research subjects, became difficult. Russells reflexive approach and personal disposition especially her age influenced and widened her scope for the study. This nature of the report helped her retain authenticity throughout the paper. Question 3 Russell claims that her ethnographic research investigates the complex and sometimes contradictory culture(s) of student resistance to schooling (Wills, 1977) (p. 181). How is this claim supported in the paper? According to Russell This study examines the significance and relationship between class, gender and ethnicity in the construction of resistance. It aims to understand how the wider societal and cultural environment influences the working of a school and the behaviour of the actors within it. (Russell, 2005:182) Student resistance is often perceived as explicit rejection of formal education. It is a deliberate yet hesitant activity of students arising due to social, cultural, emotional and academic concerns. According John Deweys comment that teaching and learning are much like selling and buying: One might as well say he has sold when no one has bought, as to say that he has taught when no one has learned'(Dewey, 1910,p.29) (Provenzo, ed. 2006) The students selected for the research ranged from truancy issues and students negative attitude towards school and learning to low self-esteem concerns.(Russell, 2005:184). Taking the instance of a student who had an alcoholic mother and [was struggling] to cope with her domestic responsibilities (Russell, 2005:185) shows that how a family related problem can hamper a persons education and make her unenthusiastic about school. In my opinion this supplement is a conflicting account. As mentioned clearly in the paper it aims at providing an insight to student resistance to schooling, where as there is not much mentioned about the same. According to my inference, it explores the experience and problems faced by the researcher, Lisa Russell during the course of her research. She at the same time concentrates on describing the methodologies used for observations and to gather information. On the other hand, she made the study interesting for readers to read by providing examples to support her content. Ethnography is art, science and craft rolled into one. As artists we seek to capture experiences in images and representations which symbolize reality; in this regard, expression is more important than precision. (Bate, 1997:1153) This repository statement, expression is more important than precision holds true in this study. I as a student found the report very engrossing because of the way she articulated her encounters with her research subjects. Some which put her into awkward situations while trying to gain trust from disruptive students made the account appealing. A few others were when she witnessed students truant, thieve, damage school property, take illegal substances and even [asked her] to participate. (Russell, 2005:193) Russell subconsciously seemed to be bias towards the students. Bias may be viewed as unavoidable as researchers often hold sympathy for some groups over the others. (Russell, 2005:190) Since this study was centered around students she preferred to take their side predominantly, intending to gain further insight into student resistance. I personally would have preferred to know more about the teachers since they played an equally important role in the research. She could have discussed the teachers reaction to some of the above instances in detail. In conclusion I believe this paper constitutes more about Russells experiential data and personal disposition than on its primary topic of student resistance. Reconsidering Work-Life Balance Debates: Challenging Limited Understandings of the Life Component in the Context of Ethnic Minority Womens Experiences Nicolina Kamenou Question 1 The author appears to have had difficulties recruiting interviewees (see especially p.s102). Why, for example, might an organization withdraw from the study claiming restructuring was in progress? (p.102) Work-life balance means that individuals have successfully segmented or integrated life and work so as to achieve a satisfying quality of life, overall satisfaction and less strain or stress around juggling conflicting role demands. (Blyton et al., 2006:2) The work-life balance equation (Kamenou, 2008:S99) is a vast concept covering a number of aspects ranging from career, ambition, family, pleasure and culture. Suitable prioritising between the same helps to accomplish ones goal in life. This article is centred on ethnic minority womens experiences of managing their work and personal lives. (Kamenou, 2008:S99). The author, Nicolina Kamenou, collected the data via semi structured, in depth interviews primarily with ethnic minority females. The perception of ethnic minority men, white women and white men was also taken for comparison. The broader study aimed to investigate best practice on the equality issues but also to examine whether the reality matched the rhetoric of equality of opportunity within organizations by exploring employees perceptions and experiences. (Kamenou, 2008:S102). The author evidently faced difficulties in recruiting interviewees, since only three out of the twenty organisations approached responded positively to the invitation (Kamenou, 2008:S102). Further to this, one of them withdrew claiming restructuring was in progress. The basic strategy for in depth interviews should be in three stages prepare, contact, and follow up (MacDougall Fudge, 2001). These stages include preparing for the research by describing and constructing a sample, negotiating with the key people or organisations personally, and providing feedback and maintaining relationship with the participants. Initially I feel a loop hole in the recruitment procedure could have led to rejection from many of the organisations contacted. Besides this there could be many reasons for it. This study is mostly based on topics such as ethnicity, culture, religion, racism and sexism which are very sensitive in nature. One of the main reasons for companies to withdraw from the research could have been to avoid any controversy. They would not want to risk their reputation and find themselves involved in any problematic situation as a consequence of the research. The firm which withdrew claiming restructuring was in progress was a financial organisation. This shows that the management could have been worried about the companys inside information since such a research could have revealed confidential data to the market and its competitors and thus affected its integrity. The company possibly had something to hide. On the other hand if a company is confident, a research is a good way of gaining credibility and even one of the cheaper ways of getting feedback from its employees. I also feel, stating the real names of the participating organisations could have been avoided. Kamenou should have used pseudonyms instead as confidentiality is a significant factor of researches. Confidentiality must be assured as the primary safeguard against unwanted exposure. All personal data ought to be secured or concealed and made public only behind a shield of anonymity. (Denzin Lincoln, 2000:139). Kamenou could have most definitely got a better response from the companies initially contacted, had she offered to keep the names anonymous. In my opinion, the sensitive character of the study and the matter of confidentiality, were the main reasons which lead to the difficulties faced by the researcher while recruiting interviewees. I also believe, that a better response could have been achieved had the interviewees been assured about the authenticity of the information being published. Regarding the financial company no conclusion can be drawn as we have no proof against them. Question 2 Would you expect differences between the people in organizations where formal access had been been granted and the independent group identified through personal networking? (p. s102) If so, what might these differences be? In this article, Kamenou focuses on the specificities in the experiences of ethnic minority women, incorporating other groups experiences where necessary, with regard to balancing their work and personal life (Kamenou 2008:S107). For this purpose both males and females from different cultural backgrounds were selected to be interviewed. The researcher recruited these interviewees formally from organizations. An independent group of participants was also identified through personal networking across a range of various public, private and voluntary organizations. All the participants varied in their occupations. The researcher derived information from a number of job profiles, to name a few there were nurses, managers, lawyers and psychologists. The researcher conducted semi structured, in-depth interviews. The main goal of these interviews was to explore a topic more openly and to allow interviewees to express their opinions and ideas in their own words. (Esterberg, 2002:86). The researcher must have certainly got different responses from the formally approached people and the independent group. Since the exact procedure of recruiting the interviewees has not been mentioned, I feel that the participants of the organizations where formal access was granted may not have been given a choice. Thus, they may not have voluntarily agreed and would have been least interested in the research. They would have restrained from giving out information concerning their organization with the fear of it reaching higher authorities and thus loosing their jobs. At the same time their response could have been manipulated by the employers to gain publicity. On the other hand, the independent group were people selected through personal networking and thus their cooperation was completely voluntary. We can refer to it as snowball sampling. This basically means when existing research subjects refer future subjects from among their acquaintances to help widen the information base. Such participants would have been interested and involved in the interview. They would have been more forthcoming with their response. Since these participants were being interviewed without any pressure form an organization, they would have been more willing and open about discussing their personal experiences. The only problem in such sampling is that of bias. The researcher could have recruited these participants according to her own convenience. She might have selected them with the point of view of extracting maximum information. In my opinion, the independent group would have been more fascinating and appropriate to interview since they would have provided with more intense and authentic information than the formal access participants. A key reason for including the independent group was to add richness to the data by looking at minority womens work and career experiences in a variety of sectors and occupations. (Kamenou, 2008:S103) On the whole, the author managed to acquire a wide range of experiences and data from both types of participants. Thus, this gave us a deep understanding of the problems faced by ethnic minority women while balancing work with other responsibilities in life. Question 3 From reading the paper, what do we know about the author? How might the identity of the author have made a difference to the research? This paper is an example of feminist research approach. In such a study the goals are to establish collaborative and nonexploitative relationships, to place the researcher within the study so as to avoid objectification, and to conduct research that is transformative. It is a complex area of inquiry with numerous frameworks (e.g., male oriented, white feminist oriented, able-bodied female oriented) and difficult issues (e.g., the absence and invisibility of women, who can be knowers) (Creswell, 2007:26) Of the various forms of qualitative research, ethnography is the most common one used by females. A researchers personal disposition plays a very significant role in a research, especially when done by a female. Reflexivity also has a big impact on such studies and makes the output of the same extremely relatable. In this paper, Nicolina Kamenou, explores minority womens perceptions of the reciprocal relationship of career demands and other aspects of their lives, such as family and community expectations and responsibilities (Kamenou, 2008:S99). The authors method in this research is not reflexive at all. At no point in the study does she reveal any personal information regarding herself. There is no mention of the influence her personality has on the study nor of the interpretations she derived from the same. In my opinion, if the author had made revelations about her personal details, the research would have been more engaging. Even though this article gives a rich insight into the work life equation, it does not elaborate on the authors experience and relationship with her research subjects. It would have been appealing to know her age and cultural background because these seem to be the two most important factors which could have influenced the research. She has left the readers guessing her identity. If the author was associated with the ethnic minority group, she could have given an account of her experiences and hence added some personal touch to the research. But at the same time, if she had adopted a reflexive approach, she would have left the readers questioning her objectivity towards the research. We as readers would have assumed that she was bias towards her subjects and thus she would need to justify herself to us. In my view, Nicolina Kamenous approach towards her research was very different as compared to Lisa Russells. Russells adopted a very reflexive approach and described in detail the impact her personal disposition had on her subjects, interpretation and conclusion of the research. She does not keep the readers guessing her identity and gives away a considerable amount of personal information which helps us as learners relate to her. On the other hand, Kamenous approach is far from being reflexive in nature. The readers gain no knowledge about her personal characteristics and the impact of the same on her research. In conclusion, Lisa Russells study gave an excellent account of the authors personal impact on the entire research, where as it didnt focus much on the information she derived from it. On the other hand, Nicolina Kamenous research offered a rich insight to her topic of discussion, while it didnt enlighten us with her thoughts towards the study. Overall, the papers gave me a good understanding of two contradicting accounts in the vast field of qualitative research methods. References: Bate, S.P. (1997) Whatever happened to organisational anthropology? A review of the field of organisational ethnography and anthropological studies, Human Relations, 50 (9): 1147-1175 Blyton, P., Blundson, B., Reed, K., Dastmalchian, A. (2006) Work-Life Integration: International Perspectives on the Balancing of Multiple Roles, 1st ed. New York: PALGRAVE MACMILLIAN Cassell, C. Symon, G. (2004) Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Creswell, J.W., (2007) Qualitative Inquiry Research Design : Choosing Among Five Approaches,2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Creswell, J.W. (2009) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches,3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Denzin, N.K. Lincoln, Y.S. (2000) Handbook of Qualitative Research 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE MacDougall, C. Fudge, E. (2001) Qualitative Health Research: Planning and Recruiting the Sample for the Focus Groups and In-Depth Interviews [Online], 11(117) Available at: [Accessed 16 November 2009] Esterberg, K. G. (2002), Qualitative Methods In Social Research, New York : The McGraw-Hill Companies Flick, U., (2005) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 2nd ed. London : SAGE Kamenou, N. (2008) Reconsidering Work-Life Balance Debates: Challenging Limited Understandings of the Life Component in the Context of Ethnic Minority Womens Experiences. British Journal Of Management, Vol. 19 s99-s109 Merriam, S. B., (2009) Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation 2nd ed. San Francisco: Joosey Bass Provenzo Jr, E.F., ed., 2006. Forthcoming in the Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education [online] Available at : http://danbutin.org/Resistance%20-%20Encyclopedia%20entry.pdf [Accessed 18 November 2009] Russell, L. (2005) Its a question of trust: balancing the relationship between students and teachers in ethnographic fieldwork. Qualitative Research Vol. 5 (2) 181-199 Thorpe, R. Holt, R. (2008) The Sage Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research. London: Sage

Animal testing should not be banned Essay

For many years, animals have been used in research both in the scientific and medical fields. In order to introduce new drugs into the market, they have to be tested first on animals in order to ascertain whether they are effective or not. Animal experimentation in this context defines the use of non-humans, mostly animals, to test new drugs and consumer goods such as cosmetics, pesticides, herbicides, food additives, among others (Taylor 120). Pharmaceutical companies and research institutions have been active in animal experiments because these institutions are charged with coming up with new drugs. What has however been controversial with animal experiments is whether this procedure should be banned or not based on its ethical implications. Animal rights activists have been at the forefront in advocating for a ban on animal experiments based on the ethical issues associated with it. For those supporting the use of animals in experiments, the arguments that have been made include p ossibilities of medical and scientific breakthroughs, safety for humans, and accuracy of results. When the benefits of animal experimentation are weighed against the drawbacks, it is evident that the procedure is beneficial. Accordingly, animal experimentation should not be banned. First, animal experiments should not be banned based on the fact that it has been beneficial to humans and animals. With the recent technological advancement, substantive accomplishment has been made in the field of human medicine and science. In this regard, the use of animal testing cannot be underestimated. Taylor (132) maintains that animal experimentation has helped in unearthing new drugs that have helped to ease the suffering of humans from disease that was once witnessed in the past. Blakemore support Taylors point by indicating that vaccines for polio and cervical cancer, insulin, antibiotics, heart-bypass surgery, among others were all advances that were achieved through animal testing. For a patient to receive therapy or treatment, it has to be known that this originated from an arduous medi cal research involving animals. For instance, Blakemore uses an example of how people can easily forget the importance of animals in medical research. This is based on the fact that powerful drugs such as Avastin used to treat bowel, breast, and lung cancer were developed after research was conducted on mice. John Stein, the professor of Oxford Functional Neurosurgery Group also supports animal experiments because it helps to improve medicines and treatments  (Campbell). Some countries like the UK have even realized the benefits of animal testing in advancing the medical field (University of Bradford). However, UK has banned the use of animal testing for consumer goods such as for cosmetics production (University of Bradford). Critics have however been instrumental in indicating a number of ethical implications linked with animal testing. As the critics point out, animal testing is a procedure that does not take into consideration the rights of animals. As a matter of fact, animals are just like humans who require to be treated the way humans are treated. While supporting animal research, Taylor (120) however cites some commentators who argue that the experiment that involved testing cosmetics and other hazardous products on rabbits in order to know how long the rabbits would die was unethical. This experiment fundamentally was meant to test the level of toxicity of certain substances. As Taylor (128) echoes the sentiments of critics, this is an inhumane way of treating animals because â€Å"†¦ the suffering of any being ought to count equally with the like suffering of any other being.† These among other critical arguments have formed the basis of the opposing side of animal testing. It may be justified to talk in terms of animal ethics when there is justification that animals have actually been mistreated. Considering that few cases have been reported regarding inhumane treatment of animals, it should not however justi fy the lifting of a ban on animal testing. As a matter of fact, animals have helped a great deal in the scientific and medical field which has equally improved the quality of human life. From a practical perspective, the use of animal experiments guarantees the safety of humans. In order to ascertain whether drugs and other consumer goods are safe for humans, the use of animals becomes justified. Taylor (132) even supports this idea by indicating that very few animals are sacrificed during such experiments which help to not only save millions of people, but also animals. Opponents of this claim have however cited cases of animal suffering and deaths because of ineffective experimental procedures. Taylor (120) highlights a critical perspective regarding this issue by indicating that â€Å"Of course, Jennie was not human; she was a squirrel monkey. To do such a research on a human being would be immoral. The question then is, what justifies using a monkey?† Other commentators have also indicated the idea of injecting animals with toxins in the name of scientific advancement. Although these arguments may seem  plausible, it is however important to note that humans are practically more important than animals. It would thus be justified to assert that animal testing should not be banned. It has also been found that technological advancement has enabled results from animal testing to be more accurate with minimal harm inflicted on animals. Blakemore highlights the biological relationship that humans have with animals. According to the author, chimpanzees and some rodents like mice and rats share similar genes with humans. The way these animals respond to disease treatments is just the same as humans. Because there is no other alternative to test the effectiveness of drugs and consumer goods, the use of animals in experiments becomes justified. Blakemore reiterates that there are many incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, and multiple sclerosis which require quick research in order to find new treatment. Because researchers and scientists have the ability to achieve this objective, they need to use every tool available at their disposal in order to ensure that cures for such diseases are found. Critics of this argument have however maintained their stand regarding the futility of such efforts. As critics claim, some drugs have not been as effective as claimed. Indeed, some of the consumer products and drugs have had to be recalled because of ineffective experimental procedures which resulted in drugs not serving their intended purposes. It can be justified to agree to this assertion considering that animal experiments are products of human making which are subject to errors and flaws. However, with the recent advancement in technology, such cases have become rare. Taylor (134-136) posits that there are new methods such as computer simulation which allows existing information and data to be used by researchers and scientists to further improve on what had earlier been done. Banning animal testing would in this case amount to deteriorating health standards of people within societies. Definitely, animal testing has been a controversial issue considering that there are ethical implications associated with it. While this may be true, the benefits of this procedure however outweigh the drawbacks. For those who want a ban on animal testing to be lifted, the procedure is not ethical but only serves to infringe on the rights of animals. The arguments made by critics however are shortsighted because history clearly indicates that the drugs that people are using nowadays came as a result of animal testing. Fundamentally, animal  testing should not be banned because there are possibilities of future cures being unearthed, the procedure is safe for humans, and the results have been more precise. – approximately 5 billion animals are consumed as food annually – compared to that, only 17-22 million animals are used for in research annually – anesthesia is used today to numb the body during operations because it was successfully tested on animals => 6 % of animals do however experience pain, but this has to do with the research itself – the alleviation of pain would compromise the results => 61 % of animals used suffer no pain => 31 % of animals have pain relieved with anesthesia – AIDs research relies heavily on animal testing; other testing techniques aren’t optimized yet stem cells (SC) are a relative new way to perform testing. This will decrease the use of animals in the testing process. Furthermore, SC can show a specific organ’s reaction to a substance. The housing of the animals, feeding, carrying, treatments, controlling the environment, is very expensive oFinding drugs and treatments to improve health and medicine. There are already some lifesaving medical breakthroughs that are the result of animal testing, like open heart surgery, organ transplants, effective insulin, vaccines for deadly diseases, †¦ It is the most accurate way to learn the effects of substances in a living body Ensuring the safety of drugs and other substances Human harm is reduced and human lives are saved but also animal lives are saved because of animal testing. Many of the medications and procedures that we currently use today wouldn’t exist and the development of future treatments would be extremely limited. Many argue that the lives of animals may be worthy of some respect, but the value we give on their lives does not count as much as the value we give to  human life. Using cell cultures can only reveal side effects on a molecular level and cannot unfortunately, reveal side effects like organ failure, rashes, tumors, or cardiac arrest like animal testing can. Using computer models cannot always predict unknown variables that can be discovered with animal testing. Animals may not have the exact same philology as humans but animal testing is accurate enough to test whether a substance is even safe enough for human trials. Experiments must only take place if there is no alternative method that does not entail the use of animals. Animals involved must be those with the lowest degree of neuro-physiological sensitivity†. http://levmm1.wordpress.com/ https://proxy.zalmos.com/browse.php/q3ytFd7a/EB8_2FxG/0Ac0HzT3/2sRwgT7f/_2FYnbG9/OapnYXZM/HHfGlrE_/3D/b0/