The Reasons Young People Use Drugs

The Reasons Young People Use Drugs Jenita Magdalena, 1106053256 FIK UI 2011 Drugs are not a familiar problem in the ears of the people of Indonesia today. Especially in the ears of young people. Why? Because many young people in Indonesia now felt into drugs. And tragically, this is no longer just a problem in big cities only, but now also been expanded to rural areas. This is because drug addicts today are not only the wearer, but also as a dealer. The easier access to get drugs must be one of the factor.With the above explanation, it is clear that the drugs problem undermines the future of Indonesia's young generation. There are many reasons that many people -especially young people- using drugs. There reasons are media, curiosity, lack of proper family guidence, and the factor of friends. The reasons were not the absolute reason. There are still many other factors, but the above factors are a common factor in today's society. It helps us to better identify the factors above as an initial step spread of drugs prevention. The first reason of someone falling into the circle of drugs is the media factor.Along with the development of today's technology, people become very dependent on technology such as mobile phones, television, radio, and internet. Thus the role of the media becomes very important in a person's psychological development. People who are too often witnessed the violence in movies or the internet, believed to be more aggressive. As same as the drugs problem. Someone who often witnessed how drug users or drugs used, were also likely to fall into drugs. Therefore, the sensors could be reducing the scenes of drug use as one of the major steps in drugs prevention.Besides the media, of course, is the major causative factor is high curiosity and want to try drugs. Because someone who has seen drug users in film, television, and internet, will appear curious and wanted to try drugs. They are not know, by trying the drugs it will be difficult for them to escape from the drugs. Because the drugs is one type of substance that would cause the addiction for the wearer. Lack of proper guidance of the family can also be an important factor in causing a child got into drugs. Parents should act as educators in the family, should be a good example for children.So that children can imitate the good behavior of their parents. Based on research, a child who was raised by parents who become drug addicts, most likely the child will also become addicted to drugs later. Thus, the role of parents can be an important one of the psychological development of children. And the final factor that is not less important is the factor of friends. Often, playmates who use drugs will invite other friends to come to feel or using drugs. And usually, someone who offered his friend to use drugs will be easy to take drugs.That's because a sense of solidarity and friendship is strong, so people are can’t reject his captives. Of course as we all know, once so meone has tried to feel the drugs, it will be difficult to him to get out of the bondage of drugs. Thus by knowing the factors that cause someone to fall into the drugs, we expected to take reasonable precautions against those around us. So that step by step spread of the drugs will be reduced in this country. And of course our hope is with the reduced network with drugs in this country is Indonesia's future will be bright, because the future of Indonesia is in the hands of youth.

Life is amazing but not always easy Essay

Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me . Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort apointed by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced suffering or failure. Life is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me coin. Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort punctuated by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced, struggle, suffering or failure. No doubt, life is beautiful and every moment – a celebration of being alive, but one should be always ready to face adversity and challenges. A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success. Life is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me coin. Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort punctuated by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced, struggle, suffering or failure. No doubt, life is beautiful and every moment – a celebration of being alive, but one should be always ready to face adversity and challenges. A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success. Life is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope

African American and Conflicting Perspective Essay

Every individual has a perspective on things in life and their personal idea of the truth. These are universal concepts and are widely seen in ted Hughes poems â€Å"birthday Letters†. Birthday letters is a set of poems, said to have been written by Hughes for six years prior to his death, on his ex wife’s birthday each year this the selection of poems being called birthday letters. The selection on poems surrounds his problematic marital issues between himself and his wife Sylvia Plath. It is also to show the conflicting perspective on their relationship. This is mainly towards the criticism he received all those years after her suicide. He had been blamed for being the catalyst for her suicide/death and so began a collection of poems regarding their relationship but in some way, excusing himself and explaining that she was already on a destructive path. Through two of his poems, Fulbright scholars and the shot, an understanding of the poems have thrown lighten the concepts of conflicting perspectives. Two other complementary texts such as letters from two jima and to kill a mockingbird convey conflicting perspectives however on issues such as racial discrimination and the perspectives of an opposing country that has been marked as enemies. Fulbright scholars are the first poem in the birthday letters collection. Hughes here tries to remember how he met her and first know of her existence. He does this whilst looking at a picture that was taken at university, when he was a naive young man. He ponders about her throughout the poem trying hard to delve into his psyche hopelessly to recollect something about her when they met at a party. This can be noted by the quote â€Å"were you among them? † which refers to the picture of Fulbright scholar. In terms of conflicting perspectives, the e poem can also be seen as a text that he wrote implicating how difficult it is t recall that first meeting, however he begins to explain his perspective of Sylvia Plath. He says â€Å"your exaggerated American grin for the cameras† which referred to her as someone with false appearances. The various techniques Hughes used to convey his ideas were the use of rhetorical questions such as â€Å"were you among them? †, the repetitions of the word maybe and the use of the I persona, and metaphors such as the â€Å"first fresh peach†. Rhetorical questions he used as a means of asking himself how he met her and what she first looked like to him. The metaphor ‘delicious peach† can be said to be another way to say she was the first girl he â€Å"ever tasted†, in terms of the experience of truly liking someone who seemed special to him. Reputation is used throughout the poem of maybe can be analyzed as a way of trying to remember what he saw of her and his knowing of her existence. The ‘I’ persona is an important tool in terms of Hughes alluding to the very personal nature of his reflection. The poem ‘the shot’ is also one from the collection and conveys Plath as someone different to what her fans saw her to be. As he says that she was deceitful in terms of appearance of a good and decent person/poet. In the poem, the shot is a metaphor of Plath being bullet shout out a gun. It can also e sad that Hughes thinks that he was the one shot. Hughes perspective on paths â€Å"destructive path† is one that she has always been on, saying that she was already a bullet long before she has met him. Followers of Plath as a victim view him as a catalyst for her suicide but in the poem he tries to explain that she was already suicidal as she tried to commit suicide when she was younger. The use of word â€Å"daddy† is one of great importance as it refers to her childish attachment to her father. This is also the title of her famous poem daddy. Hughes also explains that from his perspective, that he himself has become the father figure that she had ways been looking for. Overall, the concept of the two poems depict conflicting perspectives through analysis of ted Hughes’ birthday letters. The text letters from Iwo jima is similarly to birthday letters, a conflicting perspective however of the Japanese however of the Japanese soldiers during the American invasion of to two jima in ww2. It depicts their perspective throughout the turbulent time, showing that even were still human beings with the same universal feelings. Clint eastwood directed the film letters from Iwo Jima in 2006, trying to show an American or non Japanese audience their side of the story or their perspective. Here, a conflicting perspective is shown. Throughout the film, eastwood wants us to empathise with the Japanese perspective f the same terror and emotions that the Americans felt at that time too. The main character is a young Japanese soldier called saigo who is little enthused on fighting and going to war. This is all seen through techniques eastwood input such as flashbacks- which were important in the film. The audience is then able to see how the soldiers were like before the war and what it was like for them when they got conscripted. Their reflections are a huge part in their conflicting perspective and also a great important technique is the Japanese language. Eastwood used the language to give a strong sense of ethnicity and strong sense of tradition. To kill a mocking bird written by Harper lee in 1960 conveys the conflicting perspectives of the treatment of African Americans in Alabama. This conflicting perspective is seen through the eyes of a young white girl, rather than n African American person. The text shows her view o the racial discrimination against the Negroes and the treatment, prejudice and violence they receive. The event takes place that’s how a conflicting perspective is the court case scene, where an African American man is accused of raping a young white girl. The perspective here is not only through the girl, Scout Finch, but also her father Atticus finch which is the lawyer defending the accused. However he took on a case he know that with all the racial discrimination and prejudice around, he would inevitable lose. The fact that he took on the case shows a conflicting perspective of a white American man who has no prejudice against African Americans. The daughter scout finch views the situation on a different level as well as she was basically raised by African American woman and didn’t judge her, as many people did in Maycomb County. She begins to see and understand the prejudice and discrimination when the man is accused of rape as the majority people did not like his race at that time. It was seen as stereotypical to blame him for the rape. The conflicting perspective here is that the perspective o a young white American and her family on the treatment the Negroes received. It can be said that harper lee wanted the audience to challenge their beliefs and see events from the perspective of a young child who is horrified by the treatment of the Negroes.

Critically analyse the assertion that the benefits of globalization Essay

Critically analyse the assertion that the benefits of globalization have been unequal and have led to widening global inequality - Essay Example These are just a few of the advantages that human societies and business activities enjoy from globalisation and its related activities. Globalisation is a term used to describe various macro-economic regulations and policies that influence various cross-border transactions and other systems that lead to increased interdependence in the citizens of many countries globally (McGregor 2008, 13). It is believed that globalisation activities in the world started in the 1990s. However, it is important to understand that trends in globalisation had began a few years before the 1990s (Ghauri & Powell, 2008, 54). Globalisation is said to have led to increased quality, efficiency and effectiveness in the quality of goods and services that were being produced by countries. Many companies began to improve in the supply management and distribution of goods and services, something that led to their growth and development, with expansions to other regions and countries. Globalization played a big role in economic integration, something that led to the economic growth and development in these countries. Currently, many countries are involved in various integration something that some people say has led to increased economic inequalities in different economies. This paper examines the effects of globalization and perceived inequalities that have results from it in various countries. The process of economic integration describes the rising economic integration as well as the interdependence witnesses in the national, regional and the local economies in many parts of the world. This process is often experienced in the intensification of the cross-border movements and transfers of products and services, capital and other important technologies used in economic activities. In as much as globalisation is described as a set of various processes that happen in the economic networks, cultural interchange as well as the in political circles, the rapidly

Econ Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Econ Assignment - Essay Example The fall in income earned by the consumers in the U.S. could be viewed as its impact on the current account. It is estimated that almost 10% of every Dollar spent by U.S. customers is on purchase of imported goods (Kaplan) however as the income falls in the U.S. the customers demand for imported goods will surely be affected. As consumers spend less on goods and services the proportion they spend on imports will reduce. The effect would be rising current account surplus and positive balance of payments. If the inflation in the foreign country increases it will have an upward effect on the cost of production in that country and making its exports to the U.S. more expensive than its imports. This suggests that U.S. consumers would end up paying more for imported goods that will provoke them to switch over to less costly goods produced domestically (Kaplan). This can also have a reverse effect on the U.S. exports thereby increasing the current account surplus with that country in the short run till inflation remains comparatively higher in the foreign country. The interest rate fall in the U.S. has its impact on the capital account of the country. The decline in interest rates in the U.S. implies the reduction in the return on savings and relative return in the financial markets of the U.S. This suggests that foreign investors will be reluctant to invest in the financial markets who will be seeking greater returns in other foreign markets. This makes the local financial markets unattractive and may lead to outflow of funds through capital markets. The exchange rate is the relative price of a currency against other currencies. The exchange rate is typically driven by the demand and supply of the currency. As consumers will use less of the local currency due to fall in their income it suggests a lower demand for it as less money will be spent on imported goods and services therefore its supply dampens. The net result is decline in the exchange rate against

The Ruth Moore Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Ruth Moore Act - Research Paper Example The bill christened the Ruth Moore Act 2013 or H.R 671 was introduced by Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine and Senator Jon Tester ( D-MT) on February 13, 2013. Following the amendment, the bill H.R 671, would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to submit a report every year to the congress on the disability benefits claims given for people who are covered under the mental health conditions following allegations of incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma for the time ranging from 2014 to 2918. The amendment will transform sense to the Congress as to the Veterans Affairs needs to update and improve the rules pertaining to the military sexual trauma (Otto, 2013). It would also require specific reporting to the Congress as well as to the Veteran claimants every month, the first of such coming fifteen months after the date of enactment of the bill following the amendment. The duration of reporting would be as long as the secretary makes the necessary updates, wh ich will improve the veteran’s affairs regulations with regard to military sexual trauma. H.R 671, as amended, extends the prevailing authority of two rounds down to the nearest dollar percentile increment in the rates of particular assistance relating to educational benefits that changes depending on the annual cost-of-living regulations and adjustments. Operational Definition of Terms Military sexual trauma; the term is used on a military veteran, regarding psychological trauma that is following the judgement of a mental health expert, was brought by a physical or mental assault of sexual type, a series of sexual nature, and sexual harassment that occurred to the victim when in active naval, military, and the air force. Covered mental health condition; This refers to the post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and or a mental health diagnosis explained in the modern version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is a journal publishe d by the American Psychiatric Association and determined by the Secretary as regards the military sexual trauma (Ruth Moore, Act of 2013). Covered claims; These are claims seeking for disability compensation submitted to the Secretary following a process of covered mental health condition where the survivor claims to have incurred the disability while on duty and aggravated by military sexual trauma. Ruth Moore- The brainchild Ruth Moore is a former navy officer who joined the disciplined forces in the mid nineteen eighties at the age of eighteen. Having come from a humble background and a family whose financial strength was meagre, she never made it to college. Ruth Moore was sexually assaulted by her immediate supervisor while stationed in the Azores. Things got worse when she reported the matter because, the officer raped her once more as a way of retaliating towards her efforts to get justice. Surprisingly, no charges were brought towards the supervisor instead, the administrato rs discharged her from hospital claiming that she was mentally unwell. It took twenty-three years for Moore to fight for her disability benefits. All through that period, Ruth Moore suffered from a sexually transmitted infectious disease caught from the supervisor. She also went through a depression from what she went through and finally lived in her van. However, in two thousand and nine, a veteran Affairs investigator got a glimpse of her medical records and after perusal discovered that the records had been tampered with by both medical and military officers. The veteran affairs officer went to help her win a seventy percent rating on the disability scale consequently

Window Display (Pasta) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Window Display (Pasta) - Term Paper Example Beginning with the idea of â€Å"fall into CSR†, we wanted to bring together an autumnal atmosphere and a suggestion of serendipity – hence the upside-down trees dropping their leaves on to a representation of academia (the folders). The leaves hint at the significant relationship between nature and consumer/family science, but we wanted to take this suggestion further. We felt that certain aspects of the SCAMPER model – namely Substitute and Reverse – would make this connection much more obvious. The pasta is a substitute for branches; as it is clear that our trees have recently dropped their leaves, we felt that the unpredictable shape of tree branches should be visible, rather than leaving the cardboard tree blank. The shape of the pasta does not exactly mirror the shape of branches, but it evokes a similar atmosphere, and adds greatly to the interest of the branch shapes cut into the cardboard. The way in which we used the Reverse concept of SCAMPER is, I find, delightfully subtle: the pasta is a processed foodstuff, which is glued to the cardboard trees instead of (unprocessed) leaves. The reversal of the typical manufacturing process, again, emphasizes that in CSR we are very aware of the links between processed and unprocessed goods. That said, I feel that one improvement we could have made would be to use a processed good made from leaves, or had the unprocessed goods of pasta in the display. The reason that we decided against this was because the unprocessed ingredients of pasta (flour, water, egg, salt) do not have the same autumnal ideas as leaves and fall. Furthermore, we felt that pasta has certain connotations which we felt would be a suitable presence in our display, particularly in relation to the family part of CSR. Pasta is often referred to as a comfort food, and is evocative of a family home and the commitment that thrives within such an environment. It is also a â€Å"healthy carbohydrate† (Baer-Sinnott) and a good basic staple for

Comprehension strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comprehension strategies - Essay Example Helping students to comprehend narrative, expository and poetic texts is a challenge that faces all teachers. Regardless of subject or grade level, all teachers are teachers of reading. Many comprehension strategies have been developed over the past three decades.While all can be applied to any of these three types of texts, some seem to naturally go with one more than another.Choosing â€Å"the best† for each one is not really possible, because teacher personality, state standards and concerns such as class size and student grouping all have bearing on which comprehension strategy should be used. The three strategies in this essay have all been used to good effect by myself or one of my former teachers. A good comprehension strategy for helping students to maximize their understanding of a c narrative text is an activity called â€Å"What is it?† This is an activity where students work individually and in cooperative groups to recall the most important elements of sett ing, character and plot. Students retell portions of the narrative text to one another while listening student record important points relating to setting, character and plot. This activity utilizes graphic organizers and is facilitated by the instructor. Retelling portions of the text allows the student speaking the opportunity to give voice to their impressions and remembrances of the narrative. Students listening use the graphic organizer to write points mentioned by the speaker. Each student in the group takes a turn adding to the growing list of setting, character and plot elements

Evolution of colouration in bird eggs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Evolution of colouration in bird eggs - Essay Example One key fact states that the more diversified a population becomes, the more likely it is to survive as a species. This increases its ability to occupy more territory and gain access to more sustenance, or to spread itself out and become more inconspicuous among predators. Several species of birds demonstrate this type of variation at the embryonic stage. The eggs they lay are coloured or spotted in particular ways, the complete reasons for which have been somewhat elusive to researchers for some time. In fact, birds are the only species that produce pigmented egg shells (Gosler, et al. 2005, p. 1105), and this leads scientists to believe that the pigmentation serves a discoverable purpose. Such reasons as crypsis and the prevention of parasites have been hypothesised. Other hypotheses have been based on sexual selection or on the chemical structure of the eggshell and its influence on eggshell fragility and vulnerability. Hybridization has also been suggested as a factor that influe nces egg colour. These hypotheses, though varied, have important implications on the evolution of the bird shells and can give insight into the reasons for the various pigmentations that birds' eggs carry. Safety is a very important issue for birds when it is noted that their eggs are prone to different forms of predation and parasitism. Two types of brood parasitism exist. Conspecific brood parasitism occurs when birds of similar species place their foreign eggs into the nest of a host. Interspecific brood parasitism occurs when birds of other species infiltrate the nest and place their own eggs in the clutch. This can be very dangerous to the existence of a particular avian species, since the some parasites are known to be vicious and ruthless. The most notorious of these parasites are cuckoos, and their parasitism is dangerous as they often hatch before the genuine brood and expel authentic eggs from the nest, terminating that attempt of the species to reproduce. This is truer of some species than of other, depending on the type of predation suffered by each. The great tit (Parus major), for example, does not expel parasites from its nest, and this appears to be contingent on the fact that it is not a host to the European cuckoo parasite (Gosler, Higham and Reynolds, 2005. p. 1105-6). Village weavers, on the other hand, do remove foreign eggs from their nests, and have therefore to learn the appearance of their eggs (Collias, 1993, p. 684). The implication of this fact is that the weaver eggs must have progressively developed a distinctive appearance in order to facilitate recognition. It has been observed that West African village weavers' spotted eggs have noticeable intraspecific differences, and hypotheses have been formed concerning the reasons for this. The first spots on eggs might have been achieve by one incidence of genetic mutation in the species, but this kind of spotting in weavers is now commonplace. Relying on the reasoning of the previous paragraph, it was predicted that within the weavers' clutches the diversity of colouration would be minimised in the absence of interspecific parasites and maximised in their presence. Researcher David Lahti found opportunity for an experiment involving these West African weavers in the fact that the species had

Standartization of SAT and GRE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Standartization of SAT and GRE - Essay Example The biasness of the universities associating the scores of such examination in admission procedure are also been studied over here. Thesis statement: The SAT and GRE examinations are biased in their scoring pattern and has little effectiveness in determining the performance of the students in colleges due to degradation in its standard. Meritocracy in America and SAT: The importance of SAT cannot be overlooked. SAT has established itself as the primary gatekeepers for the entry in university of America. The admissions system in America became more selective because of the increase in the number of applicants every year and the limited number of seats in American universities. In this environment the importance of SAT cannot be ignored. SAT acts as a mechanism to rank students and allow entry into the universities based on he scores. SAT has been to predict the performance of the students over the years. (Nagasaki, 44) Another important factor which deals with SAT is the benefits asso ciated with it. Sat and Act provides the facilities of scholarships. The scholarship is granted to the students based on their merits. Providing of such scholarships facilitates students from economically weak class to peruse their education. Often it was found that meritorious students would stop pursuing higher education due to financial constraint, but the competitive examinations helped them a lot by the grant of the scholarships (Wadsworth). SAT and Act acts as the guiding factor to a numerous college and universities all over the United States and the admission procedure is claimed to be followed based on the merit of students. (Sebastian) The meritocracy of America is popular over the decades. However in recent times the model of meritocracy has been in question. The globalization of the world and the popularity of the education system of America have turned the education system as a medium for grasping more economic benefits. The universities have also cited social discrimin ation against the students of various races seeking an admission in the universities. The origination of SAT happened in the year 1926 as an effort to enable youths from various parts of the worlds to attend the universities regardless of their social backgrounds. The idea of nationwide scholarship test was framed by James Bryant Conant. (Toch) However in recent times social factors have taken much significance in the admission criteria. The educational inequality has been a striking factor. Often it is found that meritorious students emerging from the lower class in the society are deprived from proper educational facilities and they fail to make an entry to the graduate schools. The African Americans are found to attend less prestigious schools. These inequalities have spread also in the higher education system of the country. Studies reflect that Latin and Americans belonging from the northern parts of the country tend to score lower in their SAT exams in comparison to the Whites . However the difference in SAT scores by them have been claimed to be due to the difference in the level of education they received in their school levels. Whether it is due to the fact of quality of education or due to discrepancy in the SAT scores the effect of the social class on SAT scores cannot be ignored. (Shephard, 347) It is claimed that examinations like SAT and GRE are predictor of family

Management of Human Resources Class Discussion wk2 Assignment

Management of Human Resources Class Discussion wk2 - Assignment Example The engaging of the Human Resource to the external environment is more challenging as they have to cover more area than the usual internal environment capacity that they are familiar with. Meeting external responsibilities means more time, more resources, and more responsibilities as it is an expansive area that requires more attention to be able to handle the environment more efficiently. These will ensure a smooth transition and cooperation in making the relevant adjustment to the organizational structure response to external issues (Mabey, 2012).Taking the first step to deal with the issues is better than waiting the problem to catch up with the organization. Engaging in the external issues gives an insight and understanding of the environment the organization is existing in and how to prepare for the impacts that will cause either positive or negative. The economic globalization and political landscape has completely transformed the shape of the current Human Resource management. The competition is high, and one wrong move can destroy the whole organization (Noe, 2006). The Human Resource has to be keen on political matters because they are very sensitive and might affect the entire organization either negatively or positively The Human Resource has to engage a Rights Dispute for employees who are hired in unfair labor conditions.The Human Resource has to file a complaint with the relevant authority that will protect him from whistleblowers.The Human Resource has to exercise their legal rights as an employee by contacting OSHA immediately because the complaint must be filed within the legal time limits.These are to ensure that the company follows the stipulated laws that are laid down for favorable conditions of the workers (Gilbert,

Personal Philosphy Essay Example for Free

Personal Philosphy Essay It is important for teachers to develop their own educational philosophy. It is important because this philosophy defines the teacher and what they stand for. The philosophy describes the teacher’s attitude, their teaching styles, and how they feel about their students being successful. â€Å"A teachers personal philosophy of education is a critical element in his or her approach to guiding children along the path of enlightenment. † (Examples, 2013) Writing philosophies at the beginning of your teaching career is very helpful. Once you begin teaching for some time you notice that those initial philosophies change. Writing teaching philosophies are important to teachers because it identifies their thoughts, beliefs, and what they represent in the classroom. Personal Philosophies After thinking and realizing what I stand for in the classroom, I came up with these three philosophies that identify me. I believe that every student is a special education class can learn. Regardless of the child and their disability I believe that every child in a classroom is able to learn. It does not matter how small the progress is just as long as there is progress. I believe that inclusion has both positive and negative aspects on teachers and students. Inclusion allows students to be mainstreamed with peers their age. This gives them a chance to be around students their age as well as learn new things. Sometimes inclusion causes special services student to act out. This happens because they are not familiar with the information and they act out so they will not be embarrassed because their lack of knowledge. Finally, I believe that one-on-one time with special education students is valuable. Working with students individually helps them a lot. The teacher gets a chance to see exactly where they need help and are able to answer all their questions. Philosophies That Relate To Me â€Å"I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. † (Sample, 2013) After reading this philosophy I realized how much this should be included in one of my philosophies. I believe that each student is different. I also believe that each student should be handled differently and appropriately in order for them to show growth. Not only should a teach help the student grow educationally but they should assist them in growing socially, physically, and emotionally. It is a teacher’s job to produce growth in their students. That is why they should cover all aspects available in order to prepare their students for the real world. This philosophy covers everything I believe in as a teacher. In order for a student to learn they have to be comfortable and feel secure with their surroundings. In order for a student to open up to a teacher and peers they have to be comfortable with their surroundings. That is why it is important for teachers to provide a relaxed, secure classroom for the students. A classroom that welcomes questions, discussions, and learning. In the beginning the teacher should let the class know that questions are always welcome and that no one is allowed to laugh. Once a student realizes they have a teacher who always want to hear their questions and cares about them and how they learn, the student will feel secure and open to learn. This philosophy can be adopted as one of my own because I am aligned and stand for everything it says. â€Å"I believe the children are our future. † (Sample, 2013) Children are our future. In order for us to have a bright future, we have to prepare our youth the lead the country in an outstanding way. As a special service teacher I think it is important to prepare our students for the real word. Not only do we prepare them intellectually, we prepare them mentally, physically, and emotionally. As a teacher I think in order to prepare students to be our future we have to teach them everything they need to in order to function in society. In order for children to be our future we have to help them be successful by teaching them the necessities. In special education classes independent living skills can be taught. In order for our children to be our future, these things have to be taught. In order to be our future we have to teach them everything that is beneficial for our children to function properly in and outside of the classroom. â€Å"I believe that children learn best from expert teachers who know what they are talking about. † (Educational Philosophies, 2013) I believe that a certified teacher should be in charge of a classroom. Although there is teacher’s assistance in classrooms to help I do not believe that they should lead discussions. I think that our children should be influenced by a certified teacher. Teachers go through lots of training and take classes that teacher’s assistants do not. Although they are trained to handle behavior, they are nor trained nor certified to teach. Students should be taught by someone who knows how and what to teach. I believe that students learn from expert teachers. An expert teacher is someone who has a degree and has met all state requirements to be certified. And that is who should teach our children, an expert teacher. â€Å"I believe that an effective teacher helps leaner increase their awareness of significant social and political issues so that they can have an impact on these situation. † (Educational Philosophies, 2013) This philosophy has some points that I agree with. I do agree that teachers should keep students aware of the political and social issues that are going on. That is important so that students are aware of the current events. I think that this philosophy is important. It is important for student to know how to handle certain situations that deals with the economy and government. When students enter the real world they should have some knowledge of the government and how it works. They should be familiar with what goes on so that they are able to handle certain situations when they are older. Voting is one of these things they should be familiar with and the procedures in order to be registered to vote. This philosophy is one that I will adopt or add to one I already have. Conclusion Having a personal philosophy is very important. As a special education teacher I think it is important to have more than one. Each year I teach I either amend my philosophies each year or add a new one. The more I teach the more things I begin to believe in. A teacher and their philosophies are important because the students, parents, and community are aware of what to expect from you as an educator.

Developing a Brain Computer Interface

Developing a Brain Computer Interface A Seminar Report On â€Å"Brain Computer Interface† Submitted by: Name: Sachin Kumar Roll No: 1214310301 ABSTRACT Brain Computer Interface allows users to communicate with each others by using only brain activities without using any peripheral nerves and muscles of human body. On BCI research the Electroencephalogram (EEG) is used for recording the electrical activity along the scalp. EEG is used to measure the voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain. Hans Berger a German neuroscientist, in 1924 discovered the electrical activity of human brain by using EEG. Hans Berger was the first one who recorded an Alpha Wave from a human brain. In 1970, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of USA initiated the program to explore brain communication using EEG. The papers published after this research also mark the first appearance of the expression brain–computer interface in scientific literature. The field of BCI research and development has since focused primarily on neuroprosthetics applications that aim at restoring damaged hearing, sight and movement. Nowadays BCI research is going on in a full swing using non-invasive neural imaginary technique mostly the EEG. The future research on BCI will be dependent mostly in nanotechnology. Research on BCI is radically increased over the last decade. From the last decade the maximum information transfer rates of BCI was 5-25 bits/min but at present BCI’s maximum data transfer rate is 84.7bits/min. 2.INTRODUCTION Brain-computer interface (BCI) is alliance between a brain and a device that enables signals from the brain to direct some external activities, such as control of a cursoror a prosthetic limb. The Brain computing interface enables a direct communications pathway between the brain and the object to be controlled. For example, the signal is transmitted directly from the brain to the mechanism directing the cursor moves, rather than taking the normal ways through the bodys neuromuscular system from the brain to the finger on a mouse then directing the curser. BCIs Research began in the 1970s at the University of California Los Angeles(UCLA) under an allowance from the   National Science Foundation, followed by a contract fromDARPA. Thanks to the remarkable cortical plasticity of the brain, signals from implanted prostheses can, after adaptation, be handled by the brain like natural sensor or effector channels. Animal experimentation for years, the first neuroprosthetic devices implanted in humans appeared in the mid-1990s. Current brain computing interface devices require calculated conscious thought; some future applications, such as prosthetic control, are likely to work without difficulty. Development of electrode devices and/or surgical methods that are minimally invasive is one of the biggest challenges in developing BCI technology . Though Brain Computer Interface (BCI) facilitates direct communication between brain and computer or another device so nowadays it is widely used to enhance the possibility of communication for people with severe neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injury. Except the medical applications BCI is also used for multimedia applications, which becomes possible by decoding information directly from the user’s brain, as reflected in electroencephalographic (EEG)signals which are recorded non-invasively from user’s scalp. 3.LITERATURE REVIEW Current Trends in Graz Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) Research Pfurtscheller, C. Neuper, C. Guger, W. Harkam, H. Ramoser, Schlà ¶gl, B. Obermaier, and M. Pregenzer The â€Å"Graz Brain–Computer Interface† (BCI) project is aimed at developing a technical system that can support communication possibilities for patients with severe neuromuscular disabilities, who are in particular need of gaining reliable control via non-muscular devices. This BCI system uses oscillatory electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, recorded during specific mental activity, as input and provides a control option by its output. The obtained output signals are presently evaluated for different purposes, such as cursor control, selection of letters or words, or control of prosthesis. Between 1991 and 2000, the Graz BCI project moved through various stages of prototypes. In the first years, mainly EEG patterns during willful limb movement were used for classification of single EEG trials. In these experiments, a cursor was moved e.g. to the left, right or downwards, depending on planning of left hand, right hand or foot movement. Extensive off-line analyses have shown that classification accuracy improved, when the input features, such as electrode positions and frequency bands, were optimized in each subject. Apart from studies in healthy volunteers, BCI experiments were also performed in patients, e.g., with an amputated upper limb. The main parts of any BCI system are: Signal acquisition system: involves the electrodes, which pick up the electrical activity of the brain and the amplifier and analog filters. The feature extractor: converts the brain signals into relevant feature components. At first, the EEG raw signals are filtered by a digital band pass filter. Then, the amplitude samples are squared to obtain the power samples. The power samples are averaged for all trials. Finally, the signal is smoothed by averaging over time samples. The feature translator: classifies the feature components into logical controls. The control interface: converts the logical controls into semantic controls. The device controller: changes the semantic controls to physical device commands, which differ from one device to another depending on the application. Finally, the device commands are executed by the device. The early work of BCI was done by  invasive  methods with electrodes inserted into the brain tissue to read the signals of a single neuron. Although the spatio-temporal resolution was high and the results were highly accurate, there were complications in the long term. These were mostly attributable to the scar tissue formation, which leads to a gradual weakening of the signal and even complete signal loss within months because of the brain tissue reaction towards the foreign objects. A proof of concept experiment was done by Nicolelis and Chapin on monkeys to control a robotic arm in real time using the invasive method. Recently, less invasive methods have been used by applying an array of electrodes in the subdural space over the cortex to record the Electrocorticogram (ECoG) signals. It has been found that ordinary Electroencephalogram pickup signals are averaged over several EEG signal bands (Hz) square inches, whereas ECoG electrodes can measure the electrical activity of brain cells over a much smaller area, thereby providing much higher spatial resolution and a higher signal to noise ratio because of the thinner barrier tissue between the electrodes and the brain cells. The superior ability to record the gamma band signals of the brain tissue is another important advantage of this type of BCI system. Gamma rhythms (30-200 Hz) are produced by cells with higher oscillations, which are not easy to record by ordinary EEGs. The human skull is a thick filter, which blurs the EEG signals, especially the higher frequency bands (i.e. gamma band). Noninvasive  techniques were demonstrated mostly by electroencephalographs (EEG). Others used functional Hz, Magneto-Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Positron Electron Tomography (PET), Magneto encephalography (MEG) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography There (SPECT). EEGs have the advantage of higher temporal resolution, reaching a few milliseconds and are relatively low cost. Recent EEG systems have better spatiotemporal resolution of up to 256 electrodes over the total area of the scalp. Nevertheless, it cannot record from the deep parts of the brain. This is the main reason why the multimillion dollar fMRI systems are still the preferred method for the functional study of the brain. However, EEG systems are still the best candidate for BCI systems spatial as they are easy to use, portable and cheap. The main problems that reduce the reliability and accuracy of BCI and which prevent this technology from being clinically useful, are the sensory interfacing problems and the translation algorithm problems. In order to make a clinically useful BCI the accuracy of the detection of intention needs to be very high and certainly much higher than the currently achieved accuracy with different types of BCI. The intermediate compromise between accuracy and safety is the ECoG based BCI, which has shown considerable promise. The sensory arrays of electrodes are less invasive and provide comparable accuracy and high spatial resolution compared to the implanted type. The ECoG based BCI needs much less training than the EEG based BCI and researchers have shown that highly accurate and fast response. 4.TECHNICAL DETAILS REASON BEHIND WORKING: The reason a BCI works at all is because of the way our brains function. Our brains are filled with  neurons, individual nerve cells connected to one another by dendrites and axons. Every time we think, move, feel or remember something, our neurons are at work. That work is carried out by small electric signals that zip from neuron to neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are generated by differences in electric potential carried by ions on the membrane of each neuron. Although the paths the signals take are insulated by something called myelin, some of the electric signal escapes. Scientists can detect those signals, interpret what they mean and use them to direct a device of some kind. It can also work the other way around. For example, researchers could figure out what signals are sent to the brain by the optic nerve when someone sees the color red. They could rig a camera that would send those exact signals into someones brain whenever the camera saw red, allowing a blind person to see without eyes. BCI INPUT AND OUTPUT: One of the biggest challenges facing brain-computer interface researchers today is the basic mechanics of the interface itself. The easiest and least invasive method is a set of electrodes a device known as an  electroencephalograph(EEG) attached to the scalp. The electrodes can read brain signals. However, the skull blocks a lot of the electrical signal, and it distorts what does get through. To get a higher-resolution signal, scientists can implant electrodes directly into the gray matter of the brain itself, or on the surface of the brain, beneath the skull. This allows for much more direct reception of electric signals and allows electrode placement in the specific area of the brain where the appropriate signals are generated. This approach has many problems, however. It requires invasive surgery to implant the electrodes, and devices left in the brain long-term tend to cause the formation of scar tissue in the gray matter. This scar tissue ultimately blocks signals. Regardless of the location of the electrodes, the basic mechanism is the same: The electrodes measure minute differences in the voltage between neurons. The signal is then amplified and filtered. In current BCI systems, it is then interpreted by a computer program, although you might be familiar with older analogue encephalographs, which displayed the signals via pens that automatically wrote out the patterns on a continuous sheet of paper. In the case of a sensory input BCI, the function happens in reverse. A computer converts a signal, such as one from a video camera, into the voltages necessary to trigger neurons. The signals are sent to an implant in the proper area of the brain, and if everything works correctly, the neurons fire and the subject receive a visual image corresponding to what the camera sees. SENSORY INPUT: The most common and oldest way to use a BCI is a cochlear implant. For the average person, sound waves enter the ear and pass through several tiny organs that eventually pass the vibrations on to the auditory nerves in the form of electric signals. If the mechanism of the ear is severely damaged, that person will be unable to hear anything. However, the auditory nerves may be functioning perfectly well. They just arent receiving any signals. A cochlear implant bypasses the non functioning part of the ear, processes the sound waves into electric signals and passes them via electrodes right to the auditory nerves. The result: A previously deaf person can now hear. He might not hear perfectly, but it allows him to understand conversations. The processing of visual information by the brain is much more complex than that of audio information, so artificial eye development isnt as advanced. Still, the principle is the same. Electrodes are implanted in or near the visual cortex, the area of the brain that processes visual information from the retinas. A pair of glasses holding small cameras is connected to a computer and, in turn, to the implants. After a training period similar to the one used for remote thought-controlled movement, the subject can see. Again, the vision isnt perfect, but refinements in technology have improved it tremendously since it was first attempted in the 1970s. Jens Naumann was the recipient of a second-generation implant. He was completely blind, but now he can navigate New York Citys subways by himself and even drive a car around a parking lot. In terms of science fiction becoming reality, this process gets very close. The terminals that connect the camera glasses to the electrodes in Naumanns b rain are similar to those used to connect the VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ) worn by blind engineering officer Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TVshow and films, and theyre both essentially the same technology. However, Naumann isnt able to see invisible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Applications: Applications of BCI are described as follows: Neurogaming: Currently, there is a new field of gaming called Neurogaming, which uses non-invasive BCI in order to improve gameplay so that users can interact with a console without the use of a traditional controller. Some Neurogaming software use a players brain waves, heart rate, expressions, pupil dilation, and even emotions to complete tasks or effect the mood of the game. For example, game developers at Emotiv have created non-invasive BCI that will determine the mood of a player and adjust music or scenery accordingly. This gaming experience will introduce a real-time experience in gaming and will introduce the ability to control a video game by thought. Prosthesis control: Non-invasive BCIs have also been applied to enable brain-control of prosthetic upper and lower extremity devices in people with paralysis. For example, Gert Pfurtscheller of Graz University of Technology and colleagues demonstrated a BCI-controlled functional electrical stimulation system to restore upper extremity movements in a person with tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury. Between 2012 and 2013, researchers at the University of California, Irvine demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to use BCI technology to restore brain-controlled walking after spinal cord injury. Synthetic telepathy/silent communication: In a $6.3 million Army initiative to invent devices for telepathic communication, Gerwin Schalk, underwritten in a $2.2 million grant, found that it is possible to use ECoG signals to discriminate the vowels and consonants embedded in spoken and in imagined words. The results shed light on the distinct mechanisms associated with production of vowels and consonants, and could provide the basis for brain-based communication using imagined speech. On February 27, 2013Duke University researchers successfully connected the brains of two rats with electronic interfaces that allowed them to directly share information, in the first-ever direct brain-to-brain interface. MEG and MRI: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have both been used successfully as non-invasive BCIs. In a widely reported experiment, fMRI allowed two users being scanned to play Pongin real-time by altering their haemodynamic response or brain blood flow through biofeedback techniques. fMRI measurements of haemodynamic responses in real time have also been used to control robot arms with a seven second delay between thought and movement. Neural Internet: Access to the internet opens a myriad of opportunities for those with severe disabilities, including shopping, entertainment, education, and possibly even employment. Neural control users cannot control a cursor with a great degree of precision, so, therefore, the challenge of adapting a web browser for neural control is in making links—which are spatially organized—accessible. The University of Tuebingen developed a web browser controller to be used with their thought translation device, but it requires the user to select from an alphabetized list of links, causing problems if the link names are identical. They have developed a neurally controlled web browser that serializes the spatial internet interface and allows logical control of a web application. BrainTrainer—Subject Training: The BrainTrainer project researches the most effective ways of teaching a person the brain-signal control needed to interact with a device. The BrainTrainer toolset allows researchers to compose trials by providing simple tasks, such as targeting, navigation, selection, and timing, that can be combined to produce an appropriate-level task for a particular subject.

How Has The Role of the Police Changed?

How Has The Role of the Police Changed? Abstract When thinking of a police officer, what is the first image that comes to mind? If you are like most people, the image is that of a crime fighter, dodging bullets and saving citizens from the grasps of crime and corruption. What if I was to tell you that the realism of law enforcement, conversely, is that of something far less theatrical? How the Role of Police Changed over time: How the Role Change Affected the Public’s View of Police The role of a police officer plays a significant part in normal everyday life. Most recently, however, the role of a police officer started to shift, and that changes many things, including the public’s view on policing. Whether the view change is for better or worse, rest assured these brave men and women will be doing everything in their power to keep us safe. This analysis explores how the role of police has changed over time by answering the subsequent questions, What was the past role of the police officer? What is the role of the police officer currently? What has caused this change in the role? Understanding these inquiries will better our understanding of how effectively our police force is changing over time to protect its citizens. This will also give the communities a better understanding of just how difficult the role of a police officer is, and maybe with the understanding, more communication and cohesion between the department and its neighborhood are in order. What was the past role of the police officer? Before we can look at the current role of a police officer, we have to travel back in time and quickly view the role of the police officer then. Since the beginning of what is known as the professional (or reform) era, law enforcement arose as the key task of police officers (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 139). Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec define law enforcement as, â€Å"The police agency’s application of the criminal code to specific situations† (2011, p. 139). Situated at the nucleus of law enforcement is, arresting the accused (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 172). With the demands so high for law enforcement officers to remove criminals from the streets, a policy known as localized policing came into effect. Localized policing is the formation of smaller departments throughout a larger area (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 146). This meant that police officers could now focus on the parts of town where crime was significantly higher. With the practice of localized policing came the problem of fragmentation. According to Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, fragmentation is, â€Å"The lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies in the same geographical region due to the existence of many small departments† (2011, p. 146). The disadvantages of fragmentation is that, with departments not talking, one district could be enforcing certain laws stricter than its neighboring jurisdiction (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 146-147). A contrast of these neighboring departments could lead to the one community’s thought of the police department changing to that of excessive force. What is even worse than this is, any criminals that run their business in the jurisdiction of the strict police department, might take their illegitimate deeds to the neighboring town creating a massive problem for the less forceful police department and its citizens (Meese III, 1993, p. 2). With these problems on police administrator’s hands, they knew something had to be done to help these officers. What is the role of the police officer currently? Fast-forwarding back to current times, the administrators have come up with certain changes in the role of police that might help with past complications. One big change that came through was the new roles of a police officer. As said before, the key role was enforcing the law. In this current time, the police officer actually has three major roles now. They are, maintaining order, law enforcement, and providing service. Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec define maintaining order as, â€Å"Peacekeeping activities including enforcement of quality of life laws such as no loitering† (2011, p. 171). According to Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, this now includes, â€Å"traffic control, and crowd management during sporting events, concerts, and parades† (2011, p. 171). Service activities is defined as, â€Å"Non-law enforcement activities performed by officers on an as-needed basis, such as, giving someone directions† (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 172). Besides the general change in services, the rudimentary outlook of the police officer changed too. In the past, the police officer would chiefly react to occurrences. Now, the officer investigates, strategizes, and takes the initiative (Meese III, 1993, p. 2). The most significant change in policing came with the invention of community-oriented policing. Prono defines community policing as, â€Å"A cooperative relationship between the police and the community where they operate in tandem to diagnose and address crime issues† (2013, p. 1). Community policing is known for making neighborhoods more conscious of crime, and how to avert it (Prono, 2013, p. 1). One of the biggest components of community policing is civilianization. This is defined as, â€Å"assigning to civilians tasks previously performed by police officers† (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, Skrapec, 2011, p. 175). The goal of civilianization is to enlarge the amount of community inhabitants actively partaking in policing. Besides the cutback in crime, another influence that community policing has is, the expansion of a progressive relationship amongst the police and the community. What has caused this change in the role? Since there seems to be a new way of policing, administrators decided that they should bring in some new faces around the department. They thought these new faces could help bring some new and exotic ideas to the table. In the 1950s-1960s virtually every department consisted of all white male officers (Sklansky, 2006, p. 1210). As Sklansky states, â€Å"In 2005, for the first time in the history of the NYPD, a majority of the new officers graduating from its academy were members of racial minorities† (Sklansky, 2006, p. 1213-1214). This is a huge step toward equality in the workforce. Something even greater than that comes with the upcoming vast diversity of the police departments. Studies have shown that communities have a better rapport with police officers when some of those police officers are from that descent (Howell, Perry, Vile, 2004 p. 62). It is not just about race anymore, all genders and sexual orientations are now able, and widely accepted to join the police departments. There is a saying that is implemented in the NYPD, the saying is, â€Å"Blue is blue† (Willis, 2002, p. 29). That saying sums it up completely, three little words that have a huge meaning behind them. Another reason for the change in the role of policing is the public’s opinion of police officers. In the past, the affiliation between African Americans and police officers was difficult [to say the least] (Howell, Perry, Vile, 2004, p. 45). With the help of diversifying the police force, and largely to community policing, the views of African American citizens on their community police department have improved considerably (Howell, Perry, Vile, 2004, p. 48). Over the years, with just these few examples, many have seen countless transformations to how the roles of policing have changed for the better. Our communities are never going to stop diversifying anytime soon. Many positive alterations have already begun to take place. With the help of community-oriented policing, and different points of view throughout the departments, thanks to the expansion of race, gender, and sexual orientation, many communities are seeing police in a whole new light. It will take hard work and determination to stay with the times, and not fall back onto beliefs and practices used in the past. With the help of different community based organizations, and a vast amount of backgrounds, our police departments relationship with the communities should flourish. The role of the police officer should become even more community based, because there still is a feeling in many urban communities of race discrimination, and use of excessive force. With time, this should all be taken care of, just like the many problems faced in the past. References Howell,S.E., Perry,H.L., Vile,M. (2004). Black cities/white cities: Evaluating the police.Political Behavior,26(1), 45-68. Masters,R., Muscat,B.T., Dussich,J.P., Pincu,L., Skrapec,C.A. (2011).CJ: Realities and challenges(2nded.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Meese III,E. (1993). Community policing and the police officer.National Institute of Justice, (15), 1-11. Retrieved from www.ncjrs.gov Prono,L. (2013). Community policing. InSalem Press Encyclopedia. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Sklansky,D.A. (2006). Not your fathers police department: Making sense of the new demographics of law enforcement.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology,96(3), 1209-1233. Willis,C. (2002).NYPD: Stories of survival from the worlds toughest beat. New York, NY: Thunder Mouth Press.

Essay --

It has been my constant endeavor to improve all the skills I have gained in 22 years of my life. Right from gaining good academic scores to participating in extra-curricular activities, I have given my 100% to everything I do. My new found passion in technology coupled with this tremendous endeavor has been a source of inspiration for applying to the Master’s degree in Information Systems Management. I have always been fascinated by Big Data and its implications in today's world, the IT strategies that different companies follow to optimize their operations and the way information access is changing the way we live and work. At this point in the development of IT operations, companies worldwide face a deluge of information, information that needs to be harnessed and deployed in a meaningful manner. It is this need and opportunity that I hope to address by pursuing a renowned techno-management course like Information Systems at a prestigious university like Carnegie Mellon. During my undergraduate course at SASTRA University, I had an opportunity to be exposed to various interesting subjects like Database management systems, Operating System concepts, networking etc. These subjects rekindled my passion for technology and IT. I also had an opportunity to take electives like Software Project Management, Organization behavior and Supply Chain Management. Exploring areas like Software Project Management and e-commerce made me realize how they can make or break a software company. My experience with these core subjects would help me in taking up the rigor of the curriculum in Info systems. I have got excellent grades all through my under grad life and also have been part of prominent clubs like GLOSS (Open Source community at my colle... ...o churn out better minds (Students) for uplifting the society. Carnegie Mellon is known to be the best in doing this and it would be great if I am admitted to this prestigious institution. I think with its wonderful faculty and facilities, CMU is a notch ahead of many other schools and universities. These things put together, make CMU my number one option for pursuing my higher studies and improve my technical and analytical skills. If admitted, I promise to be really up to all the challenges and would strive to achieve my goal through hard work and dedication. One quote that always lingers in my mind even today was the one Kevin Turner (COO of Microsoft) told us when we were in the US: â€Å"Hard work does not guarantee success but lack of hard work guarantees failure.† This will be the driving force if admitted to Carnegie Mellon and I really look forward to it. Essay -- It has been my constant endeavor to improve all the skills I have gained in 22 years of my life. Right from gaining good academic scores to participating in extra-curricular activities, I have given my 100% to everything I do. My new found passion in technology coupled with this tremendous endeavor has been a source of inspiration for applying to the Master’s degree in Information Systems Management. I have always been fascinated by Big Data and its implications in today's world, the IT strategies that different companies follow to optimize their operations and the way information access is changing the way we live and work. At this point in the development of IT operations, companies worldwide face a deluge of information, information that needs to be harnessed and deployed in a meaningful manner. It is this need and opportunity that I hope to address by pursuing a renowned techno-management course like Information Systems at a prestigious university like Carnegie Mellon. During my undergraduate course at SASTRA University, I had an opportunity to be exposed to various interesting subjects like Database management systems, Operating System concepts, networking etc. These subjects rekindled my passion for technology and IT. I also had an opportunity to take electives like Software Project Management, Organization behavior and Supply Chain Management. Exploring areas like Software Project Management and e-commerce made me realize how they can make or break a software company. My experience with these core subjects would help me in taking up the rigor of the curriculum in Info systems. I have got excellent grades all through my under grad life and also have been part of prominent clubs like GLOSS (Open Source community at my colle... ...o churn out better minds (Students) for uplifting the society. Carnegie Mellon is known to be the best in doing this and it would be great if I am admitted to this prestigious institution. I think with its wonderful faculty and facilities, CMU is a notch ahead of many other schools and universities. These things put together, make CMU my number one option for pursuing my higher studies and improve my technical and analytical skills. If admitted, I promise to be really up to all the challenges and would strive to achieve my goal through hard work and dedication. One quote that always lingers in my mind even today was the one Kevin Turner (COO of Microsoft) told us when we were in the US: â€Å"Hard work does not guarantee success but lack of hard work guarantees failure.† This will be the driving force if admitted to Carnegie Mellon and I really look forward to it.

life :: essays research papers

Through out history man has always tried to find ways to explain the ways of life. Were do we come from, why are we here, are we alone, so may different questions but yet we still have no answers. Is there there a reason why we do not know?, can we truly comprehend the real answers of life? No one really knows. Some people try to find there answers buy relaying on mans creations. They look to science for answers and believe that there is a reason hidden behind everything and that all things come about by chance. Many other look towards religion to find there answers in hoping that they can gain accurate knowledge of the universe and believe that all things DON’T come about by chance but happen because there were pre-determined and could not be any other way. In order to understand life we must be willing to give up life in order to obtain it because the only real way to understand it would take thousands of years. What is life? Is it something that just happens to be or something that should be? Many people view life as something that is easy to obtain and take it away, to others life is as precious to them as there 1st born. How is it that we can question life itself? Man has tried for so long to figure out how to control it. Scientist spends years and years calculating formulas and equations trying to harness what they can never achieve.Many come to believe that they are higher then god himself. â€Å"The universe must have had a beginning†, Dr.Gish from the institute for creations says. According to the bible god created the earth in seven days but according to scientist the earth and all other things in our universe were created with a huge explosion (Big Bang Theory). To some people the bibles taking of this makes more sense to them but many modern day people are beginning to accept the more scientific approach when it comes to the creation of the universe. Why is this? One reason is because man has become very self-absorbed and believes that they can find a solution for anything. Another reason is because people just don’t believe that god created the universe and that the universe has always been and always will be. So how then do you know?

Models of cultural differences Essay

There are several different theories and models of cultural differences. Let us detect key dimensions that characterise different cultures. The work of Hall, Hofstede, Trompenaars and many others who study national cross-cultural differences has been invaluable in the area of cross-cultural studies. Edward Hall is a prominent cultural anthropologist. His theoretical framework includes a concept known as the context of culture or communication. Basically Hall argued that there is a continuum extending from a low to high degree of intense socialization within cultural groups. Hall introduces five dimensions as follows: 1. Space: Different cultures have different attitudes towards space. Social distance varies by culture. He revealed that there are different spatial zones that cultures will use for communication. For example among those of Anglo-Saxon heritage, in the United States, there is an intimate zone that extends from 0 to 18 inches from a person. Only close relations will communicate this closely. However, some cultures prefer much closer contact. For example, in many Arab cultures contact is so close that individuals frequently can smell the breaths and odours. 2. Material Goods: Such goods are used for power and status. 3. Friendship: Interpersonal relationships vary considerably across cultures. 4. Time: Linear time cultures take time and deadlines very seriously, in a very rationalist sense. Time is structured, sequential and linear. Hall distinguished between monochronic and polychronic time. Monochronic people and cultures prefer focusing on a single task at a time, and completing one task before beginning another. Polychronic cultures have the ability to focus on multiple priorities simultaneously. 5. Agreement: Expressing agreement and disagreement varies by culture. In some cultures the detailed written contract is essential to agreement, while in others a handshake is sufficient. An interesting study highlighting cultural orientations toward time was completed by Trompenaars. The point of that study was to determine time orientation of different cultures. This national study on time orientation revealed that countries such as Germany and the United States were primarily present and future oriented. Conversely, France was found to be much more focused on the past. Trompenaars develops his parameters of national cultures in such pair oppositions: 1. Universalism – Particularism: The universalist approach means that what is good and right applies everywhere, while the particularist emphasises the obligations of relationships. 2. Collectivism – Individualism: that indicates the relative closeness of the relationship between social group members. 3. Neutral – Emotional: Some cultures are affective in that they show emotions while others are neutral, control and subdue their emotions. 4. Specific – Diffuse: In specific oriented cultures the manager separates the work relationships with subordinates from other dealings with them. 5. Status: While some cultures give status on the basis of achievement, others ascribe it on the basis of age, class, gender, education, etc. 6. Sequential – Synchronic: In the former cultures time is treated as a sequence of events while on later cultures a number of events are juggled at the same time. 7. Inner-Directed – Outer-Directed: The former cultures believe that they can and should control nature while the later go along with nature. Hofstede (1991) defines culture as mental programming or the software of the mind. Hofstede identifies five national culture dimensions as follows (Hofstede, 1980), (Hofstede, 1991): 1. Power Distance that is the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. 2. Individualism-Collectivism that indicates the relative closeness of the relationship between team members. 3. Masculinity-Femininity that identifies the sexuality of roles in society and the degree to which a society allows overlap between the roles of men and women. 4. Uncertainty Avoidance that is the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. 5. Long-term Orientation that is based on values of Confucianism showing to what degree do people value the future versus the past or present. The advantages of Hofstede’s dimensions include the fact that they are founded on outstanding psychological and sociological theories within the American and European traditions that are over 100 years old; they are empirically derived; they allow us to rank order nations on each dimension; and they are readily understandable by managers and students. While Hofstede’s dimensions provide an effective general approach for comparing the cultures of nations, they are not grounded to specific nations. His dimensions are designed to be culture-general rather than culture-specific. Moreover, Hofstede results are often hard to remember and difficult to use in daily cultural interactions. All of the above models are quite useful and have several strengths. However there are also some points of concern; some weakness that should be identified with respect to each model separately. Hall’s model is built on qualitative insights rather than quantitative data and does not rank different countries. Hofstede’s work has such main problems like it assumes that national territory corresponds to culture limits, omitting existing cultural non-uniformity in various countries included in the survey, or some of the dimensions effects overlap such as the small power distance characteristics with the feminine ones. For Trompenaars’ model the main problem is that the pool of informants is vaguely defined and lacks homogeneity, therefore the comparisons that are made between cultures are imprecise. References: Hall, E. T. & Hall, M. R. 1990 Understanding Cultural Differences, Intercultural Press. Hofstede, G. 1980 Cultures Consequences, Sage. Hofstede, G. 1991 Cultures and Organisations, McGraw-Hill. Trompenaars, F. 1993 Riding the Waves of Culture, Nicholas Brealey.

Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intentions in Relation to Organic Foods Essay

Abstract The aim of this study is to find out the three (3) significant variables forming the positive attitude towards the buying the organic food in Peninsula Malaysia, which eventually lead to the ultimate intention in buying the organically-produced food. The different variables are focused on demographic characteristics on household income, product attributes and lastly the perceived value to the customers. This study shows that the household income is seemingly appeared to be an important predictor among the targeted segmentation in consuming organic food. Organic food attributes such as pricing, availability and environmentally friendliness of such organic food may influence consumer buying decision. Lastly, the perceived value from the customers towards organic food on its health effects, sensory appeal, nutrition-worth and belief of perceived benefits, often play an important role in cultivating the intention towards buying organic food. Introduction and Background of the Study Over the last two decades, there has been a remarkable increase in demand for organic-produced food or products. Organic food is often seen and marketed as health-conscious food which contains fewer contaminants, more nutrients and most importantly having a positive effect on the environment. It is known that some of these attributes are difficult to quantify, with the contrary that some of researcher has proved that they may cause such potential harm during the organic production. The organic market back in 80’s, while remaining a niche sector, has grown to be able to grab a share from the total spending on food in some countries in the recent years. Organic fruit and vegetables are amongst the products which have been expanding in the rapid production. The demand for organically-produced meat and dairy products has undergone the same rapid progress, with a corresponding increase in the need for organically grown forage and feed crops. This has led to a fast growth in consumer demand whereby the organic food sales have managed to gain a significant market share in the conventional food industry. The market for organically produced crops and commodities has become more structured, looking at the increased number of countries which have adopted uniform standards for organic food production. The standardization has also applied in the organic certification and labelling. While both the production and the marketing of the organic cultivation of temperate crops have developed, there is a trend to be seen whereby the developing country’s farmers are actively involved in the organic farming. Problem Statement and Importance of the Research Organic agriculture industry, no doubt, has offers most of the developing countries a wide range of economic, environment, social and cultural benefits. Certifies organic products have now been growing fast and in the mist of entering the global market. Malaysia, on the other hand, is still in the starting spark-point in adapting the organic-food consumption while the developed countries such as North America and Europe have already gained the biggest market share in this newest industry. Due to expanding markets and attractive price premiums, Malaysia should invent and invest in organically-produced food, taking into consideration of various significant variables which may form the consumer behaviour towards organic food. We would like to highlight that the ultimate goal of this study is to understand consumer’s motivations behind organic food products purchases in order to enable organic producers to develop a more effective strategic marketing plan. The results could be used for the marketing planning of organic food products to enable proper marketing strategies, a proper sales channel and promotion to be targeted to these groups of consumers. Research Questions The present study aims to answer the following questions: †¢ What are demographic characteristics of organic food buyers? †¢ How do demographic characteristics affect consumer attitudes towards organic foods? †¢ How product attributes effect consumer attitudes towards organic foods? †¢ How consumer perceived values influence consumer attitudes towards organic foods? †¢ What is the relationship between consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods and their intentions to purchase? †¢ How can results of the study be applied by managers and marketers? Research Objectives. Regarding to the significance of the growing market of organic foods in the world, and to the previous studies on consumer attitudes towards organic foods and its effects on purchase intentions in several countries (e. g. Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Denmark) we intend to carry out such similar studies in Peninsula Malaysia with objectives as the following: †¢ To report the descriptive analysis on the organic buyers’ demographic characteristics †¢ To identify the effects of demographic characteristics (specifically level of households income) on consumer attitudes towards organic foods. †¢ To determine effects of product attributes on consumer attitudes towards organic foods †¢ To investigate the relation of consumer perceived values to consumer attitudes towards organic foods †¢ To determine the relationship between consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods and their intentions to purchase †¢ To clarify implications for managers and marketers Literature Review Demographics Based on findings from previous research, demographic characteristics were evaluated as one of the major predictors in gaining intention to purchase the organic food in Peninsula Malaysia. According to Robinson R. and Smith C. (2002), the demographic of consumers consist of various characteristics namely the gender, age, household income and education level. Each element has been contributed in forming the valued attitudes towards buying the organic products. Hence, the demographic characteristics, especially on household income is seemingly significant and being the focus in this research. This will eventually lead to the desired intention in buying such products for daily consumption. Level of Household Income. Whilst referring to the studies done in the US, it is seemingly apparent that the demographic variables which herby refer as the income distribution, is significant predictors (Bartels & Reinders, 2009). The research on this particular subject has proven that income positively influenced buying behaviour which in turn may cause the perceived buying behaviour towards the organic food. A same result has shown in Germany as well (Bartels & Reinders, 2009). In Germany, demographic variables such as household income distribution have played an important role in developing significant effect on organic buying behaviour. However, the overall inevitability of the demographic characteristics was relatively different, taking into consideration of research carried in various Western countries. These findings verify the results of earlier studies by Clark & Goldsmith (2006) and Im et al. (2003) proven that the intellectual practice on using the demographic characteristics such as household income distribution and domain specific innovativeness will be seen as strategic tools for market segmentation. In the Western countries, research has identified that the demand and willingness in expenditure on organic goods often affiliated closely with various socioeconomic and demographic variables (Wier et al. , 2008). In addition, Menghi (1997) found that the majority households with middle and higher income levels showed a greater tendency in purchase and consuming organic foods. However, it is shown that almost all of these studies are based upon hypothesized future behaviour rather than observed behaviour in both Denmark and UK. Hence, studies have been carried out by researchers to further invent on the influences of demographic characteristics especially in household income in guiding the intention of buying the organic goods. Through the research it is revealed that higher disposable household income (approximated by total food expenditure) will lead to higher positive intention in purchasing the organic food. Consumers with a lower household income alongside with lower level of education are found to be least likely to have heard of organic agriculture (Roitner-Schobesberger et al. , 2008). On a contrary, those who have a higher income and hold an academic degree are more likely to be the target segmentation in purchasing organic products (Roitner-Schobesberger et al. , 2008). It is also mentioned that the correlation between the household income level is very much linked to the level of education as well. As mentioned by Robinson R. and Smith C. (2002), intended purchases of sustainably produced foods did not differ for demographic characteristics such as household annual income educational attainment. Through the research carried out by Ross NJ.et al. (2000), they have suggested that consumers with a higher earning incomes were more likely to have purchased locally produced food, mainly focus on the organic consumption by various segmentations. Their research and findings were supported earlier by Govindasamy R. and Italia J. (1998) whereby the same results applied. Groups with a higher household income tend to have purchased foods produced with reduced pesticides. In UK particularly, social group is employed as an indicator of income brackets (Wier et al. , 2008). Research has revealed that the tendency in purchase the organic goods seem to increase in accordance to the given social status. However, the highest organic budget shares are observed for middle class households whilst shares in the upper middle class being in fact lower. Quite captivatingly, a similar phenomenon is observed to be happened in Denmark as well. Organic Food Attributes Organic food attributes influence consumer buying decision. Several empirical studies have been performed on customer perceptions of organic food attributes and how they formed the consumer attitudes towards food. In the present research, among different product attributes, we have selected: price of organic food, environmentally friendliness of organic food and organic food availability. Price of Organic Food Organic foods are often of a price premium above conventional products. According to Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) in Thailand the price difference between organic and non-labeled conventional vegetables in Bangkok varied between 50 percent and 170 percent and in some cases even 400 percent. However, in some countries such as Finland there were not significant premium prices for organic foods (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005). As Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) pointed out that despite the price difference of organic and non-organic food, nearly 60% of the ‘organic buyers’ said that the price of organic products was not a problem. In addition, ‘non-organic buyers’ ranked some other items as a reason of not purchasing organic food rather than higher prices. Chryssohoidis & Krystallis (2005) claimed that while 100 percent of people would prefer organic to conventional products with the assumption of similar price, this percentages dropped by only 20 percent when the same question was posed regardless the higher price of organic food. In other words, higher price is an important obstacle for a limited percentage of consumers. Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) found out that in Bangkok men were more likely to purchase organic foods than women and concluded that it might be due to the reason of men being willing to pay a higher price premium for organic products than women. Similarly, a study in Klang Valey, Malaysia showed that women werre more likely than men to agree that they would purchase more organic foods if they were less expensive (Ahmed, 2010). Additionally, heavy users were on average stage whereby they are willing to pay higher price premiums than medium and light users (Wier et. al, 2008). Environmentally friendliness of organic food Consumers are getting more conscious and concerned with the consumption of chemical substance used in farming and preserving environment is becoming a strong attitude among consumers. According to Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005), subjective norms’ effect on attitudes has been mainly found in behaviors, that involved some kind of ethical decision, and also buying organic food can be seen as ethical decision reflecting environmental concern. In addition, perceived quality is associated with environmentally friendly practices (Ness et. al, 2009). The perception of organic food products as environmentally friendly was a common intuition and has been examined in several studies (Ahmed, 2010; Honkanen et. al, 2006). It is believed that when the consumers have more concern about their health and environmental protection, they will be more likely to have a positive attitude to organic foods (Ness et. al, 2010). Honkanen et. al (2006) found that ecologically oriented consumers were more likely to form intentions to purchase and consume organic food. In other words, the more people are concerned about environment, the more positive attitude they have towards organic food. Organic Food Availability Lack of organic food availability and variety in store is considered as one of the barriers to consumer purchase. Fresh vegetables (which include fresh herbs) were considered the most widely available organic product group rather than other organic foods (Roitner-Schobesberger et. al, 2008). Chryssohoidis & Krystallis (2005) stated that limited availability was the main factor that hinders organic purchasing. Although according to Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008), in Thailand, majority of organic buyers were satisfied with availability of organic products. Most of them reported that they would like to buy more organic products, especially a wider range of vegetables. Value to the Customer. In every product that consumer purchased and used, they in turn are expecting value from it. Value can be defined as a benefit that consumer is receiving by using a product. Benefits here mean sensory appeal of the product, taste, fun, freshness, quality and healthiness of the products. These are some main reasons that encouraged consumer to purchase the organic food. The value may vary from one consumer to another; however there will definitely be one value that effect the buying attitude which motivate the buying intention of consumers. Health Effect of Organic Food Several perceptions contributed to health attribute include the reason of being good for health, good for children, not containing pesticides, high in fiber, natural and nutritious and safer to eat (Roitner-Schobesberger, et. al, 2008; Saher et. al 2006; Lockie et. al, 2002; Ness et. al, 2009). The perceived potential hazards of modern agricultural practices such as the use of pesticides and their residues in food were perceived to be associated with long term and unknown effects on health (Miles and Frewer, 2001;Wilkins & Hillers, 1994; Williams & Hammit, 2001). Saher et. al (2006) revealed that there is very little scientific support for the common beliefs that organic food would be more healthy or nutritious than regular foods, but the belief that they have these properties remains quite strong in consumer’s mindset. The claim is debatable whether marketers can use the health claim for marketing purposes because most of the research concluded that there was no evidence that organic food was healthier or more nutritious than conventional food (Honkanen et. al, 2006). However, most studies in this area suggested that consumer’s perception of organic food as a healthy nutrition is one the most significant motives for buyers. Lockie et al. (2002) pointed out that health was the one aspect consumers are least willing to compromise. Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) in Bangkok, Thailand, examined the motives behind organic food purchase and pointed out that the most important motive was the expected positive health effects. Similarly in Malaysia, organic buyers believed that organic food was healthier compared to conventional grown food (Ahmed, 2010). In Thailand, the health aspect was closely associated with the residues from synthetic chemicals used in agriculture (Roitner-Schobesberger et. al, 2008). In fact, organic products often have a lower level of pesticide residues (Baker et al. , 2002). Lockie et. al (2002) revealed that although price was an important factor, organic consumers consider health has appeared as a more significant factor for purchasing organic food in Australia. These organic food consumers also believed that industrial methods of food processing constitute a threat to customer’s health. Another research by Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis (1997) illustrated that well-being was rated among all other motives by organic food buyers. On the other hand, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005) by examining specific organic products (bread and flour) claimed that health consciousness did not explained the general attitudes towards organic food, although they believed this results might be different by examining different organic products. Sensory Appeals Sensory appeals of organic food are part of the factors that provides value to customer. Sensory appeals include the taste, odor and also the texture of the organic product (Prescott et. al, 2002). Sometimes sensory appeals of the organic food need to be combined with the non-sensory factors such as organic food related expectations to create a value to customer which will affect their attitude towards buying organic food (Prescott et. al, 2002). Sensory factors are also influenced by cultures and background of consumers. For example, consumers from Western countries eat less spicy food compared to those from Asia. Spicy organic food might produce high value to consumers in Asian countries compared to Western. Intrinsic cues or sensory appeal that are associated with physical characteristics of the product such as taste, size, color, appearance, smell, feel and flavor were commonly used as indicators of quality on the organic food (Schifferstein et. al,1997). Quality is also value that consumers experiencing by consuming an organic food. Better sensory appeal of organic food will portray a better quality which will influence the attitude of purchasing an organic food and later increase the intention of buying the organic food. One of the most prominent sensory appeals that yield more value to consumer is taste. According to Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al (2008), taste was the third important motives that consumers purchase organic food (Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al, 2008). Others studies also emphasized that many organic food buyers believed that organic food products taste better than conventional food even if sensory evaluations have yielded inconsistent results (Fillion and Arazi,2002; McEachern and McClean,2002; Zhao et al. ,2007). Perceived Value. One of the studies conducted in eight countries concluded that individual attitudes towards buying organic food are primarily based on the belief about the benefits (Thogersen, 2000). Benefits or value to consumers such as healthy, taste better and environment friendly supersede all the other factors such as belief about the cost. The same proven in one of the study conducted in Klang Valley. Most of the respondents reported that they choose to buy organic food products because they perceived organic food as very healthy, fresher and natural (Bayaah Ahmad et.all, 2010). As such, value of organic food towards customers’ effect their attitudes towards buying which will motivates their intention of purchasing the organic product. Consumers also value organic food as nutritional food since it is produced using traditional method whereby the original nutrition from the food is preserved. Nutrition belief was one of the reasons that made people appeared to have different food styles and often express themselves as having food adventurousness or pickiness (Chen, 2007). Organic food adds value to consumers who has such belief and it will influence their intention of consuming it by affecting the buying behavior. Besides, Chen (2007) points out that an individual’s personal interests or traits act a part in establishing personal food choice criteria through the values held by the individual. These values comprise nutrition beliefs, weight control concerns, and so on. For instance, people seem to have different food-styles and often express themselves as having food adventurousness or pickiness. Another important motive to purchase organic food as reported by Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al (2008) is the consumer’s search for new, trendy and attractive food products. Attitudes towards Organic food and Intention to purchase Basically, consumer attitudes are found to be the most important predictor of intention to buy (Honkanen et. al, 2006). Several studies have found that higher perceived product quality leads to more positive re-purchase intentions (Bou-Llusar et. al, 2001; Hult, & Kandemir 2004; Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005). Chen (7007) highlighted that if the consumer’s attitude towards organic foods is positive, the consumer’s attitude to purchase organic food will be more likely to be positive. This is also consistent with another study performed by Honkanen et. al (2006) indicating that relation between attitude and intention is positive and quite strong, indicating that consumers with positive attitudes towards consumption of organic food are more likely to form intentions to consume such food, therefore converting positive attitudes to intentions. Methodology Theoretical Research Framework [pic] Figure1. Theoretical Research Framework Hypothesis Development: Hypothesis 1: There is a relationship between demographic characteristics of consumers and their attitudes towards organic foods. Hypothesis 2: There is a relationship between organic food attributes and consumer’s attitudes towards the organic food. Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between values of organic food to customer with attitudes towards buying organic foods. Hypothesis 4: When the consumer’s attitude towards organic foods is positive, the consumer’s intentions to purchase organic foods will be more likely to be positive. Research Design. The questionnaires are only designed in English; since the respondents are assumed to be relatively high educated they will be able to answer the questions without any difficulties. Furthermore it will help to keep the original meaning and understanding that respondents perceived to have towards the questions. Types of questions in questionnaires are mostly closed ended question and only two open ended question. This will only consume little time for the respondent to complete the questionnaire which will encourage them to participate in this study. There are three main categories in the prepared questionnaires. The questions in the first category are more towards understanding demographic details of the respondent such as on the age, income level, ethnicity, religion and educational level. This is useful to confirm the background of the organic food consumers. There are also questions on the product attributes which the respondents are asked to identify what are the main attributes that attract the purchase and also to determine whether this factor have a positive effect towards consumer attitude on organic food. Last part in the questionnaires is designed to understand the value of organic food to customers. All these questions are to test four hypotheses of this study. Data Collection The target population consists of organic food buyers in Peninsula Malaysia. In order to carry out the sampling Peninsula Malaysia is divided in to 3 major regions namely Northern, Central and Southern region. Northern region will be represented by Penang, Central region will be Klang Valley and Southern region of Peninsula Malaysia is represented by Johor Bahru. These three areas are chosen based on the economic development and availability of the organic products. From each region shopping complexes and supermarkets that provide organic products are identified. By using random sampling, three shopping complexes and supermarkets in urban areas are selected. Since target respondent with higher educational level and purchasing power are scattered around these urban areas, these will be perfect places to conduct this research. Those three supermarkets and shopping complexes are ensured to be far from each other so that the collected samples will be more accurate in representing the population in each region. Total sample size comprises of 540 individual respondents is collected using convenience sampling and respondents will be approached randomly. Since this study is conducted in large scale, convenient sampling will be more cost effective compared to other types of sampling. Furthermore conducting other types of sampling will be time consuming and the accuracy of the collected samples to represent the actual population will be questionable. In order to collect the data, 60 self-administered consumer questionnaire surveys are distributed in each shopping complexes which will result in 180 questionnaires from each region. Considering the validity of the data, we are expecting a total of about 500 questionnaires to be usable in the later part of data analysis. Although there is no way of knowing if those included are representative of the overall population, the survey is still expected to give a first overview of relevant issues and to allow to derive insights into the perception of organic food buyers in Peninsula Malaysia. Data Analysis After data is collected, data will be edited and coded. Editing data is very essential part of data analysis especially when researches involve open ended questions. Editing is done immediately after data is collected so that the respondent can be contacted if any clarification needed. The edited data are identified through usage of different fond and colors. Coding is done before data processing is conducted. Since most of the data collected involve ordinal scale, coding becomes prudent. By doing this data accurately keyed in and avoid wrong interpretation of data. Base on the three sections in the questionnaire, data is also coded in three main groups. Data processing is done using a software program called SPSS version 17. First of all the edited and coded data is checked and scanned through. Wrongly entered and coded data will be identified using the software through methods like identification of the maximum value. Values like variance, standard deviation, mean and range are used to understand the effectiveness of the questions asked in the questionnaire and how respondents reacted to the questions. The reliability and validity test is done to check the credibility of the data. The reliability test also conducted to test the relationship of the variables through the reliability coefficient. 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