Pros and Cons of Social Network Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons of Social Network Essay According to Tynan (2005, p. 72), 70% of online users are concerned about their online privacy. Many users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter complain about how these sites do not have the appropriate settings to prevent online threats such as identity theft and the invasion of privacy. They believe that it is the responsibility of social networking sites to safeguard users’ privacy. However, users often forget how willing they are when it comes to revealing intimate details and information of their lives on these sites. This willingness to give out their personal information invites the online privacy ‘troubles’ that users often complain about. With all these information exposed to hackers, identity thieves are given a green light to tap into users’ database when users decide to reveal their information online. Thus, we can say that the users of social networking sites are the biggest threat to their own online privacy and cases of identity thefts. There are three main reasons why people choose to reveal their personal information on social networking sites. Firstly, people use social networking sites to connect, and to do so, they have to reveal personal information about themselves. As Andrews, L. (2011, p. 2) has said, â€Å"Social networking has enormous benefits, helping us stay in touch with people from our pasts and introducing us to people who share our interests. † These information includes their name, age, city they are staying in, company or school they belong to and etc. The information they provide will help long-lost friends connect with them, help them make new friends with common interests and perhaps even help them find a love interest. Another reason why people choose to reveal information about themselves is to create identity. This ‘identity’ is like the information sheet of how the user is like. Users might even want to post their every thought and actions even places they have been to, it becomes a part of their life to log on to social networking sites and post their current status (Andrews, 2011). Writing about the groups and activities a person is involved in for example, tells friends and people around him what are his interests and helps people to understand him better. Lastly, people reveal personal information to gain access to certain websites. These include gaming sites and articles provided by social networking websites, and they often request for the user’s personal information. Users might find it worth it to reveal their information in order to enjoy the entertainment provided by these sites. Thus, they might decide that since their information will be kept confidential, it is safe to provide their personal details without a second thought. It is understood that people choose to reveal their personal information online in exchange for the benefits of using social networking sites. However, they might want to think twice after hearing what dangers they are putting themselves in. Users should be aware of how they are putting their Internet privacy at risk when they reveal personal information about themselves; there are three major threats that users should be wary of. First of all, there is there is the threat of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is a serious problem among teenagers and it might cause mental illnesses such as depression to the victim. It can happen when a bully gets hold of the content a user posted on the Internet. Unlike normal bullying, where the victim can escape home to safety, the victim can get bullied even at home as it happens on the Internet. The bully can even get hold of the victim’s home address or phone number if the victim had posted it online. One of the most famous cases of online bullying is the â€Å"Star Wars Kid†, Ghyslain Raza, whose homemade video of him fighting with a pretend light sabre was leaked and had more than 15 million downloads. He had been so affected that he was admitted into a child psychiatric ward (Johnson, 2004). We can see from this case study how badly cyber bullying can affect a victim, and this started from a post that the victim had not expected would be leaked. All of these threats occur because people choose to post their details on the social networking sites. While social networking sites are growing, more people are online than ever before and this includes the bad guys on the net (Viega, 2009). Thus, we have to be even more careful about the threats that we might face online. Other than that, users should also beware identity theft. Identity theft is the use of one person’s personal information to commit fraud or other crimes (Columbia University Press, n. d. ). This can happen to users who reveal too much information on the Internet for an identity thief to pose as him or her. As Waldrop, B. (2011) has said, â€Å"A case of identity theft can be as serious as having your entire bank account to be wiped out. † This can be a very serious threat and users should beware of it. Finally, there is the lack of privacy online. The thing about social networking websites is that it has the weakest data link and was even rated by The Cocoon Blog as the second biggest online privacy threat in 2011. With a weak data link, it is easy for even non-users of social networking sites to hack into a user’s database and gain access to what the user has posted. In fact, Mark Zukerberg, the founder of Facebook himself had hacked into the email accounts of two Harvard Crimson reporters using data obtained from TheFacebook. coms logs (Carlson, 2010). This shows how information is easily accessed on social networking sites. People often believe that it is the responsibility of social networking websites to safeguard its users’ privacy. However, here are some of the reasons why users have a major role to play in protecting their own online privacy. Firstly, social networking sites can only protect their users to a limited extent. Social networking sites have really weak data links and they have too many users to be able to take care of all of them. Facebook for example, would be the third largest nation in the world if it were a country (Andrews, 2011, p. 1). We can think Facebook as the government and its privacy settings as the law. In a real country, there would be people breaking rules despite knowing the laws. A weak data link is like Facebook’s version of a weak police force, being unable to prevent data from being stolen. Hence, users cannot choose to rely solely on social networking sites to protect their privacy. Secondly, it is the user’s responsibility to provide his or her loved ones. Some of a user’s information such as home number or address is shared with his or her non-user family members. Thus, revealing information as such might bring harm to the family. An example would be if a burglar decides to break in to a user’s house, whose address he found on the Internet. If a social networking site user had revealed his address and phone number online, all the burglar has to do is to type in phone number or address in Google Search and it will direct him to the user’s home (Tynan, 2005). Finally, it is important that users are aware of what harm information they post can bring. This is so as the information that had been posted cannot be taken back. Even if the user had used the best services to get all of his data removed, the information can be reinstalled within a short period of time (Andrews, 2011). Hence, users are considered the biggest threat to their own online privacy as they are the ones who have a final say on what information they choose to post on the Internet. As mentioned in Cocoon’s 2011 List of the Top 10 Internet Privacy threats, the weakest link in the privacy chain could be the users themselves. Everything that Internet users do online leaves a digital footprint from search engine tastes to browsing patterns and social interactions. Therefore, users should be responsible for what they choose to do on the Internet, as they will never know who is watching and what online privacy threats awaits them. While enjoying the benefits that social networking websites provide them with, they should also be aware of the threats they are facing and learn to protect their own privacy. I strongly believe that the best way to do so is for users to limit the amount of intimate information they reveal online. Privacy settings on social networking sites might help but only to a certain extent and it is better to be safe then sorry. All in all, users should understand that while they are limiting the amount the intimate information of themselves online, they are also protecting themselves from their greatest Internet privacy enemy- themselves.

The Fungus Rhizopus Stolonifer

The Fungus Rhizopus Stolonifer The fungus Rhizopus stolonifer is a widely distributed thread like mold which is commonly found upon bread surfaces and other food. This is why it has the common name of black bread mold. Due to the fact that it is so common and can easily grow upon bread substances it makes it a very appropriate fungal choice to experiment on. Rhizopus stolonifer grows rapidly when placed in a moist environment where the temperature stays between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius and can easily reproduce in these temperatures. Rhizopus stolonifer is capable of causing infections in humans and so it makes it appropriate to choose Dettol, Savlon, and Bleach as substances to apply to the fungus as these substances are known to kill pathogens, fungus and clean surfaces. Fungi are known to have a resistance to certain antiseptics however if sufficient concentration of a substance is added, the antiseptic can overcome such resistances. Aim: To determine the effect of certain household substances on the growth of the Rhizopus stolonifer fungus species. Hypothesis: From the research gathered in the literature review, it is expected that- if the variables of the fungus being tested such as species, size are kept constant- Dettol will have the greatest effect on the fungal growth. As it will most efficiently overcome the resistance of the cell membrane as it will be the the first to overcome the resistance of the cell membranes of the fungi due to two of its active ingrients (CHLOROXYLENOL and ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL). It is expected that Savlon will have little or no effect on fungal growth, as through previous research gathered ( stated in literature review) Savlon only has anti-bacterial properties. Literature Reviews: There is a research paper by Mahmood and Doughari from the African Journal of Biotechnology, from the Department of Microbiology, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Federal University of Technology which was posted for peer review on 16 May 2008. It shows an experiment that was conducted in order to determine the effect of Dettol on the viability of some microorganisms associated with nosocomial infection such as Candidia albicans which is a fungus. The experiment sought to determine which concentration of Dettol the fungus would be more susceptible to destruction. Results showed that after adding Dettol little change occurred in the cell count of the fungus in 5 minutes however after 10 minutes there was a rapid decline in the cell count of the fungus. Cove and Holland suggested in 1983 that in order to completely kill all of the fungal cells, a sufficiently high concentration of the antiseptic must be in contact with the cells for longer than those cells resistance time. Cove and Holland also reported that microorganisms which were exposed to toxic agents will almost always show a constant death rate in the cells. Doughari found and then supported the idea of Cove who stated that there is a constant death rate of the cells when in prolonged contact with an antiseptic. What was good about the experiment/research? The same type of fungus was tested and all the fungi were grown to the same size. The fungi were all exposed to the same volume of antiseptic. Two types of water were used to dilute the Dettol. Bad things about the experiment/research: It was not repeated more than twice for each concentration. Our hypothesis stated that if fungi, with constant variables, were exposed to equal concentrations of Dettol, Savlon and Bleach, the Dettol would be the first substance to overcome the fungus resistance and therefore start decreasing the growth of the fungus by killing its cells. This report shows exactly how quickly the Dettol kills the cells and therefore supports our hypothesis. [1] Similarly there was another research paper by Emeka, Awodele, Agbamuche and Akintonwa which was peer review and posted on 16 April 2007 at the African Journal of Biotechnology, from the Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Idi-Araba. University of Lagos, Nigeria. Which was all about the antimicrobial activities of some commonly used disinfectants on several bacteria and fungi such as Candilida albicans. They tested Savlon, Jik and Methylated Spirit. The experiment showed that Jik and Methylated Spirit had inhibitory activities on both fungi and bacteria however Savlon had only antibacterial activity. Good things about the experiment: They inoculated and incubated each of the fungi and bacteria before the experiment to keep them sterile and to avoid cross contamination. Constant variables such as temperature were kept constant. A control was introduced. Bad things about the experiment They did not repeat the experiment enough times. In our hypothesis we expected Savlon to be weaker as an antifungal substance compared to Bleach because through this research we have come to realise that there is a potential issue that no matter how concentrated the Savlon is, it proves to be unable to kill the cells of the fungus and therefore it has no effect on the growth of the fungus. However we will still be incorporating Savlon in our experiment in order to test whether this result was valid and correct. [2] There was a third journal which had a similar experiment which was conducted in Nigeria by Oyewale, Mojeed and Oladapo at the Department of Applied Sciences. The experiment tested the effectiveness of antiseptic substances such as Savlon and Bleach on fungal growth. The results matched their hypotheses: both Bleach and Savlon managed to completely kill off the mould. Existing knowledge is that Pelczar observed that there was an initial time which enables penetration of chemical agents into the fungal cells and then this will interfere with those cells protein synthesis. The results relate to our hypothesis because it shows that Bleach can act as an effective antifungal antiseptic and therefore there is the potential that our original hypothesis is valid and correct however it opposes the experiment results of Emeka, Awodele, Agbamuche and Akintonwas experiment which stated that Savlon has no effect upon fungal growth. [3] Method: Data Plan: We will measure the size of the fungi using a series of utensils such as a square cm grid, as well as using a ruler to measure the area regularly. The growth of the fungi will be monitored and recorded daily. Then once the fungi have grown to a useable size we will measure and record the size of each fungus in each Petri dish using the same methods as before. We will then trim the fungi which are too large as we need to keep size a constant. Temperature will remain constant as well as light available to the fungi. We will then record exactly what the concentration of substance used on each fungus. This will be constant for every dish. We will then measure the change that this substance causes every 30 min for 6 hours. We will leave the fungi for a week longer, recording results and appearances daily. After a week we will restart the experiment but increase the concentration of the substances added to the fungi. Method: Prepare the bread which will be used to grow the fungus by cutting one slice into 4 equal pieces and then removing the crusts on all pieces. In this way the type of bread, thickness and size of the slice and the age of the bread is kept constant. The size of the bread should be 5 x 5 cm however this will differ according to chosen bread size. Place one piece into each Petri dish. Label the dishes A-D. Contaminate each piece with chosen fungus by using sterilized instruments. Each bread piece must receive spores of the same species of fungus. Monitor the fungi growth for about two weeks until it has grown enough to undergo the experiment with. These dishes must be left in the same environment therefore keeping light and temperature equal for all dishes, preferably a temperature/light controlled room. Trim the larger grown fungi so that the size of the fungi is constant in all dishes however this is not strictly necessary. Record the size of the fungi. Prepare the household substances which you will be treating the fungi with. The concentration of substance to water must be equal for all the substances; therefore if one substance is mixed with water, then all are mixed with the same volume of water. Using substance A, place 2ml of substance on every 1cm of fungus growth in dish A. Do the same for dishes B and C. Place the same amount of sterilized water onto the fungus in dish D. Record the size of the fungi every 30 minutes for 8 hours. Take note of any other observational changes such as colour and smell. Note: Replace the lid on the Petri dish and place back in a light/temperature controlled room. After an hour, leave the fungi for the night and take notes the next day. Record size changes again if available. Do this every day for the rest of the week. After a week, clean up the dishes and sterilize all equipment. Repeat the experiments however use a stronger concentration of substances this time. Results: Table showing the results recordings every 30 minutes for the size changes in the fungi after 3 different substances were individually placed in contact with the fungus.

Frankfurt Schools Contribution To Popular Culture Cultural Studies Essay

Frankfurt Schools Contribution To Popular Culture Cultural Studies Essay The idea that culture is mass produced came from two German academics named Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer. These two intellectuals, who would later begin a cultural enquiry, were members of The Frankfurt School. This institute was established in 1923 and consisted of many other German left-winged intellectuals. It was very much interested in the ideas of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud and therefore endeavoured to study the emergence of capitalist societies through the exploration of Marxism and psychoanalysis. This is what The Frankfurt School referred to as critical theory. The Frankfurt School, Adorno and Horkheimer in particular, were interested in studying popular culture and the mass production of cultural artefacts which they later referred to as the culture industry. In order to explore The Frankfurt Schools contribution to our understanding of popular culture, firstly we need to ask; what is culture? The word culture suggests a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group. (Storey, 2006.1) It can also refer to the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activities. (Storey, 2006.1) The word cultivate was used to refer to the cultivation of land but now it can refer to the cultivation of the mind. Culture plays an important part in how human societies communicate with each other and how the new technological developments which contribute to this create a new type of culture known as popular culture. An obvious starting point in any attempt to define popular culture is to say that popular culture is simply culture which is widely favoured or well liked by many people. (Storey, 2006.4) Popular culture is centred on consumerism and is dominated by money; there is no part of popular culture that one doesnt have to pay for. Popular culture produces products known as commodities which have a use value and an exchange value. A commodity is only a commodity if it can be replaced by something else. Commodity fetishism was an idea that came out of popular culture. Capitalist organisations fetishize commodities and invest them with power that they do not really have. They discourage us from asking where the things we consume actually come from. These companies do not want us to think about this process. The idea that capitalist companies are manipulating the thoughts of the masses about what they consume and the great power that they have leads us to the term mass culture. In a mass culture, industrialised society there are no longer the same traditional values. The idea of an organic community no longer exists. The individual is left more and more to his or her own devices, has fewer and fewer communities or institutions in which to find identity or values by which to live, and has less and less idea of the morally appropriate ways to live.(Strinati, 2004.6) The Frankfurt School argue that the culture industry is killing the desire that might let us imagine a better world. They have an ideal notion of what human beings are capable of. The institute believes that we could never create a better world as long as we are part of this commodity culture. Adorno stated that the culture industry does not give the mass any responsibility for the culture that they are consuming, yet the masses are unaware of this which explains their passivity in accepting it. Although the culture industry undeniably speculates on the conscious and unconscious state of the millions towards which it is directed, the masses are not primary but secondary. . . The customer is not king, as the culture industry would have us believe, not its subject but its object. (Strinati, 2004.55) This point further emphasises the power that the culture industry has on the masses. With living in a culturally industrialised society comes conformity. Conformity replaces the consciousness of the masses according to The Frankfurt School. They believed that the masses are dependent on the culture industry and that the masses themselves are no longer producing culture. Through researching the works of The Frankfurt School, we can understand that the masses are oblivious to the mass controlled culture in which they live due to the face that everything is pseudo-individualised. Products that were being produced by the culture industry were all standardised. This meant that they all had certain characteristics that made them significantly similar. The Frankfurt School, Theodore Adorno in particular, realised that the industry knew that standardised products would sell and therefore they needed to be given a supposed uniqueness to provoke the masses to continue buying them. This was referred to as pseudo-individualism. The Frankfurt School stated that the culture industry created false needs in the pursuit of profit while ignoring the true needs of humans. According to The Frankfurt School the cultural industry and mass culture, . . . shapes the tastes and preferences of the masses, thereby moulding their consciousness by instilling the desire for false needs. (Strinati, 2004.55) They point out that the capitalist industries bring in a lot of profit through what they called waste production. They generated products that, in the opinion of The Frankfurt School, the masses did not need. Masses become so enthralled in the culture industry that their consciousness is overridden. The masses become too interested in the falsehoods that the industry has created and tend to forget about satisfying their true human needs. The school argues that it is due to all of this that the culture industry maintains its stability. With regards to true and false needs, Theodore Adorno once wrote, The indistinguishability of true and false needs is an essential part of the present phase one day it will be readily apparent that men do not need the trash provided them by the culture industry. (Adorno, Theodore W, The Culture Industry revisited at http://books.google.co.uk.p.156 accessed on 27/10/10) Another point that The Frankfurt School has highlighted to us in order to contribute to our understanding of popular culture is that a lot of culture is very homogeneous. They believed that all aspects of popular culture were generic and predictable. They could not fathom the fact that the masses were accepting this constant reproduction of the same thing. They believed that people should want something more; something different and challenging. The culture industry followed a formula. The reason for the formulaic structure of the industry and the way in which its products were produces was because it was successful. This particular formula and method of mass producing standardised products generated profit. When referring to this great power that the culture industry has, Adorno says, Today anyone who is incapable of talking in the prescribed fashion, that is of effortlessly reproducing the formulas, conventions and judgements of mass culture as if they were his own, is threatened in his very existence, suspected of being an idiot or an intellectual. (Adorno, 1991. 79) Critics of The Frankfurt School say that they do not appreciate just how diverse and hybrid popular culture is. They also say that The Frankfurt School invest too much power in the culture industry and that they consider capitalism as being more stable than it actually is. Critics believe that the culture industry has a lot more potential than The Frankfurt School gives it credit for. The term culture has been described by Richard Williams as, One of the two or three most complicated words in the English language. (Storey, 2006.1) Although some agree with this statement, The Frankfurt School has contributed greatly to our understanding of popular culture by highlighting how culture has become commercialised in the pursuit of profit. It points out to us that in a culturally industrialised society, no one thinks for themselves and that they consume this culture because it has been imposed onto them. The authenticity and traditional aspects of culture are no longer present and we can now come to the realisation that we will always live in a culture that is controlled by capitalism and consumerism. Everything that is presented to us, including the false needs that the industry provides is all in the interests of capital and profit. Our ability to understand how the culture industry works is aided greatly by the work of The Frankfurt School. References Storey, John (2006) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction Strinati, Dominic (2004) An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture (Second Edition) Adorno, Theodore W (1991) The Culture Industry

Affirmative Action Essay -- essays research papers

The roots of Affirmative Action can be traced back to the passage of the Civil Rights Act where legislation redefined public and private behavior. The act states that to discriminate in private is legal, but anything regarding business or public discrimination is illegal. There are two instances when opposing affirmative action might seem the wrong thing to do. The nobility of the cause that help others. Affirmative Action was a great starter for equality in the work place. The most promanite variable in deciding Affirmative Action as right or wrong, is whether or not society is going to treat people as groups or individuals. Affirmative Action is a question of morals. The simplicity to form two morals that are both correct but conflicting is the reason for the division of our nation on Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is very noble when looking at who benefits from the outcome. Let us take a closer look at Affirmative Action. The people that are involved and the damage it takes on our society arouses many doubts. Taking a closer look also stirs up a question of nobility that needs to be answered before making a decision on Affirmative Action. Does Affirmative Action simply change who is discriminated against and makes it legal for the new discriminators? Coming from my point of view, the view of a white male, this is a serious question. The job reviews of supervisors and others involved in hiring should address race and sex. Each review should have a hiring goal of at least half of our new employees being women and at least half non-white. Lets put this strategy to work. We have ten positions to fill, these positions can be filled following the above guidelines by hiring five black women. It can also be met by hiring five white women and five non-white men. Obviously to successfully meet this goal would mean to not hire a white male. People strongly disagree with their white forefathers and society today which address race and sex when hiring. Using a persons skin color in hiring is discrimination no matter how society looks at it. The whole idea behind Affirmative Action is to right the wrongs of the past. Well, what about the individuals that were not even born when this atrocity of discrimination was going on? Society should not punish the youth for the crimes of their white male fore... ... not force them into the work force or Universities. Some Universities here in the United States have based enrollment on College Board's and SAT's or ACT's, none of which show intelligence levels. Rather these test's show the standards of education that the individual has encountered. These test scores sometimes become a form of discrimination against minorities. Because they are not fluent in how the test are held and are supposed to know the same amount. Another form of evaluating students is where the Universities and government need to focus, to establish a standard in education that spans across all levels of income. Affirmative Action is definitely not the answer for equality today. Now it is time to apply new moral threats, not towards the employers and colleges but towards the government. For it is the government that needs to change its polices. The government needs to take action towards the real problems of equality: poverty, not the bad white man from the past. Affirmative action is simply the same old discrimination in reverse. It seems that the minorities are the ones with the advantage when there should be no advantage to anyone.

John Cover :: Biography

â€Å"Jack is an unsung hero. He did something great for the world, saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of injuries,† said retired police captain, Greg Meyer (Jack Cover, page 1 of 3). Rick Smith, the chief executive and founder of Taser International, said in a statement,† Jack was one of the most influential inventors of modern times, who affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, citizens, and even criminal suspects,† (Taser Inventor Dead at 88, page 2 of 4). From the quotes of these two men, it is clearly seen that John Cover did something tremendous that would affect the lives of thousands. Many people have never heard of this man, so they do not know what he invented. Well, this man invented the Taser, the non-lethal weapon that uses pulses of electrical current to disrupt the target’s ability to control his or her muscles† (John Cover: Inventor of the Taser, page 1 of 2). The term â€Å"open-minded† mean s, â€Å" Receptive to new ideas or to reason† (The American Heritage Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus, page 520). John Cover was an extremely open-minded inventor who kept an open mind to any new ideas he or his assistants came up with. John Higson Cover was born on April 6, 1920, in New York. Cover was later nick-named â€Å"Jack†, which was what most people came to know him by. Cover grew up in Chicago where his father was the Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5791955.ece). No other records of his parents or childhood were found. Cover then went to the University of Chicago, where he earned his PhD in physics ( www.timesonline.co). Cover began to invent things such as cooked food testers and voice activated switches in his spare time, early in his career (http://www.nbcfw.com/news/archive/Taser-Inventor-Dead-at-88.htmlcorder=reverse). Cover was a test pilot in the United Stated Air Force in World War II. In 1952-1964, Cover was employed by the American Aviation. Then, in 1970, Cover set up the Taser Systems Company (www.timesonline.co). No claimed religion was found. â€Å"Cover’s goal was to invent a non-lethal weapon to combat the plane hijackings and riots that were occurring in the 1960s,† said Rick Smith, chief executive and founder of Taser International (www.nbcfw.com). The battery operated Taser projects darts attached to insulated wires to give electric shocks over a range of a few meters (www.timesonline.co). Though it was designed to be a non-lethal weapon, the Taser has caused a few deaths (Jack Cover, Taser Inventor, page 1 of 4).

ACE Hardware Point of Purchase Observation

Determine the shoppers' decision process. B. Methodology The strength of observation methods lies In â€Å"what It Is†. The subject is not required to recall actions, to answer a questionnaire or to complete a personal Interview. Likewise, the observer Is not In a position to Interpret an answer by an Interviewee. Action is recorded not interpretation. Covert observational research is used. Researchers do not identify themselves. Researchers are either mixing in the subjects undetected, or observing from the distance.This method is used so that the subjects' behavior will not be contaminated by the presence of the researcher. Customers will be observed regardless of whether or not they Interested in certain departments or whether they seemed to be only passing through. All persons, once â€Å"picked up†, will be documented and considered In the analysis even If no purchases are made. The observation location will be focused on the ground floor of ACE Hardware BCC.Resear chers will spread accordingly to the customers movements. The conversion rate of the store will be determined by observing the number of customers coming in only from the main door and customers purchasing at the cashiers of the ground level. Any other activities that take place on the other floor(s) ill not be observed. To avoid biases regarding the elements of the store, researchers will also implement some simple personal interview to the ACE Hardware staffs.By doing so, researchers may interpret the observational data collected more accurately. C. Point of Purchase Observation Things to be observed: Store Measurement Conversion or Closure Rate The amount of time a shopper spends In a store Interception Rate (percentage of customers who have contact with a store employee) Shopping Behavior Departments visited Things seen and touched Things put In the cart Time spent Purchase decision Store Management .Display Location of each departments Products put on the rack at the height the eye level Price tags (is there any differences between products displayed on display table and those on the rack) Differences of products on the height of eye level, above eye level, and under eye level (price, type, colors, shape, etc. ) Products arrangement Lighting b. Store Assistances Employees approach to consumers How to deal with queries and complaints c. In Store Promotion Current promotions Terms and conditions of the promotion Upcoming promotions d. Service Environment Must be available in the service Environment

Ageism: Is it acceptable in today’s society?

Research would Indicate that we stereotype older people because we fear old age. We fear the loss of physical and mental ability, of attractiveness, learning power, status, and independence. We seek to distance ourselves from what we worry might be our own future when we are older and so we create what we fear. This is especially true for women. Our ageist society can greatly effect and impact negatively on a woman's self- perception as stereotypes about age is ingrained In us during youth and further enforced by society and media.This Is done through magazine ads, billboards, television. Commercials, and movies, newspapers and videos. Women are the predominant victims of age discrimination and are burdened with the negative effects. It is very common that as women age they should try to retain a youthful appearance. The biggest negative impact that women deal with is a negative body image. â€Å"Body image is important to a woman's self-concept and provides a basis for her own Iden tity, for her ability to perform different activities, and for the goals she as set her for herself' (Unit 2, pig. 37). According to Tunable, et al. (pig. 743) women In our society continue to be valued for their sexual attractiveness and their physical appearance which they define as being crucial for attracting and maintaining a relationship with a male partner. A second example of how an ageist society can negatively impact a women's self-perception is from the article â€Å"Ageing as a Feminist Issue† by Cherry Russell stating that â€Å"old women face a host of problems which include greater poverty, higher rates of aloneness, Institutionalizing, loneliness, equidistant In work and remarriage, Ill health and metallization† (Unit 1, pig. ). Even comparing different statistics on Stats Canada will show you that men generally do well and better in ageing. The lack of research that has been done on ageing women compared to ageing men is incomparable. Therefore to know how accurate these statistics really are is unknown considering that the fastest growing population is women and this is predicted to continue over the next many years. Unfortunately our society today supports the ageist stereotype and does not try to reflect upon any hangers to the myths that are out In society today.For example, the media continues to flash very young, beautiful women on TV and commercials promoting annotating creams, booth and fillers and they will use anyone over 60 when promoting medications or trying to sell retirement homes or medical devices depicting them as though they all need assistance. The truth is that society's view of â€Å"old age† has not kept up with the reality of older Canadians health or the fact that while many people over the age of 65 experience some physical and mental limitations, they learn to live tit them and lead happy and productive lives (Unit 2, pig. 7). Society has the tendency to lump all seniors into one demographic grou p whereas in fact, the elderly are a very diverse group. As people age they tend to get more different from one another due to the different lifetime milestones (Unit 2, pig. 28). Another example of a myth in today's society that I can relate to myself in my field of work is the myth that intelligence declines with age. Where I work doctors will perform MUSE and MOCHA intelligence with older people did have lower scores when compared to younger people, the elderly were not exposed to such tests before.Once the elderly had some training in these types of tests their scores improved and some even better than their counterparts. Lastly, my favorite example is Centenarians. There are approximately three thousand people in Canada who are 100 years old or older. The myth here that this challenges is that all older people are sick and frail. This group of people show remarkable good health and many are actually healthier then their younger generation in the ass's or ass's. Therefore in con clusion, living in a society in this day and age where ageism still exists does not make sense.There is so much information out there and help available for other stereotypes and â€Å"ism's† such as sexism and racism that in today's world with the information that we have, ageism should never exist and it should more widely discussed. Society should be more accepting of the ‘ageing self and embrace it rather than trying to reverse it. Plenty of money and time and effort are wasted on trying to change such a natural process hat it ruins people's perceptions and acceptance of other's.