Fiscal Policy Simulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fiscal Policy Simulation - Essay Example In 2008, however, as the economy continues to expand, inflation has surged up to 10.05%. A very high figure from the previous years, to address the inflation is the major aim of the government. In order to address the inflation, the government has adopted a contractionary fiscal policy, which entails decrease in expenditure for infrastructure of 600 million, decrease in spending in the educational programs, and decrease in the income tax rate. The effects of these changes include a taming of the inflation rate, down to 5.30%. However, as what economics is about, there is always a tradeoff—because of the decrease spending, unemployment rate increases from 3.53% to 4.35%. Lastly, real GDP decreases from 42.00 billion to 41.32 billion in 2008. In 2009, as the economy continues to approach its potential output, inflation continues to be beyond the acceptable level. In order to curb down inflation and bring it down, the government has to adopt contractionary policy by decreasing spending in educational programs by 400 million. This change lowers real GDP from 42.00 billion to 41.35 billion. This aims to curb down inflation rate from 42.00 billion to 41.35 billion. However, due to decrease in spending, unemployment is expected to increase from 3.53% to 4.32%. b. Erehwon’s marginal propensity to consume is 0.8, which means that for every dollar the consumers receive, 0.8 cents are spent. Given this, the multiplier of the economy is computed by using the formula 1/1-mpc. With a computed mutliplier of five, for every change in the components of aggregate demand, the overall economy expands five times. Let us examine the first situation. In the first situation, the government spending for infrastrucue is 300 million, and 100 million for educational program. This increases the aggregate demand not by 400 million, but by the increase multiplied by the

Critical thinking Essay Example for Free

Critical thinking Essay In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a â€Å"claim† or â€Å"thesis statement,† backed up with evidence that supports the idea. In most college papers, one needs to make some sort of claim and use evidence to support it. One’s ability to do this will separate a good paper from other papers. We use argument in everyday life to convince somebody of my ideas or opinion, convince our teachers we deserve a better grade. A better argument is accomplished if no emotion is involved. One component of argument is logic. Claims are statements about what is true or good or about what should be done or believed. Claims are potentially arguable. For example, recent tax cuts should be abandoned another is the civil war is caused by slavery. In making an argument one must use reason to support the claim. Reason is a statement that supports a given claim or in other words â€Å"why do you say that claim?† support is the evidence that we use; one example of evidence is statistics. When making an argument we must remember to use warrants which is influences or assumptions that connect the support to the claim. A very important part when making an argument is to come across to the audience as a credible speaker or arguer that has sufficient evidence, that the evidence is based on research or scholarly articles. It is important to also remember that every argument has a counterargument. Which the argument more interesting and also strong its not one that everyone agrees with.

Spiral of Silence: Communication Theory

Spiral of Silence: Communication Theory This is a report based on the communication theory â€Å"Spiral of Silence and the aim of the report is to investigate the theory more into detail, to validate it and to see how it applies to our society, mainly in the I.T industry. The report outlines the finding that I have researched and complied with the help of books, data bases, journals and external sources. Based on the theory, Elizabeth Noelle Neumann stated that if individuals believed that they are part of the minority, the less likely they are to voice their opinion due to the fear of isolation. There were many other theorists that supported her view and others that had stated so before her. There was a variety of theory being investigated and in many different forms but the all focused on one thing which was, the â€Å"fear of social isolation†. There were many forms of research method used, based on the public view, a country as a whole and as individual view. The theory is said to apply to very delicate topics such as war, politics, misuse of authority and other views that could cause massive debate. This is the reason why people tend to think twice when it comes to voicing their views if they believe that they are in the minority group. Having a fair idea of what the theory is about, I will validate the theory with all the information that I have found and prove the theory stating if the theory has any connection to our society and individuals. Introduction Purpose This report is based on the theory spiral of silence those main purpose is to state how it can be applied to everyday situations and particularly the I.T industry. Research is an investigative process where we search systematically for solutions to problems. It is about rules to guide our research and helping us to evaluate the research of others. The function of the research is to test the theory. Research is the instrument used to test whether a theory is correct or not. It is the process by which data is gathered to generate a theory and used to test a theory. This main purpose for this report is to explain the theory in detail and outline the key issues that the theory sates. Also it helps us understand communication theory better and clearer, since communication is an important skill to have in the I.T industry and we also use it in our everyday lives, it is an important skill to have. There are a lot of topics and political problems that people are afraid to talk about and spea k out on and so I will try to prove or investigate the theory and see if the theory relates to what it states and if the theorists is credible. Scope In the report I will be investigating the theory and its relationship it has to communication. I will also evaluate the credibility of the theorists and the theory and how it can be applied to the present day situations particularly in the information technology industry. There were a lot of different views expressed and in different context. I will be focusing more in the involvement and effect that the media has on us as individuals in forming opinions. Since media is seen to play a major role in this theory, I will focus more on it but not forgetting the other factors that may cause the spiral of silence. I will also outline some of the tests and experiments that were done by some scholars and theorist and evaluate it. Limitations During the overall completion of the project I did face certain problems and ran into difficulties. Firstly although there was enough time given to complete the research I had other projects to complete, which in turn made it difficult to compile the report. There was however a bit of restriction on the amount of information that was available on the internet, in that case I had rely on the other sources like the pro-quest and the online data base. There werent many books available in the library that contained information regarding my theory so my tutor was able to issue me with some books which did help me compile my research. The computer labs on campus were usually occupied and so I had to do most of my research and the typing at home. Research Methods Searching for information and investigating the theory was a very challenging task to do especially when here were limited resources available on the internet. There were information available but most of it had similar information which made it hard to use. I had to use all resources available including library data bases, internet and old scholar journals. I wasnt really able to find any books in the library, but I was able to get two books from my tutor that contained information about my theory and it provided me with a lot of details that helped me understand the theory in details and explained the theory in detail and context. It explained a lot about the theory stating the history and how it is viewed by the public and each individual. Most of the information which I found on the internet was manly repeated and each website stated almost similar information which really stated the same information. The only relevant information that I was able to use was the information about the theory and the theorist. The Scholar journals did have a bit more information about the theory which mainly based on a research that was done. I found some journal that stated a research and the findings of the investigation. It looked at the theory in a different form in which it was applied in an investigation and research. Structure Of The Report In this report I will briefly explain and introduce the theory then explain the purpose, scope, research methods and limitations of the research. I will also do a literature review that will briefly review some of the sources where I got my information from. The main body will contain the findings, background, key issues, and application of the theory then finally evaluate it. In the final part I will summarise my report and then state my opinions and thoughts about the theory. Literature Review Book Reviews Book 1: Communication Theories for Everyday Life John R. Baldwin, Stephen D. Perry, Mary Anne Moffitt. (2003). Communication Theories for Everyday Life (1st Edition). Person: Allyn Bacon, Inc. Summary The book Communication Theories for Everyday Life (New Edition) provides us with a lot of information on the theory by Elizabeth Neumann, The Spiral of silence. The authors in this book mainly focus the theory spiral of silence based on the media which is said to play an influential role. They believe that the media plays an important role in influencing the public into making decisions or ideas. They explained how the theory provides some insight into why we might avoid contributing to some political discussions but participate fully in others based on our observation of opinion in the real world. Sports can also bring out heated opinions in certain settings with fans of a certain team will argue or debate amongst a member of the opposing teams. When issues like this arise we tend to be more careful about when and to whom we express our ideas and opinions. We are constantly surveying our environment subconsciously for trends in public opinions. Television is believed to be the most influential medium for this theory since it is everywhere. We may not own a TV of our own but we see it in stores, airports or at a friends house. Being part of the majority is what most people tend to want and we will compare our opinions with that of the majority because we desire social inclusion. Therefore if someone believes he or she is in the minority, that person will be inhibited from speaking out and expressing the minority view point. Validation After carefully reading and analysing the following abstract from the book, I conclude that the facts that were stated in this book do have some connections to the theory. They have outlined a lot of ideas to what the theory spiral of silence is about. It also points out some important facts mainly that mass media is seen to be a very important tool in changing peoples views or forming their decisions. Since people tend to base their decisions on the majoritys choice. It also provides some insight into how television actually has an impact on the people as a whole. It proves that people are double mined on speaking out as a minority and will be more comfortable if they believe that they are part of the majority. Since there is a lot of support in the majority we wont fear social isolation, but if we are in the minority there is not much support and so we fear that we are on our own and so we may be isolated. According to the theory by Elizabeth she believes that mass media does have a huge effect on the theory and so the authors have based most of their finding on Neumanns theory about the media. Most of the information in the abstract concentrates on the medias influence, changes and perceptions that it may have on our opinions. Book 2: Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis Application Richard West, Lynn H. Tuner. (2004). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis Application (2nd Edition). Marquette University Summary The Book Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis Application, explains the theory spiral of silence by Elizabeth Noelle Neumann. It explains how the media has impacted our opinions and changed dramatically over the years. The authors stated that over the years the media has helped to shape and make us what we are today. They believe that Neumann focused on what happened when people provide their opinions on a variety of issues that the media have defined for the public. Her theory suggests that people who believe that they hold a minority viewpoint on the public issue will remain in the background or isolated. Where their communication will be constrained, those who believe that they hold a majority viewpoint will be encouraged to speak out. Neumann stated that the media will focus more on the majority views while underestimating the minority viewpoint. She believes that the media will only be focused on the minority and their views while forgetting the minority groups. The minori ty will be less assertive in communicating their opinions therefore leading to a downward spiral of communication. The minority will then overestimate their influence and will become emboldened in their opinions where the media reports on their opinions and activities. The media is seen to play a very important role in the theory. The media chooses to report on the majority groups opinions and activities and only tend to focus on them where they will be heard by the public. The minority will then be forgotten and so their opinions and view s are not heard. Validation The authors have highlighted some very important points about the theory. Mass media being the main focus, it has a lot of influence on peoples opinions. It is seen to be a very powerful tool that could change peoples views and mentality. It has the power to influence and change people beliefs, making them believe what they are told or shown. It is human mentality to go with the flow and just follow the crowd. We are easily convinced just because the majority rules. If we had to debate a topic and asked to choose an answer we tend to choose the group where there is a lot of support forgetting about the minority. The authors are just moving on from Neumanns theory to explaining more into detail the role of the media on our opinions. Thought they may not have done any research on the theory, they have research more on the theory and explained it in simple terms. Library Databases Journal 1: The Spiral of Silence is broken Jose Luis Barberia, Kel Pais Rel Pais. (March 5, 2009). The Spiral of Silence is broken. (1), (6). Summary This article was based on an experiment that was done in Taiwan which explored the relationships between inoculation and the spiral of silence theory. According to the writers they believed that inoculation strategies would be able to ease spiral of silence focusing on resistance to counter-attitudinal attack and willingness to speak out for fear of isolation. The study was based on random sampled citizens in Taiwan while he issue being Taiwans political future in relation the Peoples Republic of China. The results concluded that Inoculation treatments enhanced peoples resistance to attitude change. The study seeks to integrate the theories of inoculation and the spiral of silence. The factors featured in the spiral of silence theory might have significant implications for inoculation studies.They also stated that Noelle-Neumann initiated some original assumptions of the theory which was individual, media system and societal. They explained that individuals are social beings are afra id of being isolated from their fellow human being. Secondly, in order to avoid being isolated or losing popularity, individuals constantly observe their environment to locate proper positions to enable them to perceive the distribution of opinions. Third is that the individuals are capable of distinguishing between static and fluid opinions. Fourth is the social environment where individual notice that their personal opinions are spreading and supported by others will voice their opinions confidently in public. In contrast, if they notice their opinions losing ground they will adopt a more reserved attitude when speaking out in public or even withdraw from the public discussion. This is the chain reaction for fear of isolation. Validation This journal goes deep into context and explains the theory deeper and focuses on the human behaviour based on the theory. It was an experiment that was done in Taiwan, exploring the relationships between Inoculation and the spiral of silence theory. It was stated that Inoculation could counter the spiral of silence theory. The study focused more on the human behaviour and explains why we tend to isolate ourselves and are afraid to speak out in public. It helps us understand why the theory affects the minority groups. It examined the potential influences of the individuals construct on opinion expression as a cultural-level and the willingness to express opinions differing across two cultures. The test also saw that the lack of efficacy negatively predicts a willingness to express opinions while the lack of self-assurance of ones opinions negatively predicts a willingness to express opinions. Journal 2: The Spiral of Silence and Public opinion on affirmative action Patricia May, David Domke, Keith Stamm. (Spring, 2001). The Spiral of Silence and Public opinion on affirmative action. (78). (1) This journal was a study done to explain the key variables involved in Elizabeth Noelle-Neumanns Spiral of Silence Theory, which states that fearing isolation is what keeps the individuals from expressing their desired opinions because they are minority. The authors decided to carry out a test based on the theory but in the context of public discussion which was focused on affirmative action policies. They reviewed selected data from 217 randomly selected adults on October 1998 that indicated fear of isolation. It showed that fear of isolation indeed prevents one from publicly voicing perceived minority opinions. The willingness to speak out on a controversial ballot was predicted also by demographics, media use and the importance of the issue. In recent years, citizens have voted to repeal affirmative action laws and policies that have been enacted in the 1960s and 1970s; ensuring opportunity regards less of race and gender. It is believed that this trend caused more harm than good, while others disagreed arguing that affirmative action may be the best approach. There were a lot of public discussions about affirmative action. They believed that Neumann suggest that issues which are controversial tends to make people refrain from expressing their opinions if they believe that it will only be shared by minority. The study basically explores the factors contributing to peoples willingness to speak publicly on controversial topics, focusing on the concept of fear of isolation. Validation This journal is another research project investigating more on the theory. They researched it on the public opinions based on affirmative actions. The theory suggests that isolation from the publicly stating our opinions may occur people believe that they are part of the minority group. The study does prove the theory to some extent where they based the study on public opinions which does have a lot to do with the theory because it is mainly in public that people are double minded on raising their opinions. People are also cautious when speaking on controversial topics and topics which may raise some concerns or opinions. The study was seen to be successful and so does to some extent prove the theory correct. Overall in this case I can say that the theory is correct and the study done was successful and did test the willingness of the public on the controversial ballot. The only downside would be that they used data from the past and merged it with their research, which means that it may be old or irrelevant with the present time. Internet Sources Source 1: Wikipedia Wikipedia. (2009). Spiral of silence. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from Summary This web page explains Elizabeth Neumanns theory is a theoretical way. It states that the theory is a political science and mass communication theory. The spiral of silence begins with the fear of retaliation or isolation and escalates from there. Mass media is seen to play a major role in determining what the dominant opinion is, since our observation is limited to a small percentage of the population. Neumann describes the spiral of silence as a dynamic process, where public opinion becomes a fact as mass medias coverage of the majority opinion gets more publicity, and the minority becomes less likely to speak out. The theory is seen to only apply to moral or opinion issues, not issues that can be proven right or wrong using facts. People who are highly educated, or who have greater affluence or those who do not fear isolation will speak out regardless of public opinions which means the minority is a necessary factor of change while the compliant majority is a necessary factor of s tability, with both being a product of evolution. Most research is focused on social issues such as smoking and the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The concept of isolation has a variety of definitions, depending on the circumstances it is investigated in. It could be defined as social withdrawal which means less interaction. Researchers have defined isolation as low levels of peer acceptance or high levels of peer rejection. The features of the internet could not only bring about more people to deliberate by freeing people of the psychological barriers. They have also raised another point where the internet is also another form of expressing their views without fear of isolation because it can be anonymous and there is no human contact which means that the persons identity could be protected. The internet has a lot of users because it liberates people from the social hierarchies and power relations that exists offline without any human contact. Validation Wikipedia is an online web-based encyclopaedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation which provides us with any information that we may want. The only problem is that most of the information is posted on by the public, which means they may not be proven theoretically or have any evidence. Wikipedia looks at the theory in a theoretical perspective which explains the theory in detailed and clearer view which is closely connected with the Elizabeth theory. According to the author he/she also believes that mass media plays an important role in the theory and how it works. The concept of isolation is also explained deeper into context where it has varies definitions. It explains the social withdrawal which means less interaction and isolation. It looks at the internet as another medium that has a very huge impact on people. Since it can be accessed from home or anywhere and is gives us choices on what we want to do because it does not include human contact which makes i t easier for the minority groups or any individual to express themselves and will not be isolated because it is anonymous. Findings About The Theorist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann is a German political scientist that was born on the 19th of December, 1916. Her most famous contribution is the model of the spiral of silence which is an explanation of how perceived public opinion can influence individual opinions or actions. She earned her Abitur in 1935 in Gà ¶ttingen and then studied philosophy, history, journalism, and American studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, the Kà ¶nigsberg Albertina University, and the University of Missouri. She lived in the USA from 1937 to 1938 andiIn 1940 she received her PhD concentrating on public opinion research in the USA. Noelle-Neumann was also the president of the World Association for Public Opinion Research from 1978 to 1980 and worked as a guest professor at the University of Chicago from 1978 to 1991. About The Theory Spiral of Silence is an innovative theory of public opinion that developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. Noelle-Neumann follows the paths of past philosophers Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Goethe, and James Madison, in that she considers public opinion a physical force that controls peoples decisions. Noelle-Neumann blames the spiral of silence on fear of isolation. In other words, people who feel that they are in the minority may keep quiet because they fear ridicule from the majority. The phrase â€Å"spiral of silence refers to how people tend to stay silent when they feel that their views are in the minority. The model shows the increasing pressure which people are noticing to conceal their views when they think that they are in the minority. It is a political science and mass communication theory which begins with fear of reprisal or isolation, and escalates from there. Spiral of Silence model The model is based on three premises: 1. People have a sixth-sense, which allows them to know the prevailing public opinion, even without access to polls. 2. People have a fear of isolation and know what behaviours will increase their likelihood of being socially isolated. 3. People are silent to express their minority views, primarily out of fear of being isolated. Source: http://www.cw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/spiral_of_silence.doc/ Introduction Elizabeth Neumann examines public opinion as a form of social control. She believes that Individuals instinctively notice the opinions of those around them and shape their behaviour according to what is acceptable. The closer a person believes the opinion held is similar to the prevailing public opinion, the more he/she is willing to openly disclose that opinion in public. If the public statement changes, the person will recognize that the opinions loses its popularity and the person will be less willing to express that opinion publicly. In her model of opinion formation, Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann postulates a spiral of silence: to avoid isolation, people holding minority views either change their ideas to conform to the majoritys views or remain silent, thus increasing the impression of the majority views dominance. While providing a helpful integration of disparate ideas in public opinion formation, Noelle-Neumanns framework has been questioned at a number of points. Is it reasonable to assume that since people fear isolation, most fear being in the minority? Her research suggests, in fact, that many people can oppose majority views as long as they have individual or group support and that interpersonal relationships have a greater impact on opinion formation than impersonal public opinion presented through the media. Recent studies have also offered an alternative to Noelle-Neumanns view of people as simply reacting to their perception of public opinion, suggesting that instead, people use their own opinions to for m their perceptions of public attitudes. Whether peoples behaviour resembles the reaction or projection model may depend on a number of conditions, including their familiarity with the issue. Further research is needed on the many factors influencing opinion formation The Fear Of Isolation This is the main force that drives the spiral of silence. People want to be identified as a winner and therefore conform to the majoritys beliefs. The last thing that people want is to be isolated from a group or society. There are some exceptions though, as there is a time to speak and a time to keep silent which is centred on public opinion. If our view is in favour we will speak out then when our views drop out of favour, we will most defiantly keep silent. Summary In 1973, Elizabeth Noelle- Neumann articulated one of the few integrated expositions of the mass communication effects and the process of public opinion. In general she was able to demonstrate that individuals can attempt to gauge majority opinion on an issue and that some individuals appear to be influenced by their perceptions of majority opinion on some issues. In doing so she was successful in clarifying and empirically testing hypothesis about a concept that has been only vaguely defined in public opinion. In this report I will be outlining Noelle-Neumanns conceptualization of two key concepts, the climate of opinion and that spiral of silence of silence. The validity of basing the â€Å"fear of isolation† concept on social psychological literature on conformity is examined. Also the role of the media in conveying the majority opinion will be examined. The Spiral Of Silence According to Noelle- Neumann, individuals are constantly sensitive to the climate of opinion and assess the distribution and strength of the opinion for and against their own. The tendency of one to speak up and others to be silent leads to the spiralling process which increasingly establishes one opinion as the popular one. Neumanns definition of public opinion is best expressed as the dominating opinion which compels compliance of attitude a behaviour in that it threatens the dissenting individuals with isolation. There are a few individuals that are known as â€Å"hardcores† who are willing to express their opinions without feeling compelled to conform. They will not be silent in the face of the public opinion. How do individuals know which opinions are acceptable to express in public without the fear of isolation? Neumann claims that by the use of a â€Å"quasi-statistical organ†, the individual assesses the opinion environment. The individual will the specifically use the climate of opinion. The media plays an important role through agenda-setting, according to certain persons and arguments relating the urgency or share of success for various opinions. One of the main parts of the explanation to the spiral of silence is the role of mass media. Noelle-Neumann believes that with more people watching mass media, the more the minority will keep quite because they will think that they are even more of a minority that they actually are. She claims that this is so because it is becoming the only media outlet that people are using, along with the internet, so it is able to control exactly what people see or hear. The media know this and because of that, they use their powers to influence the public opinion as much as possible towards which ever beliefs they hold or want to put across. Noelle-Neumann claimed that in the early seventys, the media had powerful effects, particularly over opinion formation. She believed that it was deficient because it was conducted under laboratory conditions and not in the field. Mass media is everywhere and individuals can rarely escape accumulation of the same media message. It was also found that in any circumstance a person with low self-esteem is less likely to speak out even if they agree with the majority opinion, simply because that is what their personality dictates. She also discovered that having diverse reporting has a powerful role in the mass media and the views of those watching it. Since the media is diverse, and it shares different view points on a subject, then people will be more willing to take different sides of an argument because they will not feel as alienated as before. The elements of Noelle-Neumanns ideas can also be found in several scholarly works including Floyd Allport (1978) who described the climate of opinion. John Locke (1961) describes Noelle-Neumanns â€Å"hardcores† when he says â€Å"nor is there one of ten thousand who is stiff and insensible enough to bear up under the constant dislike and condemnation of his own club† W.Phillps Davison (1975) describes the public opinion process of conformity-induced silence occurs when an individual feels he/she is in the midst of a hostile majority. Thus the concept of the opinion climate and the spiral of silence are not new. Noelle-Neumann was able to articulate a thesis based on these concepts and generated data to support some of her contentions. When Noelle Neumann was forced to revise her theory to accommodate the other findings, the theory became much better. She added to her theory many other factors such as race, gender, age, environment, and social status. Now the theory cl aims that all of these things, in addition to whether one is in the majority of the opinion on a subject, will all matter whether a person speaks out. Fear Of Isolation Conformity Since Pressure to conform is a major portion of Noelle-Neumanns foundation for her arguments, Solomon Asch (1995) also did a study where he put one subject in the midst of seen confederates and asked each person to determine the shortest of three lines. Arch had seven confederates purposively select an incorrect line, and then examined the subjects response in light of the clearly wrong response of the confederates. He found that one-fourth of the subjects were completely independent of any majority pressure. These people, who Noelle-Neumann would label â€Å"hardcores†, selected the correct lines despite pressure to conform and select the incorrect line. On the other hand, no subjects conformed on every trial the situation did not elicit total conformity from subjects. He found that in manipulating some independent variables, pressure to agree is highly specific. There is no single â€Å"type† of individual who agrees, nor does public conformity imply inner acceptance of judgment or opinion. In analyzing different groups of subjects, Asch found that although very few yielded nearly completely to majority influence, they didnt think they had yielded at all. These people perceived the majority estimates as correct and didnt feel as though they themselves had conformed. Most of the subjects, who agreed, however lacked the confidence in their estimates and felt a tendency to go along with the majority when in doubt. Others who confirmed knew they were right but did not want to appear different from the majority. In a follow-up experiment, Asch found that if the subject had some support from some in the group, conformity to majority influence inclined substantially. Noelle-Neumann based her spiral of silence theory notion on face-to-face, small group situations that was described by Locke (1961), Allport (1937) and Asch (1951). In each of the cases the individual is isolated a midst a hostile majority and in direct contact with his antagonists. Although most of the test that were done in the past did prove the theory, there were some circumstances that were overlooked, as to the ability to apply to universal situations. For example, different ages, gender and education were left out and the very fact that the questions that were asked were about irrelevant things, raises the

Interactive Video Delivery Services

Interactive Video Delivery Services Video-On-Demand Interactive Services Interactive video delivery services are a fundamental change in the TV interface  paradigm. They shift the delivery paradigm from carrying many simultaneous parallel  streams (channels) to one that carries concurrent accesses through separate channels into a  database. Traditionally, in a broadcast TV system, many stations broadcast their programs  simultaneously and the user selects a specific channel to view. As a result, a user is  restricted to a chronology of parallel and competing programming whereas, an interactive  system makes all programming available to its users without this restriction. There is no  temporal restriction. All programming becomes available any time to the user. Types of Interactive Services Based on the amount of interactivity allowed (adapted from [4]), interactive services can be classified into several categories. The user is a passive participant and has no control over the session in broadcast (No-VOD) services that are similar to broadcast TV. The user signs up and pays for specific programming, similar to existing CATV PPV services in pay-per-view (PPV) services. The users are grouped based on a threshold of interest in quasi video-on-demand (Q-VOD) services. By switching to a different group, users can perform rudimentary temporal control activities. The functions like forward and reverse are simulated by transitions in discrete time intervals (on the order of 5 minutes) in near video-on-demand (N-VOD) services. The multiple channels with the same programming skewed in time [5, 15] can provide this capability. The user has complete control over the session presentation in true video-on-demand (T-VOD) services. The user has full-function VCR (virtual VCR) capabilities including forward and reverse play, freeze, and random positioning. For T-VOD, only a single channel is necessary; multiple channels become redundant. Technological Inhibitors There are other inhibiting issues to the ubiquitous deployment of interactive multimedia applications than just technological issues. In the digital environment, information is readily copied, reproduced, and altered, jeopardizing the established markets of the information providers. To convince an information provider to accept an all-digital system, certain incentives like mechanisms like encryption to protect intellectual property rights – that will maintain their data and thus help them stay in business are needed. (The Internet does not copy data, people copy data.) System Components for Video-on-Demand 5A detailed analysis of these issues is beyond the scope of this paper. An interesting survey of the  intellectual property rights problem has been provided by Samuelson [14]. Hundreds (if not thousands) of users with different viewing preferences will access a VOD system simultaneously. The quality of each session must remain within specified bounds to achieve customer satisfaction. This ensures the quality of the system. We will survey the individual technologies in the context of an end-to-end architecture for a VOD system. A typical VOD scenario contains a local database and server connected to user homes  via a communications network. The user home consists of a network interface coupled to a  display [4]. The user interacts with the system via a mouse or a computer keyboard. Fig. 2 illustrates this architecture. user interface and display high-speed backbone local database local server home viewer network interface multimedia archive and distributor multimedia archive Figure 2: A Simple VOD Architecture Management of System Resources in VOD We identified some of the technical problems in designing a VOD system in the previous sections. A VOD system is required to support a large customer population and many movie titles. Most existing prototypes are constricted to laboratory or office environments and support at most a few hundred users and up to a hundred movies. Large scale commercial systems  should need to more closely match the per-user resource requirements and usage patterns to  achieve economic feasibility. In this section, we look over some of these problems and discuss  existing research in this area. Resource Reservation One of the fundamental problems in developing a VOD system is one of storage and network I/O  bandwidth management. The VOD system possesses a finite amount of resources measured in  terms of storage I/O and communication bandwidths. As various customers compete for the same  system resources, efficient schemes that ensure fairness of allocation have to be designed. The service provider wants to generate the maximum revenue from the offered services. A  balance between these two often opposing requirements is necessary to tap the potential  benefits of the system. The first step to solve this problem is the development of an  accurate system model. We use the model proposed in Fig 2 as the basis for the remainder  of this discussion. The end-to-end VOD system comprises of three basic components; the storage server,  the network, and the user interface. The metadata server provides an additional level of  complexity to the system model. The time dependency of continuous media requires the  VOD system to ensure that the data transmission mechanism can provide for strict deadlines.   If these deadlines are missed, it is possible for the quality of the session to degrade. To ensure customer satisfaction, resources should be reserved along the entire data path of a connection on a per-session basis. The complexity of the resource reservation mechanism depends on the  application under consideration. Interactive services need the resource reservation to be made per-session along the entire data path, including at the source. A crucial factor which is affecting resource reservation is Quality-of-Service (QOS). The common interpretation of QOS is from a network perspective rather than a user or customer perspective. A more suitable view makes use of the two perspectives and yields two QOS characterizations (we can call them delivery quality and system QOS). A present  challenge is to identify the mapping from delivery quality to system QOS for a range of  system design parameters (e.g., data compression and network switching modes). User Traffic Characterization Although customers access the VOD system randomly, having a priori knowledge about  user access patterns can lead to a more efficient design. The system can make use of this information to manage network and storage bandwidths. As an example, if the traffic characteristics indicate that a movie is popular at a particular site, the system can replicate the movie locally to increase availability. The access pattern of users to the system will not be uniform over a given  24 hour period. Typically, one would expect the load to be low to moderate during the  daytime and to increase gradually through the evening and decrease again during the night. A hypothetical graph characterizing the access to a VOD database for a 24 hour period  is shown in Fig. 4. The access to the database is high during the evening hours, peaks at  around 9:00 PM, and is low-to-moderate during the day. This access pattern can be used for  designing schemes for various considerations like resource management; to update popularity tables, redistribute data, and reconfigure the system during off-peak hours. 0 5 10 15 20 time-of-day database-load Figure 4: A Schematic Daily-Access Model for a VOD System Similar models can be implemented and maintained for different geographical regions, movie categories, and individual titles. Such models are able to accommodate the differences in programming choices (e.g., children’s movies are more popular during the early evening hours) of different user groups. However, the complexity of these models, and their tractability is still to be established. Load Balancing An issue related directly to resource reservation is load balancing. The load balancing of VOD can be viewed as a combination of two sub-problems (i) The movie-storage  allocation problem and (ii) the resource location and connection establishment mechanism. Even though these problems are solved more easily individually, they are not independent  with respect to performance. From the perspective of a generic interactive  system, solving these issues is an open problem; however, simplifications can yield tractable solutions. As an example, if one assumes that a VOD system supports only stored data; i.e., movies  have to be digitized and stored before they can become available online, then the data  characteristics of a movie are well known in advance (e.g., the system has a priori knowledge  about the average bandwidth, burst rates, burst durations, etc.). This knowledge once available, can be used to simplify the design process. Making use of the metadata mechanism as described in Section 3 simplifies the task of management by decoupling the storage problem from the location problem.

Slavery :: Slavery Essays

Oppression and cruelty; just two of the many words used to describe slavery. However no word or words can be used to truly illustrate the hardships and tough times that the slaves went through. In the time of slavery, innocent people were taken from their homes and separated from their families to be sold as workers to people around the world. They did not just work, similar to modern times, they were restrained and held captive while being forced to work in terrible and unsuitable conditions. These people had dark skin, which the slave owners saw as an asset due to the fact that they could stay in the sun longer. In particular was a slave by the name of Olaudah Equiano, who wrote a personal narrative on his own experiences during slavery. In his writings, he did an excellent job in highlighting the oppression and cruelty in his own life and other peoples as well. The point of his narrative was to turn the English public against slavery. Based on what I have read, I can now give a cl earer opposition to slavery due to the fact that he has exemplified what slavery was really like. The idea of taking many, many people from their homelands and bringing them to a foreign place seems a bit over whelming. This seems like impossibility when looked at by the slaves’ point of view. During the times of slaves, the ships and such were not as advanced as they are now. They used wind and oars to power the boats. In addition, these boats were not being produced at a high rate. The point being the ships were so over crowded that it seemed pointless to ship slaves overseas. The slaves were put in these ships and packed into rooms that were not made to accommodate that many people. Equiano writes, "The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely enough room to turn himself, almost suffocated us" (p.56). This was how the slaves were kept when they were put under the deck. Enormous amounts of people packed into one small space. In this situation, one must think about the possible outcomes. If there are a lot of people, literally on top have on another, outbreak of disease will eventually occur- and of course it did.

huck finn :: essays research papers

Twain’s â€Å"Huckleberry Finn† was a very enjoyable read. It was my first early American novel and I could not help feel as though I was being swept along the current of the Mississippi sharing in Huck’s adventures. I was fortunate enough to travel to New Orleans a few years ago on my first trip to the American south. Huck’s narrations while powerful in their own right, were that much more meaningful because of my own experiences. While Twain ironically proclaims that there is no theme in the preface, there is a very strong theme that satirically is inescapable in the way society’s rules can stifle individual freedom of expression and thought. While at first I found the diction to be very confusing and even frustrating at times, it later seemed almost vital in order to make the narration believable, controversial, shocking, and powerful. One believes the adventures to be true because we can envision these types of discussions taking place in the mid south at that time. The multitude of adventures, told in the first person in a concise and simplistic manner was very appealing. My own province of Newfoundland has a very rich and distinctive culture, with numerous strong dialects, and storytelling is a very big part of that culture. I like the fact that the novel is controversial, and challenges the mainstream views of society. Many have debated over the years whether Twain’s novel is a masterpiece or subversive trash. It has been argued that it is â€Å"rough, coarse, inelegant, and exerts a dangerous influence on the young.† (Concord, Massachusetts, library committee). However, the reality is this is a part of life whether we like to admit it or not. If one chooses to look beyond the lies, If one chooses to look beyond the lies, bad language and criminal activity what shines through is a strong social messages meant for society as a whole. Many have questioned whether the persistent use of the word â€Å"nigger† makes Huckleberry Finn racist. I think, it has to be put into the context of the entire novel and the underlying theme. The novel portrays the worst society has to offer through the innocent and impressionable eyes of a thirteen year old boy. The book is shocking, the behaviors and attitudes towards a cast society are appalling and shameful, and should be our central focus for debate. While no one today should tolerate the use of the word in a derogatory sense, its use in the novel is vital.

Attitude of Young People of India Towards Luxury Brands Essay

Introduction: A couple of generations ago, a typical purchase decision for the average Indian would be choosing between, say, clothes and electronic goods whenever they had a little cash to spare. Today, the customers’ dilemma involves making up their mind between Prada and Gucci, Merc and Lamborghini. Marie Antoinette would say, â€Å"If they can’t have bread, give them brands instead! † In a relatively short time span of 20 years, India has moved from pavement markets to swanky malls, from frugal minded consumer to who want it all and from a population largely obessed with celebrity gossip to one which yearns to gain knowledge. India is taking wing. It is not simple because India is set to become the fastest growing major economy in the world. The combination of a large young working population, rising income levels, overwhelming consumer optimism and increasingly urbanized lifestyle is driving consumption growth in India. The market potential of world’s second largest population has not gone unnoticed. International Luxury brands have India on the radar. As developed market continue to battle economic turmoil. India offers luxury brand owners unrivalled growth opportunities. The Indian luxury market is projected to reach USD 14. 72 billion in 2015(CII and A. T. Kearny, 2011). It may represents only 1-2 percent of the global luxury market, but its market growth rate of more than 20 percent per annum, promise positive returns for luxury players. A flow of international brands from Giorgio Armani to Ferrari to Sofitel Hotel have entered the Indian market to claim a share of the luxury rupee. Many others are waiting, watching and preparing. This is not just about today’s market but a key strategic market of the future. Problem Definition: * Young consumer attitudes are essential for the marketers to plan their strategy in reaching the target consumers. So in our study we have focused to segment young consumers according to attitude variables. Objectives: * The aim of the study is to segment young consumers based on their three important beliefs parameters (confidence, trust, optimism) as we know beliefs is an important attitudes of consumer Literature review: 1. THE ROLE OF CONFIDENCE IN UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTING BUYERS’ ATTITUDES AND PURCHASE INTENTIONS * Peter D. Bennett and Gilbert D. Harrell * Journal of Consumer Research * Vol. 2, No. 2 (Sep. , 1975), pp. 110-117 * Published by: The University of Chicago Press * Article Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/2488752 This research examines the role of buyers confidence in the formation of attitudes and purchase intention. It supports current buyer behavior theory which postulates a positive relationship between overall confidence in a brand and intention to purchase the brand. It also examine buyers confidence in their own ability to judge attributes of brands. 2. NEED FOR UNIQUENESS AND CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR FOR LUXURY BRANDS AMONGST INDIAN YOUTH * Authors: Meenakshi Handa, Arpita Khare * JournalInternational Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management * Publisher : Inderscience Publishers * ISSN:1753-0806 (Print),1753-0814 (Online) * IssueVolume 3, Number 5/2010 * Pages489-502 The purpose of this research was to examine the Indian youth’s need for uniqueness (NFU) and their attitudes towards luxury brand as an expression of individuality. A primary research was conducted amongst Indian University students to ascertain their NFU and perception of luxury brands. It was apparent that while the NFU is not very high amongst the Indian youth, luxury brands do symbolize status and individuality to them and serve a value-expressive function. As the Indian social system is witnessing a transition from traditional family driven values to more of western and individual-centric values, NFU and expression of self-identity amongst Indian youth may also become more marked. While marketing global luxury brands in India, advertising may be focused towards conveying a new identity to the consumers yet maintaining a balance with traditional norms and value systems. 3. LUXURY’S NEW DESTINATION – CHANGING PARADIGMS OF THE INDIAN CONSUMERS – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY * DR. BUSHAN D. SUDHAKAR*; ARUN KUMAR. PARISE * International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies * Vol. 2 Issue 1, January 2012, ISSN 2249 8834 * Online available at http://zenithresearch. org. in/ In this study the researcher investigate, Indian consumer migration towards Luxury brands form value middle tier brands. The findings suggest that there is significant difference with the gender difference, social status, price, quality to purchase a luxury good. There is a higher association between the annual household income and Purchase of luxury goods It clearly says that affordability, quality, availability, celebrity, self-satisfaction, image and social status are the key drivers to the migration of consumers to Luxury brands from value middle tier branded goods. It confirms the view that brand perception and purchase value is, apart from socially oriented motives of buying to impress others also affected by financial, functional, and individual aspects. It would seem that the dimensions presented in this paper are appropriate variables for segmenting the market for branded items. 4. ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS * Bernard Dubois, Groupe H. E. C & Gilles Laurent, Groupe H. E. C. * Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 1, 1994 * Pages 273-278 In this paper is the author did an exploratory analysis of the perceptions and attitudes attached to the word (and underlying concept of) â€Å"luxury†. It is hoped that the results presented below will stimulate further research in the area and eventually contribute to the development of a theory of luxury acquisition and consumption behavior. Research Gap: The literature available on topics such as Need for uniqueness and consumption behavior for luxury brands amongst Indian youth, luxury’s new destination – changing paradigms of the Indian consumers – an empirical study, There is no study on attitude (belief like confidence, trust and optimism) of Young people of India towards Luxury brands, which will help in marketers to plan their strategy in reaching these new and promising target consumers. It is essential for the marketer to understand how consumers think and value a product. There has been a vast increase in the luxury market and attempts are being made to attract the youth through different marketing strategies. This research will identify the different belief parameter which is an important attitude of young people of India which influence them towards luxury brands and provide information for better understanding of young customer. Research Design:. Sample Design: Sample size: is hundred (100). Sample techniques: it is judgmental sampling these samples/ respondents will be selected from both NIFT students and young working professional’s i.e. young people’s working in companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. Observational Design: This research based on primary & secondary data. The primary data are collected through structured questionnaire. Primary data generally means those raw data which are handled first handedly and haven’t any previous meaningful interpretation. Secondary data collected from different journals, book and internet on topic of people’s attitudes and luxury brands. Statistical design: we are going to segment young consumers based on their three important beliefs parameters (confidence, trust, optimism) as we know consumer belief is an important factor of consumer attitude. Our proposed segmentation tool is Cluster analysis. We will be using Hierarchical cluster with between groups linkage as the clustering method based on squared Euclidian distance. Ward’s Hierarchical Clustering Method: Ward considered hierarchical clustering procedures basedon minimizing the ‘loss of information’ from joining two groups. This method is usually implemented with loss of information taken to be an increase in an error sum of squares criterion. ESS. First, for a given cluster k, let ESSk be the sum of the squared deviations of very item in the cluster from the cluster mean (centroid). If there are currently K clusters, define ESS as the sum of the ESSk or ESS = ESS1 + ESS2 + †¦ + ESS K At each step in the analysis, the union of every possible pair of clusters is considered, and the two clusters whose combination results in the smallest increase in ESS (minimum loss of information) are joined. Initially, each cluster consists of a single item, and, if there are N items, ESSk = 0, k = 1,2, †¦ , N, so ESS = O. At the other extreme, when all the clusters are combined in a single group of N items, the value of ESS is given by N ESS =j=1nxj-x†(xj-x’) where Xj is the multivariate measurement associated with the jth item and i is the mean of all the items. The results of Ward’s method can be displayed as a dendrogram. The vertical axis gives the values of ESS at which the mergers occur. Ward’s method is based on the notion that the clusters of multivariate observations are expected to be roughly elliptically shaped. It is a hierarchical precursor to nonhierarchical clustering methods that optimize some criterion for dividing data into a given number of elliptical groups. We discuss nonhierarchical clustering procedures in the next section Proposed Questionnaire: 1=strongly agree 2=agree 3=neither agree or disagree 4=disagree 5=completely disagree Please do tick which option you feel most†¦ Statement no 1: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"I buy luxury products because good quality of product† Statement no 2: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"Luxury means some extra things which is adding more value than the regular brands have† Statement no 3: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"I buy luxury products whatever I can afford & whatever I want† Statement no 4: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"I preferred luxury products what I like, if I like it a lot and feel like it’s worth my money† Statement no 5: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"I preferred luxury brands because it brings higher aspiration in my life† Statement no 6: 3. 3. 2. 2. 5. 5. 4. 4. 1. 1. â€Å"I like to have BMW or Ferrari in future†.