Multicultural Concerns in Marriage and Family Therapy Essay

Multicultural Concerns in Marriage and Family Therapy - Essay Example According to the finding of the ancient Chinese history, the Hmong were a culturally unique set of Asian individuals that lived in the mountainous regions of Siberia, their original homeland. Sects of their civilization settled by the banks of the Yellow River in northern China who were later attacked by the Chinese for the fertile land present along the Yellow River. Thousands of Hmong people have resettled in the Western countries ever since the 1970s primarily in the United States. Others thou have returned to Laos under the UN-sponsored rehabilitation programs. There are about 8-12 million Hmong living in the southern parts of China. â€Å"The remaining Hmong, approximately 1-2 million, are found in Laos, Northern Vietnam and Thailand due to the migration during the mid-1800’s† (Quincy, K, 1988) The Hmong kinship system is the core foundation regarding the social and biological structure among all the other systems prevailing in the Hmong society. It is a relationsh ip based on blood and marital aspects and connects the blood relatives in the same clan, within other clans as well as between them. The Hmong that was born in the 18 major clans namely have established ties as the primary and most crucial relationship within their blood relatives but on the other hand, they do acknowledge their marital ties as secondary relationships among themselves and to those who belong to other clans.This kinship system adopted by the Hmong clan plays an important role of an institution providing various essential functions to provide of the needs of the Hmong members, their extended family as well as the society. It divides the Hmong into 18 major clans which acts as a social organization providing lifetime support, both spiritual and material, to their clan members throughout their life. Marriage In The Hmong Culture Via The Rule of Exogamy The 18 clans of Hmong support the practice of marriage through the rule of exogamy to both genders of the clan’s members allowing them to marry outside of their own clans. This rule of exogamy is a compulsory procedure which prohibits members belonging to the same clans to get married to each other reason being the Hmong rationale which states that all members (in theory) of the same clans were biologically related in the beginning and have descended from the same ancestors and thus are actually brothers and sisters. Therefore they are not allowed to get married to each other within the same clans as their own. The Formal Marriage Request (Begging) By the Groom’s Family The traditional Hmong marriage mainly occurred at an early age where the boys and girls were between the ages of 14 and 18 years (as cited in Lao Family Community of Minnesota, Inc. 1997). This formal marriage practice is started by the groom’s father along with his older married brothers who would go to the bride’s parents and make a formal marriage request. In case the groom has no father or elder marrie d brothers, he could seek the aid of other male relatives or clan leaders to help him in putting down the formal marriage r

Tradeswomen in Early America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tradeswomen in Early America - Essay Example Women of all races were expected to do their share of work, and it would have been considered odd or even unthinkable for them to refuse. Interestingly enough, many women actually became shoemakers during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but societal attitudes toward this work were unsurprising given the period. Men who made shoes for a living did precisely that - they were skilled artisans and expected to be compensated for their work. Women, however, often worked at home rather than in a shop and performed exactly the same work for little or no wages. For example, in her book Men, Women, and Work, Blewett (1990) recounts the story of Sarah Smith Emery, who lived in Essex County, Massachusetts in the late eighteenth century, and whose uncles Joe and Ben ran a shoe-making store. One time, the men received an order for "one hundred pairs of sealskin boots that had to be finished in five days" (p. 4). She recounts how, after Sarah had stitched for five days, her fianc found her "exhausted and covered with dirty sealskin oilHer account of the incident mentions no wages paid to her for the work" (p. 4). In a case such as this, a woman became a virtual slave to her family.

Tests of Significance: Uses and Limitations

Tests of Significance: Uses and Limitations Abstract Statistical tools are undoubtedly important in decision making. The use of these tools in everyday problems has led to a number of discoveries, conclusions and enhancement of knowledge. This ranges from direct calculations using general statistical formulas to formulas integrated in Statistical software to fasten the process of decision making. Statistical tools for testing hypothesis, significance tests are strong but only if used correctly and in good understanding of their concepts and limitations. Some researchers have indulged into wrong usage of this tests leading to wrong conclusions. This paper looks at the different significance tests (both parametric and non-parametric tests) their uses, when to be used and their limitations. It also evaluates the use of Statistical Significance tests in Information Retrieval and then proceeds to check the different significant tests used by researchers in the papers submitted to Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval (SIGR) in the period 2006, 2007 and 2008. For the combined period 2006-2008, including the years 2006 and 2008, of the papers submitted had statistical tests used and of these tests were used wrongly. Key Words: Significance Test, Information Retrieval, Parametric Tests, Non-parametric Tests, Hypothesis Testing Chapter One 1.0 Introduction Statistical methods play a very important role in all aspects of research, ranging from data collection, recording, analysis, to making conclusions and inferences. The credibility of the research results and conclusions will depend on each and every step mentioned above; any fault made in these steps can render a research carried out for several years, spending millions of shillings to be worthless. This does not mean carrying any test and mincing figures shows that statistics has been used in the given research; the researcher should be able support why he or she used that specific test or method. Misuse of significance test is not new in the world of science. According to Campbell (1974), there are different types of statistical misuse: Discarding unfavorable portion of data This occurs when the researcher selects only a portion of data which produces the results that he/she requires perfectly while discarding the other portion. After a well done research, the researcher might get values that are not consistent to what he/she was expecting. This researcher might decide to ignore this section of data during the analysis so as to get the â€Å"expected results†. This is a wrong take since the inconsistent data could give very new thoughts in that particular field that is if these irregularities are checked and explained why they occurred, more ideas abut that area can be explored.. Overgeneralization Sometimes the conclusions from a research can only work on that particular research problem but the researcher might blindly generalize the results obtained to other kinds of research similar or dissimilar. Overgeneralization is a common mistake in current research activities. A researcher after successfully completing a research on a particular field, he/she might be tempted to make generalizations reached in this research to other fields of study without regarding the different orientations of these different populations and assumptions in them. Non representative sample This arises when the researcher selects a sample which produces results geared towards his/her liking. Sample selected for a particular study should be one that truly represents the entire population. The procedure of selecting the sample units to be used in the study should be done in an unbiased manner. Consciously manipulating data Occurs when a researcher consciously changes the collected data in order to reach a particular conclusion. This is mainly noticed when the researcher knows exactly what the customers aim are, so the researcher changes part of the data so that the aim of that research is covered strongly. For example if a researcher is carrying out a regression analysis and does a scatter plot, if he/she sees that there are many out liers,the researcher might decide to change some values so that the scatter plot appears as a straight line or something very close to that. This act leads to results which are appealing to the customer and the eyes of other user but in real sense does not give a clear indicator of what is really happening in the population at large. 1.0.5 False correlation This is observed when the researcher claims that one factor causes the other while in real sense both two factors are caused by another hidden factor which was not identified during the study. Correlation researches are common in social sciences and sometimes they are not adequately approached, this leads to wanting results. In correlation studies say to check if variable X causes variable Y, in real sense there are four possible things. The first one is that X causes Y,secondly Y causes X, third is X and Y are both caused by another unidentified variable say Z and lastly the correlation between X and Y occurred purely by sheer luck. All these possibilities should be checked while doing these kinds of study to avoid rushing into wrong conclusions. False causality can be eliminated in studies by using two groups for the same experiment that is the â€Å"control group (the one receiving a placebo)† and the â€Å"treatment group (the one receiving the treatment)† . Even though this method is efficient, implementing it raises very many challenges. There are ethical issues like when one patient is given a placebo (effect less drug) without his/her conscious and the other group given the right drug. One question comes to mind; is it ethical to do this to the first group? Carrying out the experiment in parallel for two different groups can also prove to be very expensive. 1.0.6 Overloaded questions. The questions used in survey can really affect the outcome of the survey. The structure of questions in a questionnaires and the method of formulating and asking the questions can influence the manner in which the respondent answers the questions. Long wordy questions in a questionnaire can be too boring to a respondent and he/she might just fill the questionnaire in a hurry so that he/she finishes it but does not really care about the answers that he/she has provided. The framing of questions can also yield leading questions. Some questions will just lead the respondent on what to answer for example â€Å"The government is not offering security to its citizens, do you agree to this? (Yes or No)† Use of statistical significance has been with us for more than 300 years (Huberty, 1993).Despite being used for a long time, this field of decision making is cornered by criticism from all directions, which has led to many researchers writing materials digging into the problems of statistical significance testing. Harlow et. al (1997), discussed the controversy in significance testing in depth. Carver (1993) expressed dislike of significance tests and clearly advocated researchers to stop using them. In his book, How to Lie with Statistics, Huff (1954) outlined errors both intentional and unintentional and misinterpretations made in statistical analyses in depth. Some journals e.g. American Psychological Association (APA) recommended minimum use of statistical significance test by researchers submitting papers for publications (APA, 1996), though not revoking the use of the tests. With the relentless criticism, other researchers have not given up on using statistical significance testing but have clearly encourage users of the tests to have good knowledge in them before making conclusions using them. Mohr (1990) discussed the use of these tests and supported their use but warning researchers to know the limitations of each tests and correct application of the tests so as to make a correct inferences and conclusions. In his paper, Burr (1960) supported the use of statistical significance test but requested researchers to make allowances for existence of statistical errors in the data. Amidst these controversies, statistical significance testing has been applied to many areas of research and remarkable achievements have been recorded. One such area is the information retrieval (IR). Significant tests have been used to compare different algorithms in information retrieval. 1.1.0 Information retrieval Information retrieval is defined as the science of searching databases, World Wide Web and other documents looking for information on a particular subject. In order to get information, the user is required to enter keywords which are to be used for searching, a combination of objects containing the keywords are usually returned from which the user looking for information can single out and pick one which gives him or her the much required information. The user usually progressively refines the search by narrowing down and using specific words. Information retrieval has developed as a highly dynamic and empirical discipline, requiring careful and thorough evaluation to show the superior performance of different new techniques on representative document collections. There are many algorithms for Information Retrieval .It is usually important to measure the performance of different information retrieval systems so as to know which one gives the required information faster. In order to measure information retrieval effectiveness, three test items are required; (i) A collection of documents on which the different retrieval methods will be run on and compared. (ii) A test collection of information needs which are expressible in terms of queries (iii)A collection of â€Å"relevance judgment† that will distinguish on whether the results returned are relevant to the person doing the search or they are irrelevant. A question might arise on which collection of objects to be used in testing different systems. There are several standard test collections used universally, these include; (i) Text Retrieval Conference (TREC). – This a standard collection comprising 6 CDs containing 1.89 million documents (mainly, but not exclusively, newswire articles) and relevance judgments for 450 information needs, which are called topics and specified in detailed text passages. Individual test collections are defined over different subsets of this data. (ii)GOV2-This was developed by The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).It is a 25 paged collection of web pages. (iii) NII Test Collections for IR Systems (NTCIR)-This is also a large test collection focusing mainly on East Asian language and cross-language information retrieval, where queries are made in one language over a document collection containing documents in one or more other languages. (iii) Cross Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF). This Test collection is mainly focused on European languages and cross-language information retrieval. (iv) 20 Newsgroups. This text collection was collected by Ken Lang. It consists of 1000 articles from each of 20 Usenet newsgroups (the newsgroup name being regarded as the category). After the removal of duplicate articles, as it is usually used, it contains 18941 articles. (v) The Cranfield collection. This is the oldest test collection in allowing precise quantitative measures of information retrieval effectiveness, but is nowadays too small for anything but the most elementary pilot experiments. It was collected in the United Kingdom starting in the late 1950s and it contains 1398 abstracts of aerodynamics journal articles, a set of 225 queries, and exhaustive relevance judgments of all (query, document) pairs. There exist several methods of measuring the performance of retrieval systems namely; Precision, Recall, Fall-Out, E-measure and F-measure just to mention a few since researchers are coming up with other new methods. A brief description of each method will shade some light. 1.1.1 Recall Recall in information retrieval is defined as the number of relevant documents returned from a search divided by the total number of documents that can be retrieved from a database. Recall can also be looked at as evaluating how well the method that is being used to retrieve information gets the required information. Letbe the set of all retrieved objects andbe the set of all relevant objects then, Recall(1.1) As an example, if a database contains 500 documents, out of which 100 contain relevant information required by a researcher, the complement ,number of documents not required = 400. If the researcher uses a system to search for the documents in this database and it return 100 documents of which all of them are relevant to the researcher, then the recall is given by: Recall Supposed that out of 120 returned documents, 30 are irrelevant, then the recall would be given by Recall 1.1.2 Precision Precision is defined as the number of relevant documents retrieved from the system over the total number of documents retrieved in that search. It valuates how well the method being used to retrieve information filters the unwanted information. Letbe the set of all retrieved objects andbe the set of all relevant objects then, Precision(1.2) As an example, if a database contains 500 documents, out of which 100 contain relevant information required by a researcher, the complement ,number of documents not required = 400. If the researcher uses a system to search for the documents in this database and it returns 100 documents of which all of them are relevant to the researcher, then the precision is given by: Precision Supposed that out of 120 returned documents, 30 are irrelevant, then the precision would be given by Precision Both precision and recall are based on one term; Relevance Oxford dictionary defines relevance as â€Å"connected to the issue being discussed†. Yolanda Jones (2004) identified three types of relevance, namely; Subject relevance which is the connection between the subject submitted via a query and subject covered by returned texts. Situational relevance: connection between the situation being considered and texts returned by database system. Motivational relevance: connection between the motivations of a researcher and texts returned by database system. There are two measures of relevance; Novelty Ratio: This refers to the proportion of items returned from a search and acknowledged by the user as being relevant, of which they were previously unaware of. Coverage Ratio: This refers to the proportion of items returned from a search out of the total relevant documents that the user was aware of before he/she started the search. Precision and recall affect each other i.e. increase in recall value decreases precision value. If one increases a system’s ability to retrieve more documents, this implies increasing recall, this will have a drawback since the system will also be retrieving more irrelevant documents hence reducing the precision of that system. This means that a trade-off is required in these two measures so as to ensure better search results. Precision and recall measures make use of the following assumptions They make the assumption that either a system returns a document or doesn’t. They make the assumption that either the document is relevant or not relevant, nothing in between. New methods are being introduced by researchers which rank the degree of relevance of the documents. 1.1. 3 Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) Curve This is the plot of the true positive rate or sensitivity against the false positive rate or (1 − specificity).Sensitivity is just another term for recall. The false positive rate is given by. An ROC curve always goes from the bottom left to the top right of the graph. For a good system, the graph climbs steeply on the left side. For unranked result sets, specificity, given bywas not seen as a very useful idea. Because the set of true negatives is always so large, its value would be almost 1 for all information needs (and, correspondingly, the value of the false positive rate would be almost 0). 1.1.4 F-measure and E-measure This is defined as the weighted harmonic mean of the recall and precision. Numerically, it is defined as (1.3) Whereis the weight. Ifis assumed to be 1, then (1.4) The E-measure is given by(1.5) E –measure has a maximum value of 1.0, 1.0 being the best. 1.1.5 Fall-Out This is defined as the proportion of irrelevant documents that are returned in a search out of all the possible irrelevant documents. Fall out(1.6) It can also be defined as the probability of a system retrieving an irrelevant document. These are just a few methods of measuring performance of search systems. Then after looking after one system, there arise a problem of comparing two systems or algorithms, that is, is this system better than the other one? To answer this question, scientist in Information retrieval use statistical significance tests to do the comparisons in order to establish if the difference in systems performance are not by chance. These tests are used to confirm beyond doubt that one system is better than another. Statement of the problem Statistical inference tools like statistical significance tests are important in decision making. Their use has been on the rise in different areas of research. With their rise, novel users make use of these tools but in questionable manners. There are many researchers who do not understand the basic concepts in statistics leading to misuse of the tools. Any conclusions reached from a research might be termed bogus if the statistical tests used in it are shoddy. More light needs to be shade in this area of research to ensure correct use of these tests. Researchers in Information Retrieval also use these tests to compare systems and algorithms, are the conclusions from these tests truly correct? Are there any other ways of comparison which minimize the use of statistical tests? Objectives of the study The objectives of this study are: Investigate use and misuse of statistical significance tests in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Shade light on different statistical significance tests their use, assumptions and limitations. Identify the most important statistical concepts that can provide solutions to the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Investigate the reality of the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Investigate the use of statistical significant tests used by researchers in Information Retrieval Discover the availability of statistical concepts and methods that can provide solutions to the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR Chapter Two This section of this paper has been divided into three major parts, the sample selection and sample size choosing which will discusses methods of selecting a sample and the size of the sample to be used in a given research, the second part deals with statistical analysis methods and procedures, mainly in significance testing and the third part discusses other statistical methods that can be used in place of statistical significance test. 2.0 Sample Selection and Sample Size 2.0.1 Sample selection Sampling plays a major role in research, according to Cochran (1977), sampling is the process of selecting a portion of the population and using the information derived from this portion to make inferences about the entire population. Sampling has several advantages, namely; (i)Reduced cost For example it is very expensive to carry out a census than just collecting information from a small portion of the population. This is because only a small number of measures will be made so only a few people will be hired to do the job compared to complete census which will require a large labor force. (ii)Greater speed during the process(less time) Since only a few people will be used or rather only a few items will be measured, the time for doing the measurement will be reduced and also summarization of the data will be quick as opposed to when measures are taken for the whole population. (iii)Greater accuracy Since only a few people will be considered in the process, the researchers will be very thorough as compared to the entire population which will see the researchers get tired in the middle of the process leading to lousy collection of data and shoddy analysis. The choice of the sampling units in a given research may affect the credibility of the whole research. The researcher must make sure that the sample being used is not biased, that is it represents the whole population. There are several methods of selecting samples to be used in a study. A researcher should always make sure that the sample drawn is large enough to be a representative of the population as a whole and at the same time manageable. In this section the two major types of sampling, random and non-random, will be examined. 2.0.1.1 Random sampling In random sampling, all the items or individuals in the population have equal chances of being selected into the sample. This procedure ensures that no bias is introduced during the selection of sample units since a n items selection will be only by chance and will not depend on the person assigned with the duty of coming up with the sample. There exist five major random sampling techniques, namely; simple random sampling, multi-stage sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling and systematic sampling. The following section discusses each of these. 2.0.1.1.1 Simple random sampling In simple random sampling, each item in the population has the same and equal chance of being included in the sample. Usually each sampling unit is assigned a unique number and then numbers are generated using a random number generator and a sampling unit is included in the sample if its corresponding number is generated from the random number generator. One advantage attributed to simple random sampling is its simplicity and ease in application when dealing with small populations. Every entity in the population has to be enlisted and given a unique number then their respective random numbers be read. This makes this method of sampling very tedious and cumbersome especially where large populations are involved. 2.0.1.1.2 Stratified sampling In stratified random sampling, the entire population is first divided into N disjoint subpopulations .Each sampling unit belongs to one and only one sub population. These sub populations are called strata, they might be of different sizes and they are homogenous within the strata and each stratum completely differs with the other strata. It is from these strata that samples are drawn for a particular study. Examples of strata that are commonly used include States, provinces, Age and Sex, religion, academic ability or marital status etc. Stratification is most useful when the stratifying variables are simple to work with, easy to observe and closely related to the topic of the survey (Sheskin, 1997). Stratification can be used to select more of one group than another. This may be done if it is felt that the responses obtained vary in one group than another. So, if the researcher knows that every entity in each group has much the same value, he/she will only need a small sample to get information for that group; whereas in another group, the values may differ widely and a bigger sample is needed. If you want to combine group level information to get an answer for the whole population, you have to take account of what proportion you selected from each group. This method is mainly used when information is required for only a particular subdivision of the population, administrative convenience is an issue and the sampling problems differ greatly in different portions of the population of study. 2.0.1.1.3 Systematic sampling Systematic sampling is quite different from the other methods of sampling, supposed the population contains N units and a sample of n units is required, a random number is generated using the random number generator, call it k, then a unit(represented as a number) is drown from the sample then the researcher picks every kth unit thereafter. Consider the example that k is 20 and the first unit that is drawn is 5, the subsequent units will be 25,45,65,85 and so on. The implication of this method is that the selection of the whole sample will be determined by only the first item since the rest will be obtained sequentially. This type is called an every kth systematic sample. This technique can also be used when questioning people in a sample survey. A researcher might select every 15th person who enters a particular store, after selecting a person at random as a starting point; or interview the shopkeepers of every 3rd shop in a street, after selecting a starting shop at random. It may be that a researcher wants to select a fixed size sample. In this case, it is first necessary to know the whole population size from which the sample is being selected. The appropriate sampling interval, I, is then calculated by dividing population size, N, by required sample size, n. This method is advantageous since it is easy and it is more precise than simple random sampling. Also it is simpler in systematic sampling to select one random number and then every kth member on the list, than to select as many random numbers as sample size. It also gives a good spread right across the population. A disadvantage is that the researcher may be forced to have a starting list if he/she wishes to know the sample size and calculate the sampling interval. 2.0.1.1.4 Cluster sampling The Austarlian Bureau of Statistics insinuates that cluster sampling divides the population into groups, or clusters. A number of clusters are selected randomly to represent the population, and then all units within selected clusters are included in the sample. No units from non-selected clusters are included in the sample. They are represented by those from selected clusters. This differs from stratified sampling, where some units are selected from each group. The clusters are heterogeneous within each cluster (that is the sampling units inside a cluster vary from each other completely) and each cluster looks alike with the other clusters. Cluster sampling has several advantages which include reduced costs, simplified field work and administration is more convenient. Instead of having a sample scattered over the entire coverage region, the sample is more concentrated in relatively few collection points (clusters). Cluster sampling provides results that are less accurate compared to stratified random sampling. 2.0.1.1.5 Multi-stage sampling Multi-stage sampling is like cluster sampling, but involves selecting a sample within each chosen cluster, rather than including all units in the cluster. The Australian Bureau of Statistics postulates that multi-stage sampling involves selecting a sample in at least two stages. In the first stage, large groups or clusters are selected. These clusters are designed to contain more population units than are required for the final sample. In the second stage, population units are chosen from selected clusters to derive a final sample. If more than two stages are used, the process of choosing population units within clusters continues until the final sample is achieved. If two stages are used then it will be called a two stage sampling, if three stages are used it will be called a three stage sampling and so on. 2.0.2 Determination of sample size to be used 2.1 Statistical Analysis In this section, different statistical tests are discussed in details in their general form, then move to discussed how each of them(the ones used in IR) are applied to information retrieval. Only some of these tests are used to compare systems or/and algorithms. In this paper we look at three sections of statistical analysis, namely: (i) Summarizing data using a single value. (ii) Summarizing variability. (iii) Summarizing data using an interval (no specific value) In the first case, we have the mean, mode, median etc and in the second case, we look at variability in the data and in the third case we look at the confidence intervals, parametric and nonparametric tests of hypothesis testing 2.1.1 Summarizing data using a single value In this case, the data being analyzed is represented by a single value, example for this scenario are discussed below: 2.1.1.1 Mean There are three different kinds of mean: (i)Arithmetic mean (ii)Geometric Mean (iii)Harmonic mean (i) Arithmetic mean This is computed by summing all the observations then dividing by the number of observations that you have collected. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The arithmetic mean is defined as Arithmetic mean When to use the arithmetic mean The arithmetic mean is used when: When the collected data is a numeric observation. When the data has only one mode (uni-modal) When the data is not skewed i.e. not concentrated to extreme values. When the data does not have many outliers (very extreme values) The arithmetic mean is not used when: You have categorical data When the data is extremely skewed. (ii) Geometric mean This is defined as the product of the observations, everything raised to power of, usually n. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The geometric mean is defined as Geometric mean The Geometric mean is used when: The observations are numeric. The item that we are interested in is the product of the observations. (iii) Harmonic mean This is defined as the number of observations divide be the sum of reciprocals of the observations. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The harmonic mean is defined as Harmonic mean The Harmonic mean is used when: The average can be justified for the reciprocal of the observations. 2.1.1.2 Median This is defined as the middle value of the observations. The observations are first arranged in ascending or descending order then the middle value is taken as the median. The median is used when: When the observations are skewed. The observations have a single mode. The observations are numerical. The median is not used when: We are interested in the total value. 2.1.1.3 Mode This is defined as the largest value in the given dataset or the value that has the highest frequency of occurrence. The mode is used when: The dataset is categorical. The dataset is both numeric and multimodal. 2.1.2 Summarizing variability Variability in a data can be summarized using the following measures: 2.1.2.1 Sample variance Letbe n observations of a random variable X, then the Sample variance, is given by The standard deviation is used when: The data is normally distributed. 2.1.2.2 The C

adult brain :: essays research papers

The study of emotion was once relegated to the backwaters of neuroscience, a testament to the popular conception that what we feel exists outside our brains, acting only to intrude on normal thought. The science has changed: Emotion is now considered integral to our over-all mental health. In mapping our emotions, scientists have found that our emotional brain overlays our thinking brain: The two exist forever intertwined. There is a critical interplay between reason and emotion. We are well aware of how brain malfunctions can cause pain, depression, and emotional paralysis. We must also understand that the brain affects positive emotional responses such as laughter, excitement, happiness, and love. Scientists have been able to pinpoint the section of the brain that causes laughter. Some clues for the physiological basis of laughter have come from people who suffered brain injuries, strokes or neurological diseases. C.B., a landscaper in Iowa, is one of them. Three years ago, at the age of 48, C.B. suffered a stroke. Fortunately, he recovered quite well and was expected to return to his normal life. However, since the stroke, C.B. and those around him, have been perplexed by certain changes in his behavior. Though he seems healthy, and doesn't suffer any pain, occasionally, for no noticeable reason, he bursts out into uncontrollable, wild laughter. In other cases, out of the blue, he is swept into tears in a similar attack. C.B. has joined a long list of clinical cases that are described in medical literature as pathological laughter and crying (PLC). All of these patients suffer from brain damage that has destroyed or impaired small areas in their brains. Usually, the lesions are no bigger than a few cubic millimeters. However, since the lesions do not always occur exactly in the same spot in the brain, it is hard to determine based on these cases, which brain areas are in charge of laughter. Nevertheless, PLC suggests an interesting linkage; the same tiny lesion can cause both laughter and crying. That means that the same brain regions are involved in both laughter and crying. But most surprisingly, these laughter and crying are not associated with mirth or sadness. PLC patients suffer from "mechanical laughter". The pleasant feelings, happiness, amusement or joy that usually accompanies laughter are absent. Patients like C.B. often even suffer anxiety and fear with their laughter. The case of a French woman who suffered from Parkinson's disease sheds more light on the association between laughter, crying and emotions.

Oregon Wildlife Conservation Policy

Wildlife is a barometer of the health our environment. Meager diversity of wildlife, or relatively smaller wildlife populations in any geographical region, is usually an indication of something seriously wrong in the environment. In the United States and Canada, early settlers indulged in unrestricted hunting for food and sport. As these territories were settled, the game species gradually dwindled.The westward movement of people took its toll in terms of loss of habitat for diverse animal species. In the latter half of the twentieth century, it began to be widely realized how important it was to manage, preserve and conserve wildlife prudently.Over the decades, more and more conscious efforts have been directed towards wildlife conservation, though they do not seem to be adequate yet. Today, almost every national government across the globe has laws to maintain wildlife. North American governments, especially, perceive the urgency of the need of intense efforts to conserve and prote ct game and non-game species.Federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and their counterparts in Canada share in the management of wildlife. In almost every state and county of the U.S. and Canada there are wildlife agencies responsible for the protection of fish and animal species.Oregon’s varied geology, soil, and climate support a vast collection of species and habitats, which also influence the state’s culture and economy. In 2001, for example, wildlife-related activities such as fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching generated a revenue of $2.1 billion for the state’s economy.However, the expanding impact of human development has left much of Oregon’s wildlife at different levels of risk. Nearly all native grasslands and prairies have been lost since European settlement. Ninety-six percent of the original coastal temperate rainforests have been logged. Oregon has 32 federally listed threatened and endangered s pecies.Oregonians still feel much closer to nature than people in most other parts of the United States. They deeply appreciate and are proud of Oregon’s rich natural and wildlife heritage, the state’s strong ties to fish, birds and animals. However, it is common knowledge that the wildlife scenario is not so upbeat within the state’s territory. Oregon’s state bird, the western meadowlark, for example, has become a rare sight in Willamette Valley, though it is not yet placed in the endangered species list yet.The meadowlark needs some conservation attention, as do dozens of other bird and animal species in this land of nature’s bounty. Habitat conditions have to be improved significantly to let Oregon’s wildlife assert its natural resilience and thrive in abundant numbers.There are major challenges in maintaining Oregon’s many fragmented or degraded wildlife habitats. The construction of towns and roads, alteration of river systems, o r intensive land management practices have all contributed, in the natural course of things, to the loss of habitat. Land conversion often results in diminution or total disappearance of habitats. At the very least, it impacts the quality of habitats and adversely affects the ecosystems.However, in the more recent decades, environmental awareness has led to improvements in land management practices. Better concerted efforts by Oregonians to sustain the state’s fish and wildlife are showing promising results.

Buddhism Essay Essay

One of the Buddha’s most significant teachings is that everyone is different, and hence each individual’s path to enlightenment is unique. For this reason, Buddhists acknowledge that they must take inspiration from a variety of sources to complete their individual journey to Nirvana. Belief in the concept of enlightenment is therefore important within Buddhism with different branches and schools giving varying emphasis to the many teachings of Buddha and his close followers, while some believe in Bodhisattvas, from whom they take motivation, all believe in shaping their individual effort to achieve enlightenment. Throughout this essay, the Buddha’s teachings on belief and enlightenment, how the four Noble Truths and Buddhist practices relate to belief and enlightenment, and the positions of the two major branches of Buddhism – Theravada and Mahayana – will all be analysed to determine the role of belief in Buddhism, and hence prove or disprove the a bove comments on enlightenment and belief for Buddhists. Enlightenment or _Nirvana_ is a supreme state; free from suffering, individual existence and all worldly concerns; such as greed, hate and ignorance. It is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists, breaking the otherwise endless cycle of death and rebirth known as samsara. Theravada Buddhism (â€Å"Doctrine of the Elders†) teaches that by refraining from all kinds of evil, purifying the mind and having a deep thirst for knowledge, â€Å"†¦ a Theravada Buddhist can reach the state of perfection and enter Nirvana.† (Oracle ThinkQuest, 2012) This knowledge comes almost entirely from the Tipitaka, meaning â€Å"three baskets†. This collection of scriptures contains slightly different versions between the two schools, but is considered to comprise of the most accurate accounts of the Buddha and his close disciples. It is important to note that Theravada Buddhists believe that due to the requirements for enlightenment, monks and nuns are significantly more likely to achieve Nirvana than lay people who should therefore focus on gaining good karma enabling them to be a monk or nun in their next rebirth. Mahayana Buddhism has a variety of scriptures, many of which have been written by high ranking monks since the time of the Buddha, in order to keep the teachings up to date with the culture of the period. Notably, they also  believe that all people have the capability to become enlightened. Apart from the different scripture emphasis, Mahayana Buddism is significantly diverse to Theravada due to the belief in multiple Buddhas and Boddhisattvas. Boddhisattvas are people of deep compassion who are said to delay entering Nirvana in order to help guide others to enlightenment. As such, Mahayana Buddhism adds to the Theravadan definition of Nirvana being the absence of self-centeredness (and therefore the absence of suffering) and the state of spiritual perfection, displayed by total compassion and concern for others. Two well-known Buddhist quotes which summarise the Buddha’s position on beliefs and enlightenment are: â€Å"Don’t blindly believe what I say. Don’t believe me because others convince you of my words. Don’t believe anything you see, read, or hear from others, whether of authority, religious teachers or texts. Don’t rely on logic alone, nor speculation. Don’t infer or be deceived by appearances.† â€Å"Find out for yourself what is truth, what is real. Discover that there are virtuous things and there are non-virtuous things. Once you have discovered for yourself give up the bad and embrace the good.† The above quotes help explain why Buddhists dislike teachings being referred to as beliefs. The first quote highlights the need for scepticism when reading the teachings. The second quote goes further by explaining the individuality of Nirvana, and the idea that not all teachings apply to everyone. Because followers of Buddhism are encouraged to challenge ideas presented and ascertain their own understanding of the major teachings, it is offensive to refer to this knowledge as belief, since `belief’ often refers to faith or trust in an idea(s) which has not been personally experienced. Hence Buddhists only believe in Nirvana, and the basic principles to reach their goal. Theravada and Mahayana both agree with the Buddha’s view that anyone can attain Nirvana, and one can do it within one’s present life if the Buddha’s instructions are followed carefully and applied sincerely. The two main branches of Buddhism have the same Four Noble Truths and interpret these  teachings in a similar manner. The only relevant difference is that Mahayana Buddhists have Bodhisattvas to aid in follower’s quests for Nirvana, whereas Theravada Buddhists believe that since this path is unique, it is the individual’s task to determine how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings in their own lives. As stated on BuddhaNet, _†Theravada Buddhism places great emphasis on the clergy (Sangha) as the only ones capable of attaining Nirvana__.†_ (Lyall, 2008). As such, the role of the laity (lay people: normal householders) in Theravada Buddhism is to support the clergy and lead a good life according to the Buddha, in the hope of a better rebirth. Whilst it is not taught that a lay person cannot reach enlightenment, as this would be going against a popular teaching of the Buddha, it is perceived as highly unlikely. In return for the lay people’s support, it is common for the monks to teach the laity, provide advice and conduct ceremonies such as marriages. In contrast, the Mahayana Teachings encourage both the laity and the clergy to become Boddhisattvas and attain enlightenment in their current life. Especially in the case of the laity, belief in the possibility of enlightenment at some stage in the many rebirths a person can undergo, is vitally important and an integral part of not only the religion, but the various cultures the religion exists within. The Four Noble Truths are the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. Similar to a doctor’s method for analysing a health issue, the Buddha has diagnosed the problem (suffering) and identified the cause (of the suffering) within the first and second Noble Truths. The third Noble Truth is the description of a cure, while the fourth is the prescription and instructions to recover. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths in the hope of getting closer to enlightenment and find these teachings realistic and hopeful, rather than pessimistic. The first Noble Truth, suffering (Dukkha), describes suffering as presenting itself in many forms of which some are obvious, such as old age, sickness and death (which Buddha encountered immediately after leaving his palace), and others more subliminal. Buddha explained the problem in a more profound way, teaching that all human beings are subject to desires and cravings but acquiring satisfaction from these desires and pleasure is temporar y and will not last without becoming monotonous. The origin of suffering (Samudaya) is the second Noble Truth, and consists of Buddha’s  claims to have found the cause of all suffering – desire (tanha) – which comes in three forms (which have had various names including the Three Roots of Evil, the Three Fires and the Three Poisons). These forms are the ultimate source of suffering, and are; greed and desire, ignorance or delusion, and hatred and destructive urges. The way to extinguish desire is to liberate oneself from attachment, as is explained in the third Noble Truth – Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha). This truth states that attaining enlightenment involves extinguishing the three fires of greed, delusion and hatred and could be considered as a `definition’ for Nirvana. The path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) is the fourth Noble Truth and is often referred to as the Eightfold Path because Buddha outlined a set of eight principles to follow. These are the right understanding, intenti on, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Theravada Buddhism, being the more traditionalist branch, follows the practices that have been passed down by senior monks since the Buddha’s time. These traditions or practices include living in forests and performing both sitting and walking meditation. As part of their early training, Theravadan monks and nuns generally live in huts called `kutis’ situated in forests. These huts are built on stilts to keep animals and insects out and have a path for walking meditation. Older monks and nuns are not required to live in the forest, often residing in monasteries. Early each morning and evening, the monks and nuns from a particular school meet together for meditation and recitation. After these ceremonies, which are called _pujas_, they are required to study the Dharma. An important ritual carried out by people entering the temples is to wash their feet with water which has been carried up to the monastery from a stream, generally found below in the forest. The goal of the monks and nuns is to become an _Arhat_, a person free of suffering, through the meditation. Once free of suffering they can continue on their path to Nirvana. Different forms of Mahayana Buddhism have different religious practices. These practices are often heavily influenced by the culture of the society the Buddhist school(s) resides in. Tibetan Buddhist temples are heavily â€Å"†¦decorated with many kinds of Buddha images and wall hangings called  _thankas_.† Big prayer wheels, containing mantras written on strips of rice paper, are set into the walls of the temple while smaller, handheld versions are also common. Tibetan monks generally live in these temples and in between turning the prayer wheels and studying the various teachings, they hold various festivals. These festivals incorporate an array of prayer flags and other colourful decorations to celebrate significant periods. Japanese and Chinese monasteries are very similar to the Tibetan’s, but often with less vibrant, colourful decorations and less festivals. The monks and nuns recite Sutras and sit in meditation together regularly, akin to their Tibetan counterparts. The idea of studying, reciting and meditation in Mahayana Buddhism is to endeavour to accelerate the monks and nuns journey’s to enlightenment, in order that they can become Bodhisattvas and assist others as they near their journey’s end. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism are very similar with regard to the fundamental teachings. They both accept Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) as the Teacher, have identical Four Noble Truths (and therefore Eightfold Path), share ideas on the origins of the world, practice their faith similarly and accept many comparable Buddhist concepts. The only outright difference is the scriptures they most value and consider authoritative, which affect the general path members of each branch follow to attain Nirvana. Belief in the concept of enlightenment is therefore important within Buddhism with different branches and schools giving varying emphasis to the many teachings of Buddha and his close followers, while some believe in Bodhisattvas, from whom they take motivation, all believe in shaping their individual effort to achieve enlightenment. BIBLIOGRAPHY BBC, 2009a. BBC – Religions – Buddhism: Meditation [WWW Document]. BBC Religions. URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/customs/meditation_1.shtml BBC, 2009b. BBC – Religions – Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths [WWW Document]. BBC Religions. URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/fournobletruths_1.shtml Dr. C. George Boeree, 2000. Buddhist Meditation [WWW Document]. Shippensburg University. URL http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/meditation.html GCSE RE site, 2011. Revision: Buddhism [WWW Document]. GCSE RE Site. URL http://www.mmiweb.org.uk/gcsere/revision/buddhism/keybeliefs/6_theravada.html Goldburg, P., Blundell, P., Jordan, T., 2009. Investigating religion. Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic. Gunasekara, V., 2012. Basic Buddhism [WWW Document]. URL http://www.vgweb.org/bsq/basbud.htm#ch5 Gursam, L., 2009. The Importance of Meditation [WWW Document]. URL http://www.lamagursam.org/importance_of_meditation.html Harderwijk, R., 2011. The Four Noble Truths [WWW Document]. View on Buddhism. URL http://viewonbuddhism.org/4_noble_truths.html Heckert, L., 2012. An Overview of Buddhist Meditation [WWW Document]. Johansson, R., Tillekeratna, A., De Silva, L., 2012. Buddhist Studies: Nirvana [WWW Document]. URL http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd43.htm Lyall, G., 2008. Buddhist Studies: The Rise of the Mahayana [WWW Document]. BuddhaNet. URL http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/maha2.htm Nikaya, S., 2012. The Fourth Noble Truth [WWW Document]. BuddhaNet. URL http://www.buddhanet.net/cmdsg/truths5.htm Oracle ThinkQuest, 2012. Buddhism: Buddha [WWW Document]. Oracle ThinkQuest Library: Projects by Students for Students. URL

Explore Fascinating Facts About Forest Biomes

Explore Fascinating Facts About Forest Biomes The forest biome includes terrestrial habitats that are dominated by trees and other woody plants. Today, forests cover about one-third of the worlds land surface and are found in many different terrestrial regions around the globe. There are three general types of forests- temperate forests, tropical forests, and boreal forests. Each of these forest types differs in climate, species composition, and community structure. The forests of the world have changed in composition over the course of evolution. The first forests evolved during the Silurian Period, about 400 million years ago. These ancient forests were very different than present-day forests and were dominated not by the species of trees we see today but instead by giant ferns, horsetails, and club mosses. As the evolution of land plants progressed, the species composition of forests changed. During the Triassic Period, gymnosperms (such as conifers, cycads, ginkgoes, and gnetales) dominated forests. By the Cretaceous Period, angiosperms (such as hardwood trees) had evolved. Although the flora, fauna, and structure of forests vary greatly, they often can be broken down into several structural layers. These include the forest floor, herb layer, shrub layer, understory, canopy, and emergents. The forest floor is the ground layer that is often covered with decaying plant material. The herb layer consists of herbaceous plants such as grasses, ferns, and wildflowers. The shrub layer is characterized by the presence of woody vegetation such as bushes and brambles. The understory consists of immature and small trees that are shorter than the main canopy layer. The canopy consists of the crowns of mature trees. The emergent layer includes the crowns of the tallest trees, which grow above the rest of the canopy. Key Characteristics The following are the key characteristics of the forest biome: largest and most complex terrestrial biomedominated by trees and other woody vegetationsignificant role in the global intake of carbon dioxide and production of oxygenthreatened by deforestation for logging, agriculture, and human habitation Classification The forest biome is classified within the following habitat hierarchy: Biomes of the World Forest Biome The Forest Biome Is Divided Into the Following Habitats Temperate Forests Temperate forests are forests that grow in temperate regions such as those found in eastern North America, western and central Europe, and northeastern Asia. Temperate forests have a moderate climate and a growing season that lasts between 140 and 200 days of the year. Precipitation is generally distributed evenly throughout the year. Tropical Forests Tropical forests are forests that grow in tropical and subtropical regions. These include tropical moist forests (such as those found in the Amazon Basin and the Congo Basin) and tropical dry forests (such as those found in southern Mexico, the lowlands of Bolivia, and the western regions of Madagascar). Boreal Forests Boreal forests are a band of coniferous forests that encircle the globe in the high northern latitudes between about 50Â °N and 70Â °N. Boreal forests form a circumpolar ecoregion that stretches across Canada and extends across northern Europe and Asia. Boreal forests are the worlds largest terrestrial biome and account for more than one-quarter of all the forested land on Earth. Animals of the Forest Biome Some of the animals that inhabit the forest biome include: Pine Marten (Martes martes) - The pine marten is a medium-sized mustelid that inhabits the temperate forests of Europe. Pine martens have sharp claws are good climbers. They feed on small mammals, birds, carrion, as well as some plant materials such as berries and nuts. Pine martens are most active at dusk and during the night.Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) - The gray wolf is a large canid whose range includes the temperate and boreal forests of North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa. Gray wolves are territorial carnivores that form packs of a mated pair and their offspring.Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) - The caribou is a member of the deer family that inhabits the boreal forests and tundra of North America, Siberia, and Europe. Caribou are grazing herbivores that feed on the leaves of willows and birches, as well as mushrooms, grasses, sedges, and lichen.Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) - Brown bears live in a variety of habitats including boreal forests, alpine forests and meadows, tundra, a nd coastal regions. Their range is the most extensive of all bears and includes northern and central Europe, Asia, Alaska, Canada, and the western United States. Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) - The eastern gorilla is a species of gorilla that inhabits the lowland tropical forests of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. Like all gorillas, the eastern lowland gorilla feeds on fruit and other plant materials.Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) - The black-tailed deer inhabits the temperate rainforests that blanket the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest. Black-tailed deer prefer the edges of forests where understory growth is sufficient to provide them reliable food resources.

Whistle Blowing Theory And Whistleblowers Protection Social Policy Essay Essays

Whistle Blowing Theory And Whistleblowers Protection Social Policy Essay Essays Whistle Blowing Theory And Whistleblowers Protection Social Policy Essay Paper Whistle Blowing Theory And Whistleblowers Protection Social Policy Essay Paper The purpose of this paper is to show the theory of whistle blowers protection, analyze the mechanisms for protection that surrounds it and pull out recommended whistle-blowing protection for Republic of Macedonia. It will get down with showing background theory for whistle blowers protection and specify the chief constructs of this theory such as who are the whistle blowers, what it means and when does it happen, and what are the most normally used mechanisms for protection of whistle blowers normally included in policies. The paper will furthermore, analyse the basic mechanisms of protection such as namelessness, unsusceptibility from legal action, and protection against reprisal which are frequently referred to as basic whistle-blowing protection, and farther mechanisms such as resettlement or transportation, reinstatement and back wage. These mechanisms will so be compared to the statute law in Macedonia. The concluding portion of this paper will reason with recommendations drawn out from these analyses for a whistle blowers policy protection that might be adopted by the Government in Macedonia. WHISTLEBLOWING Whistle-blowing is a term that has been used a batch in the media to show different instances of error and emphasize the importance of these instances for the public public assistance. In this portion of the paper we will look at the construct behind whistle-blowing and what this means through several different definitions that have been used in this theory or definitions that support the apprehension of the writer of this paper. Furthermore, we will specify the term whistle blower and whistle blowers protection and several instances of whistle blowers will be presented in order to show the importance of this protection. The term whistle-blowing comes from different beginnings. The general apprehension that underlines the beginning of this term normally derives from the action of whistling as an act of signaling. In these footings, Miceli and Near make a analogue of the act of blowing the whistling in a corporation or authorities, and the whistle of a football referee. By comparing whistle-blowing with an functionary on a playing field, such as a football referee, who can blow the whistling to halt action , they refer to the whistle blower as person who whistles to halt errors ( Miceli and Near 1992, 15 ) . Similarly Deiseroth, ties the term whistleblower to the Englishbobbies ( police officers ) , who would blow their whistlings when they would detect the committee of a offense ( International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility 2009 ) . All of these imply that whistle-blowing as an act is related to signaling errors. Before traveling into account of who are the whi stle blowers and what is the impact of describing incorrect behaviors, we will look at the theory that defines the construct of whistle blowers and whistle-blowing as an act. Harmonizing to Larmer, whistle-blowing is the act of complaining, either within the corporation or publically, about a corporation s unethical patterns ( Larmer 1992, 126 ) . De Maria in his book Deadly revelations: whistle-blowing and the ethical meltdown of Australia defines whistle-blowing as a public exposure of wrongdoing ( De Maria 1999, 32 ) and as an ethical opposition against the normally protected being of wrongdoing ( De Maria 1999, 34 ) . Whistle-blowing is besides defined as the revelation by organisations members ( former or current ) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate patterns under the control of their employers, to individuals or organisations that may be able to consequence action ( Near and Miceli 1985, 4 ) . In add-on to these definitions Jubb looks at whistle-blowing in a broader scope and defines it as dissent, in response to an ethical quandary, in the signifier of a public accusal against an organisation ( Jubb 1999, 79 ) and in the more narrow footings defines it as: a calculated non-obligatory act of revelation, which gets onto public record and is made by a individual who has or had privileged entree to data or information of an administration, about non-trivial illegality or other wrongdoing whether existent, suspected or anticipated which implicates and is under the control of that administration, to an external entity holding possible to rectify the error ( Jubb 1999, 79 ) . As it can be understood from the provided definitions of whistle-blowing, we can reason that the construct of whistle-blowing is chiefly defined as a construct that involves coverage of ethical errors which affect the populace in the society. Now that we have underlined the beginnings and the act of whistle-blowing, we turn to placing who is the whistle blower and why there is a demand for a whistle blowers protection. De Maria defines whistle blowers as: a concerned citizen, wholly or preponderantly motivated by impressions of public involvement, who initiates of his or her ain free will, an unfastened revelation about important wrongdoing straight perceived in a peculiar occupational function, to a individual or bureau capable of look intoing the ailment and easing the rectification of incorrect making ( De Maria 1995, 447 ) . At the same clip, Miceli and Near define the whistle blowers as nowadays or past member of an organisation against which the ailment is lodged ( Miceli and Near 1992, 16 ) . The definitions given above imply and confirm the thought given in Jubb s more narrow definition of whistle-blowing about possessing inside cognition about an organisation sing different errors of the organisation or skeletons in their cupboards. They besides stress the importance of whistle blowers in the act of uncovering incorrect behaviors in the public sector or the organisations. Additionally, the provided definitions of incorrect behaviors besides stress the importance that these Acts of the Apostless frequently refer to information in ownership of the whistle blowers gained in the period of employment with the public sector or given organisation, which deals with illegal or un-ethical Acts of the Apostless. Unfortunately when information is leaked really frequently the inquiry within the organisations harmonizing to Frome is non Is it right or incorrect? but Who leaked it? ( Frome 1978, 53 ) . In many instances such as these, when this information is exposed to the populace, the whistle blowers are fired, repressed or in some utmost instances even assassinated. Such is the instance of Marlene Garcia Esperat who was killed for her exhibition A ; eacute ; on transplant and corrupt patterns ( Espejo 2006 ) in the Philippines Department of Agriculture in 2005. Similar is the instance of Satyendra Dubey who brought up the corruptness in the main road building in India and was assassinated in 2003 twelvemonth after he complained to Mr Vajpayee and the route web governments ( BBC News 2003 ) , and the instance of Manjunath Shanmugam, who brought up to attending the corruptness in the gas industry in India and was murdered for exposing an debasement racket in Lakhimpur in 2005 ( News, Daily News Updates 2009 ) . Even thought the instances presented above represent extreme state of affairss, they stress the importance of holding policies that will offer whistle blowers protection. The protection in these footings is provided through the several mechanisms brought up at the beginning of the paper, viz. the namelessness, unsusceptibility from legal actions, protection against reprisal every bit good as resettlement, reinstatement and back wage. Basic protection Anonymity Whistle blowers are in some instances reluctant to blow the whistling. This can be a consequence of many factors, some of which include the fright of their safety, the earnestness of the information that they are in ownership of, and some factors may include the fright of unjust revenge. In these instances whistle blowers may take to remain anon. . However even thought some of these factors can be into drama namelessness non ever can be guaranteed, particularly in instances as defined by Elliston when the namelessness impedes the chase of truth ( Eliston 1983, 174 ) . One manner of set uping namelessness is by debut hot lines in the organisation, but has to be taken into history that this may come as a struggle in smaller organisations. Unsusceptibility from legal action This shield refers to the unsusceptibility from legal actions for the whistle blowers. In the most simplified significance this reflects to state of affairss when the whistle blower may be given unsusceptibility from condemnable prosecution in exchange for their testimony. The Justice Department of Australia in a treatment paper on Public involvement disclosures provinces that individual that discloses information about incorrect making will non be apt for any action, claim or any other demand of any nature including for breach of legislative act, condemnable offense, calumny, breach of assurance, misconduct or other disciplinary offense ( Tasmanian Department of Justice 2000 ) . However, it needs to be noted every bit good that unsusceptibility from legal actions is besides non ever guaranteed. For illustration, a individual can non be given unsusceptibility if the errors that are reported have been carried by from the individual that is describing them. Protection against reprisal Protection against reprisal is seen as critical by Near and Dworkin because it signals organisational support for the coverage of error ( Near and Dworkin 1998, 1560 ) . These writers point out that an organisation that does non handle its employees reasonably under other fortunes would look more likely to revenge against whistle blowers than would an organisation that is seen as just ( Miceli and Near 1992, 217 ) . Sing the above, whistle-blowing protection policies normally define certain actions that are taken against persons that are trying or cabaling to do injury to the whistle blower. Further protection Resettlement or reassign Resettlement, which sometimes is tied to namelessness, is an extra mechanism of the whistle blower protection that provides resettlements or transportations to another section upon a petition of the individual that blows the whistling. In instances when the individuality of the whistle blower is keep anon. this protection is non necessary, whereas in instances of knows identity extra protection is provided by relocating the whistle blower. In other instances, the whistle blower if he has concern about his safety, he can once more bespeak for resettlement or transportation. It needs to be taken into history that sing this protection will most likely vary on a instance to instance footing. The South Australian Whistleblower Protection Act 1993 provinces that if whistle blowers feel that a reprisal might originate from their actions of describing errors, they can bespeak for resettlement on the footing that the lone practical manner to take or well take the danger ( South Australian W histleblower Protection Act 1993 ) . Redresss Reinstatement The reinstatement with the whistle blowers protection normally falls under the classs of redresss. Within this category reinstatement should be provided in order for the whistle blowers to go on his calling. Kohn states that one of the ends of reinstatement is to restore the employee as about as possible to the place he or she would hold been in if the favoritism has non occurred ( Kohn 2001, 331 ) . Furthermore, he states that reinstatement after a individual has blown the whistling is sometimes about impossible particularly when it comes to happening comparable work in the same industry ( Kohn 2001, 330 ) . In has to be taken into history that for most of the whistle blowers the issue of holding a occupation comes foremost and first from the basicss of the benefits that one addition in footings of income. Therefore, the protection to the whistle blowers by supplying reinstatement can be seen as holding important importance to the whistle blowers themselves. Lewis in his artic le on whistle-blowing at work besides points out to the importance of holding reinstatement provided by stating the where workers have lost their occupations they should besides hold the option of taking reinstatement or re-engagement ( Lewis 2001, 193 ) . Back wage Harmonizing to Kohn, back wage serves to vindicate the public policy behind a unlawful discharge legislative act, at Acts of the Apostless as a deterrence to future unjust labour patterns, and it serves to restore the injured employee to the same status quo as would hold existed but for the unlawful act ( Kohn 2001, 332 ) . These serves to supply the whistle blower with farther protection on the footing of compensation ; nevertheless the restriction of the back wage is that it is hard to come close the sum that the individual would hold earner have he or she stayed in the organisation. Kohn states that back wage awards are continues and are concluded once the employer makes unconditioned offer of reinstatement ( Kohn 2001, 333 ) . After we have looked at the whistle-blowing construct and the protection that is proved to whistle blowers, we need to take a expression at the statute law in Macedonia to see what sort of protection is offered, if any. Furthermore, we will go on with recommendations for whistle-blowing protection that the Government of Macedonia might see to implement in future whistleblower policies. Article 38 from the Law on free entree to information of public character in Macedonia provinces that: Any duty shall be removed from an employee within the province disposal that shall unwrap protected information, in instance such information be of significance for the revelation of maltreatment of power and perversive behaviour, every bit good as for the bar of serious menaces to human wellness and life and the environment ( Law on free entree to information of public character 2006 ) . In add-on to this article, Article 20 from the Law on bar of corruptness in Macedonia provides that: A individual who has disclosed information bespeaking an act of corruptness may non be capable to condemnable prosecution or to any other liability ; protection harmonizing to the jurisprudence shall be provided to a individual who has given statement or has testified in a process for an act of corruptness. This individual shall hold the right to compensation of amendss, which he/she or a member of his/her household has suffered, due to the statement made or testimony given ( Law on bar of corruptness 2002 ) . These two articles from the statute law in Macedonia provide some legal protection to whistle blowers, nevertheless they do non protect the whistle blower to the full. Article 38 from the Law on free entree to information of public character in Macedonia provinces that individual that would unwrap information about incorrect behaviors will be removed from duty, nevertheless the article does non specify this duty and whether it refers unsusceptibility of legal prosecution. In add-on, Article 20 from the Law on bar of corruptness bounds the disclosed information merely to Acts of the Apostless of corruptness, and likewise to the old article once more it does non specify the protection of the whistle blower in a manner that no farther information is given about the signifier of the compensation of amendss. The undermentioned subdivision of this paper provides the recommendation for an ideal whistle blowers protection and gives a recommendation on which of the steps or as we called them shields should be taken into consideration and drafted in a jurisprudence by the Government of Macedonia. Recommendation In footings of namelessness, the writer of this paper feels that it needs be taken into history that people sometimes choose non to blow the whistling when they consider this action to be conceited. In add-on to this, Miceli and Near point out that people sometimes do nt desire to take the clip to do a study ( Miceli and Near 1992, 42 ) . They furthermore emphasis that even thought guaranteed namelessness may cut down this prejudice to some extend, it does non turn to the other jobs ( Miceli and Near 1992, 42 ) . Having said this, the writer of this paper believes that farther devolution in policies that would turn to colored state of affairs should be good and explicitly developed in the whistle blowers protection. Recommendations on unsusceptibility refer closely to the treatment earlier about the Law on free entree to information of public character in Macedonia and the demand to clearly place the remotion of duty when unwraping errors and whether it refers to unsusceptibility of legal prosecution. The whistle blowers protection should include actions for people that are trying or cabaling in order to transport out reprisal over the whistle blower. These actions should include legal and disciplinary actions if a individual engages in Acts of the Apostless that would personally harm or endanger the safety of the whistle blower, would prosecute in Acts of the Apostless of belongings harm or loss, intimidates, decreases degree of employment and similar activities that might harm the white-blower. The writer of this paper believes that in footings of resettlement or transportation, a recommendation for an ideal policy for whistle-blowing protection aside from the resettlement and transportation should see spread outing this protection in a manner that would supply as good leave of absence in instance when no resettlement or transportation is available at the minute. This in add-on to the resettlement and transportation shield would supply more efficient protection when there is any opportunity that the individual blowing the whistling might be reprised. The whistle blowers protection should clearly specify reinstatement and back pays protection. In footings of reinstatement, it needs to be noted in the statute law that reinstatement must be to a comparable occupation ( Kohn 2001, 333 ) . The protection should clearly specify the procedure of back wage awards and if this procedure can last continuously until reinstatement of the employee has been brought up on the docket of the employer. Further considerations might be given in specifying the procedure of computation in footings of clip. This would connote that back wages can be cipher on quarterly footing which would connote that employees interim net incomes in one peculiar one-fourth have no effect on back wage liability for another one-fourth ( Kohn 2001, 333 ) , or they can be calculated on periods of six months which would reflect the current state of affairs in Macedonia where normally no important alterations are seen in footings of publicities or raise on salary on sh orted periods. In decision, the articles provided in the statute law of Macedonia referred to some grade to unsusceptibility from legal action and to payment of amendss to the whistle blowers as a consequence from inflicted amendss from a given testimony. Therefore, a whistle blowers protection is recommended that would give clear apprehension of what constitutes a individual that discloses errors, the chance for namelessness, reinstate or transportation every bit good as definitions of redresss that would follow these actions. Second and most of import due to the attempt of the Government of Macedonia to contend with corruptness holding a clear and good defined whistle blowers protection drafted in jurisprudence that might take to more rapid betterments when contending and bar corruptness. REFERENCE LIST BBC NEWS. 2003. India probes whistleblower slaying. BBC NEWS, December 15, hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3320011.stm ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Deiseroth, Dieter. 2009. What is whistle blowing? International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.inesglobal.com/index.php? whistle-blowing A ; highlight=Dieter % 20Deiseroth ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . De Maria, William. Deadly Disclosures: Whistleblowing and the Ethical Meltdown of Australia. Kent Town, S. Aust: Wakefield Press, 1999. De Maria, William.1995. Quarantining dissent: the Queensland populace sector moralss motion. Australian Journal of Public Administration 54 ( 4 ) : 442 455. Elliston, Frederick A. 1982. Anonymity and Whistleblowing. Journal of Business Ethical motives 1 ( 3 ) :167-177. Espejo, Edwin G. 2006. The Esperat slaying instance: Justice at last but no terminal yet. Sun.Star General Santos, October 09, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2006/10/09/feat/the.esperat.murder.case.justice.at.last.but.no.end.yet.html ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Frome, Michael. 1978. Blowing the Whistle. The Center Magazine 11:50-58. Johnson, Roberta Ann. Whistleblowing: When It Works and Why. Boulder: L. Rienner Publishers, 2003. Jubb, Peter B. 1999. A Restrictive Definition and Interpretation. Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 21, no. 1 ( August ) . hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/stable/25074156 ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Kohn, Stephen M.Concepts and Procedures in Whistleblower Law. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books, 2001. Larmer, Robert A. 1992. Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 11, no. 2 ( February ) , hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/stable/25072254 ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Lewis, David. 2001. Whistleblowing at Work: On What Principles Should Legislation Be Based? Industrial Law Journal 30, no. 2, hypertext transfer protocol: //ilj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/30/2/169 ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Miceli, Marcia P. , and Janet P. Near.Blowing the Whistle: The Organizational and Legal Implications for Companies and Employees. Issues in organisation and direction series. New York: Lexington Books, 1992. NDTV News India. 2009. News, Daily News Updates, November 10, hypertext transfer protocol: //birlaa.com/news/remembering-manjunath-killed-for-honesty/10000 ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Near, Janet P. , and Marcia P. Miceli. Organizational Dissidence: The Case of Whistle-Blowing. Columbus, Ohio: College of Administrative Science, Ohio State University, 1985. Near, Janet P. , and Terry M. Dworkin.1998. Responses to Legislative Changes: Corporate Whistleblowing Policies. Journal of Business Ethics 17, no. 14 ( October ) , hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/stable/25073989 ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) . Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia. 2002. Zakon za sprecuvanje na korupcijata ( Law on bar of corruptness ) 28/02. Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia. 2006. Zakon za sloboden pristap do informacii od javen karakter ( Law on free entree to information of public character ) 13/06. South Australian Government Gazette. 1993. Whistleblower Protection Act 16.9/93. Tasmanian Department of Justice. 2000. Public Interest Disclosures. Discussion paper. hypertext transfer protocol: //74.125.77.132/search? q=cache:8G4kPPC9a18J: www.justice.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0008/55556/Discussion_Paper_Final.doc+ % 22Immunity+from+legal+action % 22+whistle A ; cd=3 A ; hl=en A ; ct=clnk. ( accessed November 29, 2009 ) .

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