Assisted Suicide by Physician for the Terminally Ill Moral or Not - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2283 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Assisted Suicide Essay Did you like this example? The notion of the right to assisted suicide is oftentimes a controversial topic surrounding the medical industry in the United States. One side of the spectrum will argue that assisted suicide is unjustifiable because by definition, death in itself is an inevitability, not a right. On the contrary, the other side of the spectrum claims that assisted suicide by aid of physician is an ethical right to a patients free exercise of autonomy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Assisted Suicide by Physician for the Terminally Ill Moral or Not" essay for you Create order Therers a multitude of factors that play into the right to assisted suicide. My argument is that so long as the terminally patient within their own mind is psychologically stable and that all other potential life-saving measures have already been instilled, then it should lawfully be within someoners rights to take their own life by palliative, physician induced suicide. In terms is the United States, only eight states have legalized assisted suicide to some degree but within strict regulation. The issuing of a assisted suicide procedure within these states is still frowned upon and is only admitted for patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live. The problem with this is that being terminally ill is not only a physical battle of attrition but even more so a mental war within oneself no matter how long your prognosis is. In essence, pain and discomfort is not the sole reason for these patients wanting to take their lives. As Doctor Teresa Yao explains in her article Can We Limit a Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide?, the three most commonly answered reasons for seeking the assisted suicide procedure is because the patients have either loss their dignity, they have lost their own autonomy, or they feel like they simply cant do the things in life that made life enjoyable anymore. (Yao 5) The objective of the majority of these patients is t o relieve themselves of their lost sense of purpose. Why would we as a country only honor what these inevitably dead people have to say when the prognosis is six months or less? The physical pain seen visually to people oftentimes undermines the overall spiritual and mental anguish that these patients are going through. The sixth months to live laws are completely arbitrary. The sole reason these lawfully put in place is to appease the public side that opposes the notion all together. The argument that Doctor Yao is implying that United States as a whole was founded on the principle of autonomy. (Yao 6) What this means is essentially being prideful and living the life that you want to live. Why is it that once you become terminally ill but still have more than six months to live, you as an inevitably dead patient have lost your right to autonomy? We a nation preach the notion of autonomy in all aspects of life. Telling a terminally ill patient that they dont have the right to die peacefully at all or stipulating that a patient with a s ix month prognosis does completely undermines the principle all together. The reality of the United States is that the majority of the vocal public opposes physician assisted suicide all together and will only resiliently support the procedure in extreme circumstances such as disabilities or a six month prognosis. The right to die can and should be included in the right to receiving an assisted-suicide procedure no matter what the prognosis or if they are disabled. This in itself is contradictory and I happen to disagree with any form of opposition of the right to this procedure. The other side of the spectrum on this ideology will argue that a persons right to die should be rejected no matter what the circumstances because the notion of death in itself is an inevitability, not a right guaranteed to one as an individual. Doctor Sylvia Dianne in her article Euthanasia and assisted suicide; There is an alternative. dives into the argument of the world being universally opposed to the notion of assisted suicide and for logical reasoning as to why. The first ideology displayed by Doctor Dianne is that the majority of participants in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism are unanimously opposed to the motives for assisted suicide. Also, studies show that Atheists and Agnostics alike tend to question morality of the process due to the universally accepted belief about the sanctity of human life despite religiously charged influence. (Dianne 25) To these four religions, suffering is a form of overcoming, displaying resilience and ultimately bringing about th e best in people. Euthanasia is in essence, implying that suffering no longer has a meaning or purpose behind it. Some of the world greatest literature, art, and music has been brought into existence because of suffering. Christians oftentimes claim that it was the unjust suffering of Christ that ultimately allowed redemption for the everyday sinners on Earth. After arguing in respect to worldwide religions and cultures, Doctor Dianne researched the issue of assisted-suicide from the medical perspective. It turns out that from the very beginnings of medically involved times till now, the sanctioning of killing patients is and never will be acceptable. Also, euthanasia practices voluntary or not are in violation of historical codes birthed in medical ethics. (Dianne 30) The explanation behind this research is that the grand majority of medical professionals feel that the practice of voluntary assisted suicide is hypocritical and goes against exactly what it is the medical professiona l was trained to do. What the author is insinuating is that euthanasia needs to be an absolute last resort option and rather than jumping to the conclusion of termination so rapidly, Doctors need to exhaust every avenue of potential life saving treatment first so that questioning of physician assisted suicide is never brought into question in the first place. As a practicing Christian myself, I think that Doctor Dianne did a good job at arguing in favor of not only Christianity but also the three other most commonly practiced religions worldwide in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. When debating a topic that is correlated between science and religion I feel like this article remained fairly unbiased in that Doctor Sylvia was successful in bringing about the fact that both the medical industry and religions alike are opposed to physician assisted suicide in some way, shape, or form. It is definitely important to respect the morality and views of people when considering the topic of assisted suicide. Religions and people in general claim that human life has inherent value and that euthanasia isnt something that any medical professional wants to be responsible for. These are important variables to take into account but, I also feel that sometimes it is important to challenge such views when it comes to terminally ill patients. I personally do nt see euthanasia as a last resort option. I see it as a form of immediate relief which is something medical professionals are trained to do metaphorically speaking. I also greatly oppose the argument of suffering no longer having meaning. Enduring a life of hardships and perseverance is something that brings about the best in people. Lifestyle hardships are far fetched from someone on the verge of dying, potentially going through excruciating pain and suffering. There really needs to be a deviation between the two in the eyes of someone arguing in favor of their religiously innate ideas. I now want to revert back as to why physician assisted suicide is justifiable. Doctor Timothy Quill is actually a practicing medical professional himself and wrote his article Physicians Should Assist in Suicide When It Is Appropriate. In order to explain that in many cases, assisting suicide by a physician is actually ethically justifiable. Early on Doctor Quill claims that assisted suicide shouldnt be considered for a terminally ill patient until all aspects of excellent palliative medical care has been induced. (Quill 58) This correlates directly to the argument displayed by religiously activated Doctor Dianne in the previous article examined. After laying this foundation, Doctor Quill explains that legalization of physician assisted suicide will absolutely does not undermine improvements in palliative care and hospice. The idea for terminally ill patients having the option of the procedure is potentially a good safety blanket in that it brings the patients more tolerance and resi lience to suffering knowing that there is that option if need be. After being moderate on the idea, Doctor Quill then discusses the autonomy argument similar to that of Doctor Yao. Autotomy is essentially the greatest factor played into the seeking of euthanasia, and understandably so. He talks by personal experience witnessing terminally ill patients living a life of no dignity and pride while continuously piling on medical bills and from what he has seen itrs absolutely demoralizing to people and their families. (Quill 63) What Doctor Quill is insisting is that why let your family see you suffering and why be a financial burden when death is inevitable sooner than later? So long as the practices are not in secret and are repeatedly pronounced to the patient and family for a formal consent, then therers really no justification as to why this practice is harsh or immoral again, this is once all other avenues have been exhausted. This is unfortunately a harsh reality that some families have to experience when it comes to terminal illnesses however, there is much truth value behind what he is claiming. The practice of physician assisted suicide indeed needs to be a consensual procedure with the patient having the ultimate authority so long as they are mentally competent. I like how Doctor Quill discussed how demoralizing living with a terminal illness is. Where I somewhat disagree with him is when he relates to Doctor Dianne on stressing the importance of exhausting every potential life saving avenue. I would say once diagnosed as terminally ill it is crucial to let the patients and their families demonstrate their own choices and let them decide what they want to do. Even with assistance from insurance treatments can become a financial burden as well as a waste of resources for patients who arent terminally ill. The last article I researched by Doctor D. Etienne de Villiers was called May Christians Request Medically Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia? This article gives the perspective from an average American Christian as to why the practice is not ethical in accordance to the Bible and traditional American values in general. The general Christian belief system entails that the terminally ill are to live both morally and loyal to god until their death. This, as well has remaining prejudice against the termination of any human life for any reason. (Villiers 1) Another influential ideology as to why Christians are so hesitant when asked about assisted suicide even for the terminally ill is because the Bible promotes absolute prohibition. Doctor Villiers explains this by going on to discuss the Sixth Commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill. Although quite vague, the modern interpretation of the sixth commandment is to value human life as sacred. The journey of life for a Christian, even when terminally ill, is to essentially trust the sustained care and support of God no matter what the circumstances are. (Villiers 4) The main idea here is to put the illness in the hands of God and let it play out the way that it was intended too. In other words, a physician has no place telling a person when their time on Earth is up. It is Godrs will as to when your time comes. Generally what Doctor Villiers is establishing is that physician assisted suicide is considered blasphemy by the majority of Christianrs and that needs to be respected by the medical industry when cases are made in favor of the practice. I truly have mixed emotions on this article. Although I am a practicing Christian, I think itrs important to note that when someone is diagnosed as terminally ill it can be inferred God has already willed that death will take place for that very person. I feel as though this article was objective at trying to bring about an understanding from the religious perspective on the issue and I think that Doctor de Villiers stayed fairly neutral and within certain boundaries even though she showed religious biases in her argument structure. Biblically speaking, I can agree and understand the notion that the body is somewhat like a temple and is to be taken care of at all times. Where I come to disagree is at what point is the body worth trying to save anymore? If your soul truly is eternal and the body has wasted away to near death then maybe itrs time to surrender and let your soul move on. This article was backed with Biblical evidence however I feel much of this article was more speculati on rather than research. The source proved to be effective in further adding to the notion that we as nation need to appease all sides of the spectrum and witness who displays these antagonistic views and why. In conclusion, the research that I have performed for this paper has taught me that the majority of the world is unanimously opposed to the notion of physician assisted suicide for reasons tied to religion, ethics, and morality. These multitude of explanations cannot not be ignored and should always be considered when trying to promote such a procedure. Although the opposition create a solid counterargument, the benefits of physician assisted suicide at least to me, outweigh the negatives. For this very reason, my argument remains that so long as the terminally patient within their own mind is psychologically stable and that all other potential life-saving measures have already been instilled, then it should lawfully be within someoners rights to take their own life by palliative, physician induced suicide.

American Dreams The American Dream - 1068 Words

American Dream? American Dream: Noun, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. That is the definition of the American dream according to Dictionary.com, but the American Dream is more than a definition, but a way of life for many. Millions of immigrants come to our country in search of this â€Å"American Dream† including my grandparents but more and more are disappointed. So does the American Dream exist? Has it ever existed or has it all been an illusion? When my grandparents came in the 70’s they came in search of the American dream. My grandfather had been working for a few years in the states, so one day my grandmother and my father, who was a baby at the time, came and settled in City Terrace. They worked their butts off at multiple jobs and sometimes jobs that were dangerous. 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The Red Bandana free essay sample

There are many stories about brave firefighters and policemen who gave up their lives on that fall morning. They were prepared for the tragedy that was at hand. It was the average men that acted so bravely, were not trained to handle a catastrophe, that were the hero’s of that September morning. There is a story about a man who was in the south tower of the World Trade Center; he was neither a fireman nor a police man. He didn’t wake up thinking he would be in harms way, for him it was just another day. When the plane hit his tower he didn’t have to stay and help people. He could have done what most people did, get to a stair well and get out of the tower. However, he chose to stay, not because that was his job, but because there was something inside him that told him go and help anyone who was trapped. We will write a custom essay sample on The Red Bandana or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many people were saved that day by a fireman or a police officer, but several people say they were saved by a man wearing a white T-shirt and a red bandana over his mouth and nose to keep smoke from filling his lungs. There are also countless other stories of average people performing extraordinary deeds. They are the true hero’s of that day. They reminded every American citizen that they to have the capacity in them to do a great and noble act, they simply have to be in the right place at the right time. The man in the red bandana that died that day was Welles Crowther, his body was found next to two firemen, and he was 24 years old. There are some people that, to most appear to be ordinary average American’s. However in times of great peril those few people become extraordinary heroes. There actions have inspired a Nation and given hope to the world.

Social Psychological Forces that Lead to Self-Destruction free essay sample

A discussion of two plays: The Revengers Tragedies by Middleton Thomas and Rowley Williams and The Changeling by Anon and the prevalence of murder and suicide within them. This paper reviews the two plays The Revengers Tragedies, by Middleton Thomas and Rowley Williams, and The Changeling, by Anon and analyzes the social and psychological forces that can be said to be the reasons for the facilitation of the murder and suicide themes that are dominant to both plots.The paper gives an insight into the depths of human want and desire that is the cause of psychopathic and society hating characters. The Revengers Tragedies begins with the protagonist, Vendice, railing the duke, who he holds responsible for the death of his fiance. His brother joins him, bringing to his knowledge the lustful and unacceptable nature of the Dukes younger son, further strengthening. In the immediately following act we learn that the Dukes son, the younger son as he is referred to, is tried for the rape of a certain Lord Antonios wife. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Psychological Forces that Lead to Self-Destruction or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His mother and Ambitioso defend him, the younger son. Subsequently, as the play proceeds and the plot thickens, we find Vendice scouting around Lussurioso for information under the pretext of being his servant. While in disguise, Vendice discovers that it is actually Lussurioso who is the guilty one; he also further discovers that he, Lussurioso, is now planning to try for Castiza, who is Vendices sister. Vendice also learns of Lussuriosos plans of proceeding to target Gratiana, Vendices mother, in the case of not having any luck with Castiza. Vendice even goes so far as to go to his sister, without disclosing his true identity, with Lussuriosos offer, which is coldly turned down, to the pleasure of Vendice. Her morality and righteousness are clearly illustrated at this point. His mother, however, appears to have more tendencies to sway, suggesting her character to be rather fickle and she is later berated for this by both of her sons. The play builds up with Vendice dressing up the skeleton of his dead fiance, and, proceeding to apply poison to the mouth of the skull, he brings the duke into its presence. The Duke kisses the skull and while he is in his dying throes, Vendice discloses to him the entire scheme, including the fat that Antonios wife poisoned herself after being raped by the Dukes son. At this point, it becomes rather apparent that Vendice and his brother are a vindictive pair and will stop at nothing in order to attain revenge.

Artificial Monster Essays

Artificial Monster Essays Artificial Monster Essays Artificial Monster Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. I was eight years old when I figured out that life wasn’t meant for living for me but to a higher degree of leaving a legacy. I had an older brother who was fourteen and in middle school. We had a six year age difference and a pretty decent relationship, if you count him practicing WWE wrestling moves on me in the living room. I was used to the fact that I was the baby of the family and described as a spoiled brat. My life was described in a ritual routine of waking up, school, and softball, homework, wrestling with the older brother, and going to sleep. My child wish was to be a big sister and to be able to dress up my sibling just like I was able to dress up my Polly Pocket Dolls. I wanted to be able to take on and off the hair dos, pick the outfits, and control every movement that the toy made. Every Christmas, I put on my wish list that I wanted a little sister and quick so that I can give her back when I got bored of her just like I was able to do with my toys. Due to my naà ¯ve and selfish thoughts, that is how I wanted things to be and thought that my plan was perfect. It wasn’t till I found myself sitting in the car with my mom, three days after Christmas, where she told me I was going to be a big sister. Nine months later, August 29th 2002, I was informed by my mom, that her and my father were getting a divorce and that we were no longer going to be a family. In my mind, this was the end of the world. With tears streaming down my tan freckled cheeks and butterflies that assembled just like if they were in a net. I started the thinking of process of why this was happening and thought everything was perfect. I turned to my mom who was sitting next to me on the couch and saw her expanding stomach. I came up with the conclusion that it was the baby’s fault. It made sense, our family situation was perfect as it could possibly be until my mom got pregnant. I felt angry, my face turned as red as a ripe tomato and I felt my forehead create wrinkles just like the uneven sand at the beach. I hated that baby and wanted so badly for some kind of perpetual miracle to make this all just a dream. I named the baby, Monster. It was ruining my life. I woke up to my mother screaming at two o’clock in the morning, as if someone was stabbing her with thousands of knives only hours after she announced of her divorce with my father. She was grabbing her stomach with a grasp that tensely tugged on her shirt and had her mouth wide open. She was dripping in sweat and her forehead had three trench-like creases that overlapped each other. I said with fear, â€Å"Mommy! Mommy! Why are you hurting?† She replied in a desperate gasp for air and attempted to not yell, â€Å"Lynette, Dial 9-1-1! The baby is coming! Please Hurry!† I ran as fast I could down the corridor hallway and into the kitchen where the white telephone was located. I quickly grabbed the phone off the hook and held it with both my hands as if I was holding a book. I pressed the rubber button with my thumbs with a quick motion, and held the phone to my left ear. I heard a voice say in monotone, â€Å"Hi, you’ve called 9-1-1 what’s your emergency?† With my frightened and anxious voice I replied, â€Å"My mom is pregnant with a monster, she is having a baby! Please hurry! She is screaming and crying! Help me please!† The policeman replied, â€Å"Okay sweetie, we have your location from your phone. We are on our way. Everything is going to be okay.† I slammed the phone down on the table, not being sure of whether or not I hung up on the police officer. I ran back down the hallway and saw my mom lying on the floor crying. I grabbed her pillow from her bed and started praying with the pillow between my legs. What seemed like forever was only five minutes before I heard sirens outside my house. I ran outside to the police and helped them get to my mom inside of her bedroom. They lifted my

5 Examples of How Hyphens Help

5 Examples of How Hyphens Help 5 Examples of How Hyphens Help 5 Examples of How Hyphens Help By Mark Nichol Confusion about whether or not to use a hyphen remains one of the most common mechanical problems in writing. Here are five sentences in which hyphens are erroneously omitted. 1. â€Å"The head on crash sent three people to the hospital.† This sentence creates the unfortunate impression that a human head is somehow responsible for a car accident: The phrasal adjective â€Å"head on† should be hyphenated before the noun it refers to (but, like all the other examples in this post, should left open when it follows the noun): â€Å"The head-on crash sent three people to the hospital.† 2. â€Å"It’s unfortunate that she didn’t make better informed decisions.† One could refer to informed decisions that are better, but that’s not quite what is meant here. The reference is to decisions that are better informed, so the phrasal adjective should be hyphenated: â€Å"It’s unfortunate that she didn’t make better-informed decisions.† 3. â€Å"His report suggested a less than careful analysis of the facts.† What kind of analysis being discussed? One that is less than careful. So this combination of words should be hyphenated: â€Å"His report suggested a less-than-careful analysis of the facts.† 4. â€Å"She showed excellent time management skills.† This sentence can be read only as intended, but because â€Å"time management† is not awarded status as a standing phrase by being honored with a dictionary entry, it should be treated like any other temporary phrasal adjective: â€Å"She showed excellent time-management skills.† 5. â€Å"By observing quality of care measures at that point, they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would drop out of high school.† The issue is not care measures and their quality; it is measures of quality of care, or â€Å"quality-of-care measures†: â€Å"By observing quality-of-care measures at that point, they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would drop out of high school.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?8 Types of Parenthetical PhrasesLetter Writing 101

Sound and fury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sound and fury - Essay Example Heather’s family members seem to be all deaf; two brothers and parents. Peter, one of Heathers families, is a candid head of the anti-implant deaf society who lives on the Island of Long. His life is twisted upside down by his daughter aspiration to hear. After being overpowered by the daughter’s desires, Peter and Nita put on hold their long-standing position about the implant. They later realize that children that are under implant are frequently conversant and mainstreamed interested in the hearing situation. Heather’s parents become frightened that the implant will make their daughter develop a rejection to the American Sign Language and deaf way of life. The family divergence or disagreement arises after one of Peter’s brothers who do not have hearing impediment, and the wife realized that their newborn infant is also having a hearing problem. They decide to put the child under the implant. The clash gets to an intense peak after the part of the family who does have hearing impediment tries to battle for Heather’s right to join the hearing world while the other part of the family (deaf family members) also battle to keep her deaf individuality. In my opinion, the movie talks about respect for culture. From the movie, there is a battle between two different groups, one group supporting the use of cochlear implant while another group is opposed to the use of the device. It is an indication of how important culture is to different people with different conditions especially the disabled group; respect to culture is essential to every individual. Aronson, Josh, Roger Weisberg, Chris Artinian, Nita Artinian, Heather Artinian, Peter Artinian, Brian Danitz, Ann Collins, Mark Suozzo, Ronald Guttman, and Nora Coblence. Sound and Fury. New York?: Docurama,

Discovering computers Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Discovering computers - Term Paper Example elated to the same, including: how computers are used, uses of the application software, components of a system unit, input and output devices, storage devices, uses and ramifications of the internet, systems software, communications and network, databases and information management, systems development, project management, use of multimedia, security, privacy and ethics issue, and controversial computer-related topics addressing the use of computers in contemporary society. To understand how computers work, one must understood what goes into them (data) and what comes out from the same (information). Basically, it is the main job of the computer to turn the said data into information through the process called information processing cycle. Computers usually work with inputs through devices that transmit data and information from external users such as the users (Shelley, et al. 2008). Input devices used for this particular function usually include the following: (1) keyboards, (2) mice, (3) touch-screen monitors and lastly, (4) network cards. On the other hand, computers also work with output by using devices that releases data from the computer to the user. As earlier stated, the computer transforms the information coming in to the information needed by the user through the process called information processing cycle (Spencer 1985). Technically, the information processing cycle is defined as that method wherein information is processed. There are four components associated with the information processing cycle of a computer; these are; (1) input – the step wherein the user enters data into the computer; (2) processing – wherein the computer performs operations on the data; (3) output- the step concerned with the presentation of the results; and finally, (4) storage – concerned with saving data, programs and output for use in the future (Shelley, et al. 2008). Perhaps, one of the most common uses of the computer nowadays is to access the World Wide Web.

Letter of application Essay Example for Free

Letter of application Essay Though there are many formats, full block format with open punctuation marks is the most popularly used forms in today’s business communication. Full block format means, aligning all the parts of the letters in the left margin without indenting. One line space has to be left between the parts. Open punctuation refers to using punctuation marks only in the main body of the letter in order to ensure clear comprehension and omitting punctuation marks like commas and full stops in all other parts (date, address, salutation, subscription, etc. ) How to Write an Effective Cover Letter? An effective cover letter must convince the employer that the candidate possesses the requisite skills for the job and ensure him that he is the suitable person for the post. So the cover letter should highlight the most relevant skills/achievements/performance, needed for the job. The cover letter is usually written in three or four small paragraphs with enough white space in between. In the first paragraph, (i) mention the subject and reference. In other words, the name of the post you are applying and the source of information (name of the newspaper and the date) are to be mentioned. In case of some other sources like personal contacts, due acknowledgement has to be made. (ii) Express the reason to apply for the post or your willingness to be considered as a candidate. Some sample openings: 1. Your advertisement for the post of Software Engineer in the June 25, 2008 issue of The Times of India interested me as I am confident that I possess the requisite qualification and skills. I wish to be considered as a candidate for the same. 2. I understand from Mr. Rajgopal, one of your faculty that there is an opening in your esteemed organization for the post of Marketing Executive.. 3. I was very interested to see your advertisement for the post Software Engineer in The Hindu of 29.06.2008. I have been seeking for such an opportunity as this, and I think my background and your requirements may be a good match. I am very much interested in working as a Software Engineer in your esteemed concern. In the second paragraph, (i) highlight your academic and professional skills which are more relevant for the post you are applying now. (ii) Give specific and the most important details of your achievements and inform the employer that your resume is enclosed for the other details of your qualification and experience. Some samples: 1. As my enclosed resume indicates, I have a B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering. I was a University rank holder and was awarded a merit scholarship by the University. I did my internship at Reliance, Bangalore, during the summer vacation. My project work has helped me acquire a wide variety of skills that would benefit your company. 2. My education includes a B.E .in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi and an MBA from IGNOU, New Delhi. During my undergraduation, I did a summer project in Network Security, at BSNL, Coimbatore. and received a letter of appreciation for my vision and ability to multitask. I wish to begin my career with Polexcel and I believe that my employment with you would be highly beneficial to your company and also add value to my career. In the third paragraph/concluding paragraph, (i) motivate the employer for taking action, i.e., calling for an interview (ii) express your convenience to attend the interview. Some Sample Closings: 1. I look forward to the opportunity of attending an interview when I can provide additional details. 2. I would like to meet you and discuss the employment possibilities at your company. I expect your reply and appreciate your consideration. 3. I shall be pleased to provide any further information you may need and hope I may be given an opportunity of an interview. 4. I wish to begin my career with SR Industries and I believe that my employment with you would be highly beneficial to your company and also add value to my career. 5. I have been looking for an opening like this one, which provides a fast moving, dynamic work environment and accelerated and challenging growth opportunities. (ii) RESUME A resume is a selective record of a candidate’s academic, professional and personal background. It is basically, a professional employment seeking document that presents the summary of an individual’s education, professional training, experience, skills, abilities, achievements and references. The length of the resume should be between 1 and 2 pages long. Format There is no specific format for writing a resume. The resume should have an effective design with a focus on readability and adaptation to the expectations of the prospective employer. Though the parts and the format of a resume differ from person to person and company to company, the standard parts of a resume include the following: 1. heading, 2. position sought, 3. career objective, 4. education, 5. work experience, 6. special skills, 7. achievements, 8. activities, and interests 9. references. Some sample objectives 1. To work as a System Manager in a leading IT company where I will have opportunities to use my knowledge in VB, ASP, NET, XML and SQL server. 2. To be a part of a fast growing multinational company that will enable me to use my analytical, interpersonal and communication skills. 3. Entry level position is design and development of microprocessor circuitry; eventual advancement to positions as Technical Manager or Project Leader. Resume Style There are three acceptable resume styles: Chronological, Functional and Hybrid (a combination of both) Chronological Resume: This is the most commonly used resume style. It focuses on education and experience and the details are arranged in reverse chronological order. Functional Resume: Functional resumes highlight accomplishments and emphasise skills. The requisite skills are demonstrated by means of the experience the candidate possesses. Combination Resume: As the name suggests, it combines the best features of chronological and functional resumes. This style is very rarely used. In short, the style of the resume depends on the nature of the job and the skills and qualification of the candidate. Points to Remember in Writing a Resume Make the design and format readable with main sections noticeable and the individual components distinct, separate and clear. Give well defined headings Leave enough white space between the parts. Align everything to the left Leave at least one inch margin Use standard font, preferably, Ariel or Times New Roman with 10 or 12 font size. Be specific, factual and objective. Edit carefully for grammar, vocabulary and spelling errors. Avoid punctuation as much as possible. Avoid columns, vertical, horizontal lines, or boxes. Avoid decorative designs, and typography Make the resume computer-friendly. Thus the success of employment search largely depends on a candidate’s ability to design an effective cover letter and a persuasive resume. LETTER OF APPLICATION In response to your advertisement in The Times of India of 29.06.2008, I wish to apply for the post of Software Engineer in your reputed concern. My academic record reflects my sincerity and strong determination. I graduated with a B.Tech in Information Technology from Anna University, Coimbatore with distinction in May 2008. I received the Chief Minister Merit Scholarship during 2006-2007 for my academic performance. As a dynamic and extroverted student, I took active interest and participation in many extra curricular and co-curricular activities and won prizes. I have enclosed my resume for the details of my qualification for your perusal. As I have a sound academic background, good oral and written communication skills, proficiency in computers and high degree of commitment, I would be able to contribute to the growth and expansion of your company. I look forward to having the opportunity to further discuss my qualifications for the post of Software Engineer at your firm. OBJECTIVE To obtain a challenging position as a Software Engineer in an innovative software company where I will have opportunities to utilize my computer proficiency, communication and interpersonal skills to contribute to the growth of the company and also enhance my career prospects. EDUCATION Anna University, Coimbatore B.Tech. in Information Technology, May, 2008. SH Senior Secondary School, Chennai passed Higher Secondary, April, 2004 SOFTWARE SKILLS Programming Languages: C, C++, JAVA, PERL Technologies: HTML, Java Security, JDBC Operating Systems: Linux, Unix, Windows 95/09/NT, DOS ACHIEVEMENTS Won Chief Minister Merit Scholarship for academic proficiency in III tear Won First prize in Inter – University elocution contest, in 2007. Secured Second position in Debugging’ contest, held at IIT, Chennai. ACTIVITIES Was the Student Secretary for the Society of Information Technologists Had been a member of National Cadet Corps for three years during my school Have participated in many extra – curricular activities and won prizes PERSONAL DETAILS Age Date of Birth 21 years 14.08. 1987 Marital Status: Single Languages Known: Tamil, English, Hindi, German Interests: Reading fiction, Web designing and Listening to Carnatic REFERENCES 1. Dr. V.Thanuvalingam Dean (Academic) Anna University Coimbatore 2. Dr.K.Viswanathan Professor Head Department of Information Technology Anna University Coimbatore Task: Assume that you have completed your degree and draft a letter of application to be sent to your dream company. Prepare your own resume to be enclosed along with the cover letter.

Responding to Student Writing Essay -- Education, Teaching

Responding to student writing is rife with potential — potential to help students improve their writing, potential to encourage a writer to continue, and potential to make the student feel like a failure. The written text used to responding to student writing, the end notes, the marginalia, is hugely influential to student writing, but largely ignored. John Swales might identify this kind of text as an â€Å"occluded† genres—texts that are produced on a very regular basis in a composition class (including syllabus, assignment prompts, etc), but are largely ignored or viewed as inconsequential. The result of this kind of ignored text is that responses to student writing vary greatly and, when scrutinized, generally demonstrate very little substance and very little direction for the writer. In addition to ostensibly useful feedback such as guidance, praise, and corrections—comments that effectively lead students to improve their writing, the marginal comment s also include negative and seemingly useless remarks ranging from non sequiturs to failure, meanness, and cruelty. In part, the wide range of useless comments occurs because most teachers of writing are never taught how to effectively respond to student papers. Sure, many composition classes are taught by Literature scholars (or others), but writing classes are also taught by Composition scholars who, while versed in theory, oftentimes never learn the practical task of marking up student papers. If teachers of writing have been trained in effective ways to respond to student writing, it may from their experiences as a tutor in the Writing Center. To be fair, the field of Composition has explored many ways to effectively respond to student writing. The problem is that it is that te... ...of Responding to Student Writing; or, Looking for Shortcuts via the Road of Excess.† Across the Disciplines 3 (2006): 21 Jan. 2010 . Horner, Bruce. Terms of Work for Composition: A Materialist Critique. Albany: State University of New York UP, 2000. Johnson-Shull, Lisa. â€Å"Teaching Writing in the Rabbit Hole: The Curious Use of the Non Sequitur as a Staple in Teacher Comments.† Unpublished Manuscript. Rose, Mike. â€Å"Narrowing the Mind and Page: Remedial Writers and Cognitive Reductionism.† College Composition and Communication 39 (1988): 267-302. Sommers, Nancy. â€Å"Across the Drafts.† College Composition and Communication 58.2 (2006): 248-257. Swales, John M. â€Å"Occluded Genres in the Academy: The Case of the Submission Letter.† Academic Writing: Intercultural and Textual Issues. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1996. 44-58.

Nuclear Energy

As the need for electricity increases through time, it's important to find options for future complications. Nuclear power has both negative and positive attributes in producing electrical energy. Despite the negative, I believe it's a good choice to make for when we can no longer depend on other sources such as natural gas because it is cheaper and more â€Å"green†. Of course, there are other sources that could also be considered such as wind power, solar power, or coal. In my opinion, these are not as superior as nuclear power for several reasons. As global warming becomes a bigger concern, options such as natural gas and coal are eliminated because of environmental hazards. This leaves wind power, solar power, and nuclear power. Wind power and solar power are not bad options. In fact, they are probably the smartest and most â€Å"green† inventions for producing electricity. Like most things, however, they have a few flaws. For example, in a CNBC news article, â€Å"Primer: Nuclear Power† it stated that wind power and solar power produces the least amount of energy for the highest price. Another article, â€Å"Nuclear Power is Nuclear† said wind power is not only expensive but also dangerous to birds. The article said a proximately 75,000- 250,000 birds die each year by crashing into the spinning generator! With knowing that both wind power and solar power are cost-defective and knowing that coal and natural gas is harmful to the environment, what makes nuclear energy so great? Well, from an economic standpoint, nuclear energy is the cheapest to produce and produces the most. Nuclear plants now produce electricity for 1. 76 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to 2. 47 cents for coal or 6. 78 cents for natural gas. † (Primer: Nuclear Power). As for the environment and people, it is a very safe process (in most cases) and does not produce global warming. Some people, like me, might have corresponded nuclear weapons to nuclear energy, which might have put you to look at nuclear energy from a negative perspective. But knowing and understanding how it works, shows that it is safer then you may expect. However, if an accident would occur it wouldn't be very good because of radiation poisoning that could spread and can cause a lot of cancers and other defects and diseases. Although the chances of this happening are very small and hopefully through time safety will progress. With these facts and statistics, nuclear power shows a cleaner and cheaper way for producing electricity in the future. With nuclear energy only being 20% of our power, hopefully nuclear plants would increase as well as their safety. Nuclear Energy Nuclear Energy is defined as the energy  that is released  when atomic nuclei either split or fuse. After a careful consideration of the amount of conventional fuels available and their consumption, it becomes very clear that nuclear energy will be used predominantly in the future. Moreover, it offers an attractive alternative to the conventional fuels that generally contribute to global warming.  In comparison to fossil fuels and hydroelectric power, nuclear energy provides a safer and cleaner option. Moreover, the quantity of uranium, which is used as nuclear fuel, is much more abundant than fossil fuels (Miller, 2004).Another advantage in using nuclear energy is that it is comparatively cheaper and environmentally safe, because the waste matter from such fuel is safely stored. In the United States of America, each and every nuclear power plant is controlled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Moreover, these nuclear facilities have to strictly adhere to the safety standard s set by this regulatory body (Cabreza).A very important benefit of nuclear energy lies in the fact that it drastically reduces dependence on oil imports. Furthermore, this source of energy requires a lot of personnel, which helps to decrease unemployment. Nuclear energy is not only very efficient but also cost-effective, due to the minimal variance in the price of uranium, the optimal performance and frequent modernization of nuclear power plants. At present, a fifth of the total electricity needs of the U.S are catered to by nuclear (Cabreza).In comparison to nuclear energy, coal the conventional source of energy is much more dangerous. Coal releases a number of pollutants and carcinogens when burned. Further, the annual casualties amongst coal miners, due to accidents, are around a hundred. Nuclear power is far safer in comparison to coal or hydropower (Miller, 2004).  The nuclear fuel used in nuclear reactors is Uranium-235 and the mechanism by which nuclear fission energy is released is given by the equation:  10n + 235 92U —> 9236Kr + 14156 Ba +200 MeV+ 3 1 0n (3-3: Nuclear Fission).Uranium-235 releases 3.7 million times the amount of energy that coal can release. Due to the use of nuclear energy, two and a half billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions are not released into the atmosphere every year (Why use Nuclear Power?, 2006).In view of the above facts, it is imperative for the world to adopt nuclear energy for all their energy requirements. Nuclear power is clean, cost-effective, reliable and safe power. No major nuclear accidents have taken place in the U.S.   In its entire history, only a single accident took place in 1979. In that incident there was a partial reactor core meltdown at Three Mile Island (Accident of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant).However, this accident served to illustrate the effectiveness of the various safety measures that had been adopted in nuclear power plants. Radiation from the core of the reactor could not come out of the reactor due to the highly effective walls and no member of the public or personnel of the facility sustained even an injury.  Moreover, with the amount of subsequent research that was conducted after this accident, the possibility of the recurrence of such an incident is very remote. Considerable attention has been paid to recycling spent fuel and thereby reducing the amount of nuclear waste. In view of these facts the day is not far off when nuclear fuel will completely replace fossil fuels.ReferencesWhy use Nuclear Power? (2006, October 22). Retrieved May 3, 2007, from The Virtual Nuclear Tourist: http://www.nucleartourist.com/basics/reasons1.htm Nuclear Energy As the need for electricity increases through time, it's important to find options for future complications. Nuclear power has both negative and positive attributes in producing electrical energy. Despite the negative, I believe it's a good choice to make for when we can no longer depend on other sources such as natural gas because it is cheaper and more â€Å"green†. Of course, there are other sources that could also be considered such as wind power, solar power, or coal. In my opinion, these are not as superior as nuclear power for several reasons. As global warming becomes a bigger concern, options such as natural gas and coal are eliminated because of environmental hazards. This leaves wind power, solar power, and nuclear power. Wind power and solar power are not bad options. In fact, they are probably the smartest and most â€Å"green† inventions for producing electricity. Like most things, however, they have a few flaws. For example, in a CNBC news article, â€Å"Primer: Nuclear Power† it stated that wind power and solar power produces the least amount of energy for the highest price. Another article, â€Å"Nuclear Power is Nuclear† said wind power is not only expensive but also dangerous to birds. The article said a proximately 75,000- 250,000 birds die each year by crashing into the spinning generator! With knowing that both wind power and solar power are cost-defective and knowing that coal and natural gas is harmful to the environment, what makes nuclear energy so great? Well, from an economic standpoint, nuclear energy is the cheapest to produce and produces the most. Nuclear plants now produce electricity for 1. 76 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to 2. 47 cents for coal or 6. 78 cents for natural gas. † (Primer: Nuclear Power). As for the environment and people, it is a very safe process (in most cases) and does not produce global warming. Some people, like me, might have corresponded nuclear weapons to nuclear energy, which might have put you to look at nuclear energy from a negative perspective. But knowing and understanding how it works, shows that it is safer then you may expect. However, if an accident would occur it wouldn't be very good because of radiation poisoning that could spread and can cause a lot of cancers and other defects and diseases. Although the chances of this happening are very small and hopefully through time safety will progress. With these facts and statistics, nuclear power shows a cleaner and cheaper way for producing electricity in the future. With nuclear energy only being 20% of our power, hopefully nuclear plants would increase as well as their safety.

Logistics department Essay

1. What interactions and discussion need to take place among the marketing, manufacturing, logistics, and finance departments? Explain the logistics department`s role in the introduction of the new product. The functional areas of marketing, logistics, manufacturing and finance should hold weekly sales and operations planning (S&OP) meetings to address the following: Identify firm planned orders which may be delayed to the customer. Notify key account managers and focused operations planning team(s) to expedite orders in jeopardy Address any resource constraints to meet firm planned orders for the current month and planned orders for the following three months (manufacturing capacity, labor) The focused operations planning team(s) which consists of production, procurement, manufacturing and master production scheduling (logistics) must meet daily to ensure the requirements identified in the S&OP meeting are carried out. Logistics ensures the following: – ensure that raw material inputs to peanuts arrive on time without freight damage – ensure that finished goods inventory from the manufacturing facility to the warehouse, distribution center and eventually the customer arrive on time- in full without freight damage – minimize transportation costs by utilizing full truck load (FTL shipments) and in certain instances, intermodal (rail) shipments for cross country transport 2. Why is it necessary for the logistics department to be cognizant of all the details (quality, timing) of the new product introduction? Discuss the issues that might arise (e.g. the drop in demand after the Final Four) and what responsibilities the logistics department would have as a result of these changes. This necessity comes out of the need to have the right quantity at the right time in the right place to meet customer demand. Without this close  coordination between timing and quantity, deliveries would be delayed, inventory carrying costs would increase and as a result profits would be negatively impacted. In situations where the demand drops after the Final Four, the production planning and scheduling aspect comes into play. By utilizing a master production schedule which is closely aligned with S&OP meetings, the master production scheduler can adjust the production amounts to meet decreasing demand. This ensures that product produced is delivered to the customer and does not sit in the warehouse of Pete’s. To summarize, the logistics department is responsible for reacting to market/demand changes to maintain profit margins for the business.

Composition of the Universe

Composition of the Universe The universe is a vast and fascinating place.   When astronomers consider what its made of, they can point most directly to the billions of galaxies it contains. Each of those has millions or billions- or even trillions- of stars. Many of those stars have planets. There are also clouds of gas and dust.   In between the galaxies, where it seems there would be very little stuff, clouds of hot gases exist in some places, while other regions are nearly empty voids. All that is material that can be detected. So, how difficult can it be to look out into the cosmos and estimate, with reasonable accuracy, the amount of luminous mass (the material we can see) in the universe, using  radio, infrared and x-ray astronomy? Detecting Cosmic Stuff Now that astronomers have highly sensitive detectors, they are making great advances in in figuring out the mass of the universe and what makes up that mass. But thats not the problem.  The answers theyre getting dont make sense. Is their method of adding up the mass wrong (not likely) or is there something else out there; something else that they cant see? To understand the difficulties, its important to understand the mass of the universe and how astronomers measure it. Measuring Cosmic Mass One of the greatest pieces of evidence for the mass of the universe is something called the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Its not a physical barrier or anything like that. Instead, its a condition of the early universe that can be measured using microwave detectors. The CMB dates back to shortly after the Big Bang and is actually the background temperature of the universe. Think of it as heat that is detectable throughout the cosmos equally from all directions. Its not exactly like the heat coming off the Sun or radiating from a planet. Instead, its a very low temperature measured at 2.7 degrees K. When astronomers go to measure this temperature, they see small, but important fluctuations spread throughout this background heat. However, the fact that it exists means that the universe is essentially flat. That means it will expand forever. So, what does that flatness mean for figuring out the mass of the universe? Essentially, given the measured size of the universe, it means there has to be enough mass and energy present within it to make it flat.The problem? Well, when astronomers add up all of the normal matter  (such as stars and galaxies, plus the gas in the universe, thats only about 5% of the critical density that a flat universe needs to remain flat. That means that 95 percent of the universe hasnt yet been detected. Its there, but what is it? Where is it? Scientists say that it exists as dark matter and dark energy.   The Composition of the Universe The mass that we can see is called baryonic matter.   It is the planets, galaxies, gas clouds, and clusters. The mass that cant be seen is called dark matter. There is also energy (light) that can be measured; interestingly, theres also the so-called  dark energy. and nobody has a very good idea of what that is.   So, what does make up the universe and in what percentages? Heres a breakdown of the current proportions of mass in the universe. Heavy Elements in the Cosmos First, there are the heavy elements. They make up about ~0.03% of the universe. For nearly half a billion years after the birth of the universe the only elements that existed were hydrogen and helium They arent heavy. However, after stars were born, lived, and died, the universe started getting seeded with elements heavier than hydrogen and helium that were cooked up inside stars. That happens as stars fuse hydrogen (or other elements) in their cores. Stardeath spreads all those elements to space through planetary nebulae or supernova explosions. Once they are scattered to space. they are prime material for building the next generations of stars and planets.   This is a slow process, however. Even nearly 14 billion years after its creation, the only a small fraction of the mass of the universe is made up of elements heavier than helium. Neutrinos Neutrinos are also part of the universe, although only about 0.3 percent of it. These are created during the nuclear fusion process in the cores of stars, neutrinos are nearly massless particles that travel at nearly the speed of light. Coupled with their lack of charge, their tiny masses mean that they do not interact readily with mass except for a direct impact on a nucleus. Measuring neutrinos is not an easy task. But, it has allowed scientists to get good estimates of nuclear fusion rates of our Sun and other stars, as well as an estimate of the total neutrino population in the universe. Stars When stargazers peer out into the night sky most of what the see is stars. They make up about 0.4 percent of the universe. Yet, when people look at the visible light coming from other galaxies even, most of what they see are stars. It seems odd that they make up only a small part of the universe.   Gases So, whats more, abundant than stars and neutrinos? It turns out that, at four percent, gases make up a much bigger part of the cosmos. They usually occupy the space between stars, and for that matter, the space between whole galaxies. Interstellar gas, which is mostly just free elemental hydrogen and helium makes up most of the mass in the universe that can be directly measured. These gases are detected using instruments sensitive to the radio, infrared and x-ray wavelengths. Dark Matter The second-most-abundant stuff of the universe is something that no one has seen otherwise detected. Yet, it makes up about 22 percent of the universe.  Scientists analyzing the motion (rotation) of galaxies, as well as the interaction of galaxies in galaxy clusters, found that all of the gas and dust present is not enough to explain the appearance and motions of galaxies. It turns out that 80 percent of the mass in these galaxies must be dark. That is, its not detectable in any wavelength of light, radio through gamma-ray. Thats why this stuff is called dark matter.   The identity of this mysterious mass? Unknown. The best candidate is cold dark matter, which is theorized to be a particle similar to a neutrino, but with a much greater mass. It is thought that these particles, often known as weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) arose out of thermal interactions in early galaxy formations. However, as yet we have not been able to detection dark matter, directly or indirectly, or create it in a laboratory. Dark Energy The most abundant mass of the universe is not dark matter or stars or galaxies or clouds of gas and dust. Its something called dark energy and it makes up 73 percent of the universe.   In fact, dark energy isnt (likely) even massive at all. Which makes its categorization of mass somewhat confusing.   So, what is it?   Possibly its a very strange property of space-time itself, or maybe even some unexplained (so far) energy field that permeates the entire universe. Or its neither of those things. Nobody knows. Only time and lots and lots more data will tell. Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sir Robert Borden Biography

Sir Robert Borden Biography Prime Minister Robert Borden led Canada through World War I, eventually committing 500,000 troops to the war effort. Robert Borden formed a Union Government of Liberals and Conservatives to implement conscription, but the conscription issue split the country bitterly - with the English supporting sending troops to help Britain and the French adamantly opposed. Robert Borden also led in achieving Dominion status for Canada and was instrumental in the transition from the British Empire to the British Commonwealth of Nations. At the end of World War I, Canada ratified the Treaty of Versailles and joined the League of Nations as an independent nation. Prime Minister of Canada 1911-20 Highlights as Prime Minister Emergency War Measures Act of 1914 Wartime Business Profits Tax of 1917 and the temporary Income Tax, the first direct taxation by the Canadian federal government Veterans benefits Nationalization of bankrupt railways Introduction of a professional public service Birth June 26, 1854, in Grand Prà ©, Nova Scotia Death June 10, 1937, in Ottawa, Ontario Professional Career Teacher 1868-74Lawyer in Halifax, Nova ScotiaChancellor, Queens University 1924-30President, Crown Life Insurance 1928President, Barclays Bank Canada 1929President, Canadian Historical Association 1930 Political Affiliation ConservativeUnionist 1917-20 Ridings (Electoral Districts) Halifax 1896-1904, 1908-17Carleton 1905-08Kings County 1917-20 Political Career Robert Borden was first elected to the House of Commons in 1896.He was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 1901 and was Leader of the Opposition from 1901 to 1911.Robert Borden led the Conservatives to victory in the 1911 general election on a platform against reciprocity or free trade with the United States, defeating Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberals.Robert Borden was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada in 1911.He also served as President of the Privy Council from 1911 to 1917, and as Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1912 to 1920.In order to implement conscription, Robert Borden formed a coalition Union government with many Liberals. The Union government won the 1917 election but had only three Quebec members.Robert Borden retired as Prime Minister of Canada in 1920. Arthur Meighen became the next Prime Minister of Canada.

Financial strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial strategies - Essay Example or events during this financial year and is poised to hold much more in future due to the tremendous encouragement and support it has been receiving for its events, both large and small. AoC Management Services conference and events team focus on arranging conferences and meets of all shapes and hues, right from small workshops for 10 delegates to major residential events for up to 1500 delegates. It is seen that 50% of these events are run on an annual basis, such as the AoCs Annual Meets and the AoC Human Resources Conference. The team also organizes a variety of national events based on current issues faced by the educational institutions in this sector. There are events that range between one to three days, and regularly include entertainment, gala dinners, awards ceremonies and special activities for delegates. On the other hand; Informa Plc has nearly 49% of their business from event management programs while the rest of the business is from training and general management consultancy services. Background of both companies: For Informa Plc, Revenues for the first half year 2009 was  £636.3m, which is 1.4% higher than the corresponding period in 2008. Similarly, adjusted profits were higher at 4.6% reaching  £146m. It is believed that the relative strengthening of US $ and Euro â‚ ¬ has been the major reasons for the improved performance during the first half of the year 2009. Its real effect, however, has been in terms of contributing dramatically or staging recoveries, to a certain extent. Thus the losses caused by strengthening of Pound Sterling during earlier periods were balanced. However, it is seen that its operating profits have declined in the year under reference, coming down from  £77.7m in the first half of 2008 to just  £61.1m during the corresponding period in the year 2009, showing a fall of  £16.6M. There are several factors which could explain this decline in profits, including  £10.8m of business restructuring costs and yet another  £ 50m

Pulmonary ventilation, spirometry and pulmonary physiology Lab Report

Pulmonary ventilation, spirometry and pulmonary physiology - Lab Report Example Pulmonary ventilation is the exchange of air in and out of the lungs. The average human breathing rate is 30-60/minute at birth, while in adults it falls to 12-20/minute. Normally the amount of air that flows in and out of the lungs per breathe is 500ml (Tidal Volume air). Hence the minute ventilation or maximum respiratory volume is 6 litres considering breathing rate to be 12/minute. Pulmonary ventilation enables the flow oxygen to the lungs, which further helps in oxidative phosphorylation and at the same time causes removal of carbon dioxide from the lungs, helping to maintain the acid base balance in the body. Mechanism of pulmonary ventilation involves three scenarios: quiet inspiration, quiet expiration and forced inhalation or exhalation. During quiet inhalation the diaphragm contracts, the external intercostals muscles contracts, pulling the ribs outward and upward. This causes the volume of the thoracic cavity to increase with adjacent fall in the intrapulmonary pressure. ( George,2005)(Miller,2005) Hence, as the atmospheric pressure is more than the intrapulmonary pressure air flows into the lungs. During quite exhalation, diaphragm and the external intercostals relax and expiration occurs passively. This occurs as the lung volume now decreases causing rise in intrapulmonary pressure above the atmospheric pressure and air is exhaled out. Forced inhalation/exhalation occurs in certain diseased conditions and during exercise. During this condition the accessory inspiratory and expiratory muscles aid in the contraction process to take place faster in order to increase or decrease the intrapulmonary pressure.(George,2005)(Miller,2005) The act of pulmonary ventilation is limited by the elastic recoil of the lungs which is measured by lung compliance. By definition compliance refers to the increase in the pulmonary volume per cm H2O rise in transpulmonary pressure. The intrapleural pressure is held negative with respect to the intrapulmonary pressure by the mechanics as described above. Even after that the lungs may not expand as desired if he elasticity or in other words the compliance is decreased. (George, 2005) (Miller, 2005) Compliance might decrease or increase in various pulmonary diseases limiting pulmonary ventilation. Compliance is ensured by Surfactants which are phospholipids like lecithin that maintains the alveolar stability by reducing or increasing the surface tension in the alveoli. This means when the alveoli try to collapse due to forced expiration, the surface tension is increased but surfactants reduce the tension. On the other hand when alveoli try to expand during forced inspiration the effective surfactant concentration/area of the alveoli decreases and hence surface tension increases causing the alveoli to revert to original position. (George, 2005) (Miller, 2005) Pulmonary ventilation is controlled by neural and chemical pathways that acts as effectors ad sensors to influence the intercostals muscles and diap hragm mechanics as described earlier. Whenever there is increased pCO2 and decreased pO2 in the arterial blood the central and the peripheral chemoreceptors situated in the medulla oblongata and carotid/aortic

The conflict between the Arabs and Jews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The conflict between the Arabs and Jews - Essay Example The partition of Palestine resulted in the creation of the State of Israel, and of the Palestine refugee problem. The dispute has resulted in major regional wars and two Palestinian Intifadas with tragedies on both sides. Throughout, there have been repeated attempts to resolve the conflict, from Bernadotte in 1948 through to President George W. Bush's roadmap in 2003." (Book Description, 2007). Therefore, the Arab-Israeli conflict, which started almost a century ago, continues to be one of the most serious issues of international dispute. Investigating the roots of the conflict, it becomes lucid that the establishment of the Zionist movement has been a major reason for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Similarly, following the Zionist movement, the modern State of Israel was established in the region which was regarded by the Jews as their historical homeland. However, the Pan-Arab movement maintained that it was a territory belonging to the Palestinians. All these issues contributed to th e deepening of the conflict between the Arab and the Israelis and the religious dimension of the conflict is often emphasised. This paper makes a profound analysis of the background of the Arab-Israeli conflict, incorporating the history of the Arabs and the Jews, the religious dimension of the conflict, Judaism and Islam, and the history of the land of modern Israel, in order to determine the basic issues involved in the conflict. In a reflective exploration of the ancient history of Israel and Palestine, one comes to recognize that the ancient Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judea were consecutively conquered and subjugated by several foreign empires and kings. One of the major empires to conquer the land was the great Roman Empire and there were several revolts against the foreign rule in the region. In 135 CE, the Roman Empire overpowered the third revolt against its rule in the region and consequently expelled the surviving Jews from Jerusalem and its surroundings. Many of these Jews were sold for slavery and the Roman province was then renamed'Palestine'. "After the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century the remaining inhabitants were mostly assimilated into Arab culture and Muslim religion, though Palestine retained Christian and Jewish minorities, the latter especially living in Jerusalem. Apart from two brief periods in which the Crusaders conquered and ruled Palestine (and expelled the Jews and M uslims from Jerusalem), it was ruled by several Arab empires, and it became part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in 1516." (The Arab-Israeli Conflict). Therefore, the land of the Palestine was occupied by people belonging to Arab culture and Muslim religion, although there were Christian and Jewish minorities. Represented by twenty one separate countries, the Arab nations today form a significant power in the region and there is only one Jewish nation with a tiny country in the region, i.e. Israel. To trace the history of the people of Israel (also called the 'Jewish People'), they trace their origin to Abraham of the Old Testament and they regard Abraham, his son Yitshak (Isaac), and grandson Jacob (Israel), as the patriarchs of the Israelites. It has been emphasised by several writers that the very embodiment of Jewish continuity is Israel which inherits all the

Impact of the Internet on Relationships of 20-25 Year Olds

Impact of the Internet on Relationships of 20-25 Year Olds An electronic space for meeting new people, staying connected with friends and sharing ideas: Virtual reality or social reality in the age of narcissism? A study of hi5 network as an online community; its connection to offline relationships and motivations and expectations of people that become members. CHAPTER ONE Abstract The internet has changed the lives of many individuals and, with millions of people online it arguably represents the single most influential technological advancement of the Twenty First century (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3). Therefore the world of the internet is one which becomes more and more relevant in the lives of individuals across the world (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19). The internet has touched the lives of most people within the 20-25 age groups, and this it perhaps even more relevant within Greek society, where internet dating and socialising has proven exceptionally popular. It is therefore not surprising that the internet is used effectively as a medium for the formation of relationships. The internet has given us electronic mail; internet blogs; pop-up message advertising; video messaging; smiley faces; on-line dating and friendship services; instant messages and internet threads and all of these have changed the way that individuals communicate with one another (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Jordan, T. (1999) Ch.1). These more contemporary methods of communicating have impacted society at many levels (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3) (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) and this may be seen through an analysis of contemporary communication discourses and methods of socialisation. Specifically, the website www.hi5.com has provided a nexus where all of these technological and communication techniques have recognition and importance. Hi5 is an online community where communication is uniquely confined to electronic means and discourses. Introduction This thesis will explore the relevance of the internet to the formation of key social relationships within the 20-25 age group of Greek society. The fact that the formation of relationships online influences and shapes the nature of relationships offline is an interesting one to approach and it will be focused on throughout the thesis. The nature of the internet and specifically websites such as Hi5 as an electronic space which facilities human interaction and the maintenance of relationships will be considered. The dichotomy between social and virtual reality will be broached within this context and the writer will attempt to comment on which description of the internet is most appropriate. The question of whether the internet is a social reality in an age of narcissism or a virtual reality will also be addressed within the research. The subject matter of the thesis will also involve a consideration of the ways that the internet has indirectly and directly affected offline relationships and the motivations and expectations of people that become members. This is an important perspective; however it is one that could easily be neglected. Therefore one of the most important points which the thesis will seek to express is the pervasiveness of the internet, and specifically the pervasiveness of the online community which engages Greeks in the 20-25 age group, and its ability to influence their offline as well as online lives, self representations, motivations and expectations. The thesis will attempt to argue that the internet is an important mechanism of social interaction, which should not be pigeon-holed to simply make what is anyway a facile critique of the internet (i.e. that the internet simply promotes narcissism), more convenient to articulate. This chapter will provide the skeleton framework through which this argument will be made. The chapter will provide definitions of the internet, communication, language, computer mediated discourse, and semiotics and these definitions will be used as a springboard to discuss how the internet has changed the lives of Greeks within the 20-25 year age category. Wider issues such as globalisation, self representation, creativity and technological advancement (Smith, M. and Kollock, P. (1998) 4) will also be considered in this chapter since these are intrinsic to the ultimate argument of the thesis that internet friendship databases such as Hi5 are crucially important and representative of developments in human socialisation patterns. The effects of these processes will be extrapolated within the context of the research question and they will assist the writer to achieve a more in depth understanding of the significance of the internet within the social circles of Greeks within the 20-25 age group. The models of analysis that will be used will be discourse analysis and semiotic analysis of text and images. The profiles of Greek members of Hi5 will be widely consulted and primary research in the form of interviews and a questionnaire-based study will be consulted and evaluated qualitatively in the analysis of all of the above mentioned issues. Therefore there will be a lexicographical and semiotic extrapolation of both text and imagery to assist the writer in answering the question of whether the internet as a social medium/social hub is a positive development and to comment upon the question title. Computer mediated electronic discourse is the label given to describe electronic discourses (Holt, R. (2004) 129) and the effects which they produce at the level of social interaction between humans. Lexicographical sequences, syntax, the length and structure of sentences, the use of colloquial words and phrases and elaborate uses for punctuation devices may all be considered to be a part of this newly developing discourse which specifically facilitates communication over the internet (Holt, R. (2004) 129-130). These aspects of language and how language is represented have changed to reflect and to facilitate online communication and the development of new relationships through the medium of the internet (Holt, R. (2004) 129-132). Images and self-representations will be looked at in minute detail; these images and representations will be deconstructed and looked at in their most basic terms. It is hoped that this focus will allow the writer to consider the research question in a comprehensive and minutely detailed manner. It is anticipated that such a focus will impart an original and innovative insight into the subject of computer mediated discourses and the increasing importance of the internet in the lives of young people (20-25) in Greece and Greeks abroad in the Twenty First century. CHAPTER TWO Research Question and Theory The Hi5 Website: What is it? This website is an internet community where friendships and romantic attachments are solicited by members. The site enables members to represent themselves and to enable others to view what they have to say about themselves, remotely through the internet. The site itself involves the use of a database of individuals all over the world who have added internet pages describing themselves; their characteristics and interests. These descriptions are referred to as profiles and are added to the database which may be searched by prospective members and member of the Hi5 website alike. Members generally add photographs of themselves, and their friends and sometimes the members can add links and descriptions of the music that they like to listen to. Primarily the website is aimed at individuals from all ethnicities who are in their twenties, and who would like to make friends, stay in touch with friends or form romantic attachments to new people over the internet. The site allows companies and other advertisers to advertise their services on the website, which allows the website to disseminate products and services which may be of interest to young people within the 20-25 age group. The website is also different from online dating services as the romantic connections which may be formed through the internet are not the principal selling point of the website. The ideas of friendship, self representation and companionship are instead emphasised. Certainly, the idea of romantic attachments is something which the website may facilitate, but its capacity to do so is understated and not focused upon. Therefore the website describes and sells itself as primarily designed to enable people to form platonic relationships through using its facilities. What is Communication? Communication, at its most basic level may be understood as a way to convey messages and emotions between human beings (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Jennings, B. and Heath, R. (2000) 91). This is done mainly (although not exclusively as we will see explained below) through the use of language (Kaplan, R. (2002) Ch. 1), which is a complex collection of symbols which have specific meanings and when used collectively may be understood to represent codifications of human emotions and messages. The system of symbols which may be understood as the building blocks of a language do not have meaning in themselves; rather they represent meaning when they are arranged within certain patterns which are objectively recognisable by others who wish to interpret them. Therefore the signals which are relied upon in the context of language are constructed; they are not generic or pre-existing. This complex system of symbols allows humans to make others understand messages which have a generic codified meaning, which may be understood objectively, and cognitively. It is important to understand communication in these terms within the context of this thesis enquiry as it is an understanding of this particular property of communication which will allow the writer to comment upon the language used on Hi5 in an abstracted and theoretical manner. This will facilitate the methodology of discourse analysis and semiotics which underpins the thesis. Communication is therefore a cognitive process (Ellis, D. (1999) 1) (Giora, R. (2003) 13). It is essentially a manipulation of the senses of humans through systematic representations of meaning and images (Ellis, D. (1999) 1). Communication does not just involve language; one can communicate at many levels (Ellis, D. (1999) 1-3) (Giora, R. (2003) 13) (Turkle, S. (1997) Ch.1). Facial expressions; sign language; body language; intonation; voice pitch and just a few mechanisms which may be used to communicate without the use of language. Language may employ these techniques in an integrated manner, as communication rarely adopts a singular mode. Therefore the clothes we wear (their colours and texture); the facial and bodily expressions we adopt; the mannerisms we adopt; various postures and the signals which we give out are all complex and systematic methods of communicating (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25). The underlying system (culture) is what allows one to describe these processes as both communicative and connected with language (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). Language may be described through the idea of a discourse (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124) (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 5). Discourses are particular amalgams of how language has come to be used within particular spheres for specific purposes (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 5). These purposes may be political, sociological and even ideological in nature (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). What makes a discourse a discourse is the style in which the language and communication techniques are manifested. These may be identified objectively and regarded as belonging within one given discourse. It is often the case that a discourse will be uniquely identifiable. Discourse may be understood at the level of lexicographical constructions and syntax (Fairclough, N. (2003) 123-124) (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). In this sense the discourse which is understood is viewed in a more mechanical and objective manner. Discourses of this modality will mainly occupy the methodological framework of the thesis, since this type of discourse analysis allows one to approach the understanding of the subject of electronic communication and socialisation techniques in an effective and simple way. Language also becomes a communication discourse when it is used as a system of communication within a particular community or culture (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). This was Bourdieus viewpoint (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1). Pierre Bourdieu (1990) was one of the most influential communication theorists (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1). Pierre Bourdieu (1990) has attempted to deconstruct the idea of communication (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1) and to assist him he used the analogy of a map and a journey (Schirato and Yell (2000) p1). He argued that communication involved rules, conventions which map a language and that actual acts of communication were akin to the taking of journeys(Schirato and Yell (2000) p1). This broadly fits the writers earlier definition of communication which has been explained above as it explains how language symbols takes on a level of significance when they are arranged within a given structure or amalgam. Semiotics Communication may also be understood through the idea of signs and meanings (Giora, R. (2003) 13). Semiotics is perhaps a more abstract and theoretical way to understand the way that language is used to engender meaning. Saussure (1989) argued that the meaning of language is a subjective exercise whereby individuals read meanings into what he referred to as signs, which do not have any intrinsic meaning of themselves, but have meaning imputed into them by virtue of the meaning which is attached to them by people (Schirato and Yell (2000) p19). Therefore, for Saussure, language was not as important as what he regarded as its most basic constituent part; the sign. The sign is what is represented in relational terms and not in substantive terms through the medium of language and images (Schirato and Yell (2000) p19). Saussure split the idea of communication and meaning into three parts; the sign, the signifier and the signified, with the signifier meaning the actual physical manifestation or form of the sign (an example being a road sign or the written form of a word), and the signified meaning being what this physical form evokes and the sign itself being a combination of both the signified and the signifier (Schirato and Yell (2000) p20). Saussure believed that a sign was a link between a concept and a pattern of sound (Schirato and Yell (2000) p20), and that these linkages came together to comprise a semiotic system which disseminated meaning. What is Culture? Culture may be described in the following functional terms: In any society, culture, in its most general sense, is concerned with individuals in a group. It has four main functions: It determines the various ways open to the individual within the group to develop the self, and hence the group as well. It specifies means for self-preservation. It determines the individuals place within the group. And, it determines the individuals and the groups perception of the world. (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). Culture also constrains the perceptions which an individual may be exposed to and given that this exposure is generally delivered through discourses, it is important to understand the connections between culture and individual perceptions. Chimombo and Roseberry (1998) give us an account of this connection: The specific culture of the group restricts each of these cultural attributes to a range of values or possibilities deemed acceptable to the members of that culture. Thus, the ways in which an individual can achieve self-fulfilment or perceive the world within a given society are limited by that societys cultural norms and practices (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). What is the Internet? The internet is a complex network of technological communication mechanisms (Crystal, D. (2001) 24) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). These enable people to communicate through the use of computers (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). The internet itself is both a communication mechanism and a source of information (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56) as it also allows the user to search vast databases of information using key word searches (Crystal, D. (2001) 24). It has changed the way that business, politics, government, education, communication and commercial affairs are conducted (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56), and has enabled individuals both to access and to disseminate information more quickly and effectively (Crystal, D. (2001) 24) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). In this sense therefore the internet represents a mode of communication which is electronic in nature (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56), and the world is connected through this mode. This electronic characteri stic of the internet means that various modes of media may be enabled through the internet and these media connect people on another level (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). How has the Internet Changed the Lives of Greek 20-25 Year Olds? Greek individuals in the 20-25 categories have been particularly susceptible to the changes which the internet has both precipitated and facilitated. It is often the case that a primary concern of those belonging to this age category will be romantically unattached and seeking to form relationships, both in the form of friendships and sexual partnerships. Therefore, it is important for one to understand that the internet is integrated within the lives of Greeks between 20-25, given the role it plays in allowing for relationships to be instigated and explored. The internet is a forum for these relationships to be instigated and played out (Kendall, L. (2002) 139-141). In the globalised world where technological advancement features strongly in the lives of most individuals this is not a surprising that the internet would be integrated in this way into such a fundamental sphere of the lives of these individuals (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3). It is impossible to integrate the internet to this extent within a persons life, without the integration producing noticeable effects in both the offline and online settings. It is possible to infer from this, that offline relationships as well as the motivations and expectations of people that become members will be moulded and shaped through this process of integration. This rationalisation will be borne out in the next section. The offline relationships of individuals who also have access to online channels of communication will be affected in a number of ways. For example, it is often the case that the internet simply removes the inhibitions which are often experienced at the outset of a relationship (friendship or sexual). In a sense, the approach which may be employed between two people who are interested in one another is made easier and the fact that the feelings of rejection which may be experienced by a person after a spurned advance can be compensated for by that person, through withdrawing communication effectively and efficiently. The person in question can make their profile invisible and can also choose to which members their profiles can be made visible to. In a sense therefore traditional methods of engaging the opposite sex (or the same sex in the case of non heterosexual encounters) in conversation have been redefined through electronic discourse. Crews and Thierer (2003) give us a springboard upon which to elaborate on this point by explaining the system of rules and conventions which underpin the use of the internet: There are rules. Some of them are mechanical in the sense that the architecture of the Internet and the protocols that define its function determine the way in which it operates and the way in which applications like e-mail are or can be supported. Others are a consequence of policies set in a variety of venues and jurisdictions and informed or motivated by a variety of constituencies. (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) vii). Electronic discourse have facilitated the adoption of these rules and protocols to allow for easier and more relaxed connections to be established through the use of friendship databases such as Hi 5. This point will be backed up more thoroughly using primary research in the next section, in which syntax and the formations of language will be deconstructed and extrapolated to show how the language itself is a vehicle for these particular functionalities. For the moment it is enough to point out that these electronic discourses are driven by individual preferences of internet users. Crews and Thierer (2003) reinforce the point: Some rules may even be said to be set by the personal preferences and behaviours of Internet users, almost independent of outside forces. The ensemble of rule sets does not form a consistent or even coherent whole and there are notable conflicts, especially as local jurisdictions seek to enforce local rules on a system that is patently global (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) vii). Another point to be made about how useful the internet has proven in the lives of young Greeks is that fact that in purely logistical terms, traditional forums which are used to meet members of the opposite sex are not very effectual for the person who seeks to meet new people. Nightclubs for example could be a classic example. These venues are often very noisy and crowded. Interaction in such environments may be stressful and cumbersome. Therefore people tend to stick within the groups of people that they are familiar with and it is often difficult, for individuals to penetrate these niches, and thus strike up relationships with new people. The internet, and in particular websites such as Hi5 remove this logistical difficulty. It provides a safe and comfortable venue where relationships may be initiated on neutral terms, and the conventions which have evolved allow for interaction to flow smoothly within this environment. In terms of online and offline relationships, the sphere of socialisation which websites such as Hi5 provides often brings these two settings together, and it is perhaps unusual for a person within the age group to led an online life which is entirely separate from their offline lives. It is perhaps true that there are rules and conventions which govern the behaviour of actors within the two spheres in different ways; however this does not mean that in practical, physical terms the two spheres are separated. In actuality the two spheres have become more integrated than ever, as the internet grows in influence and importance. The impact of globalisation, also has made the internet very important in the lives of people within the age category 20-25 (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Johnson, D. and Turner, C. (2003) Ch.1). The world is more technologically interconnected and cultures and foreign countries are more accessible than ever before (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3), making them more relevant in the lives of Greeks within this age group. This globalisation of culture is of particular relevance in this context, for Greeks within the 20-25 age groups. Given that Greece has become part of the European Union, free movement between European countries has heightened the changes that have taken place on a cultural level to an even greater extent, and this has allowed for greater integration between cultures online. This has changed socialisation processes. In this sense the internet may be understood as a virtual space in which people can meet and exchange ideas. However, the ways in which these outcomes are achieved may not be understood without looking more closely as the way that human relationships are formed through the internet, through electronic means and how this spills over into conventional human interplays. To identify the age of narcissism in the question title is arguably a meaningless endeavour. It is facile to tie narcissism just with contemporary society. The reality is that this is a universal concept which has many applications within both the traditional and the contemporary. We find narcissism everywhere; it is not just a generic feature of the internet, or generically manifested through internet discourses. Therefore the proposition in the thesis title that puts forward the view that the internet represents social reality in an age of narcissism is an over simplification of a process (narcissism) which pervades so ciety at many levels; not just specifically through the internet. Certainly one cannot deny that the internet and the Hi5 site can be a vehicle for narcissism in terms of individual modalities of self-representations. The images of the body, images of self which are communicated through text and image convey narcissistic tendencies. Indeed, this however is perhaps not just a cultural construct, but a more basic survival mechanism. The title proposition which insinuates that narcissism is a purely self indulgent process therefore fails to understand the various applications which narcissism may have within the context of human development (which must be set apart from mere social reality). Let us look for example at human reproduction. This is a natural instinct within most humans, and narcissism assists the human in attracting a mate; the presentation of self within particular terms is therefore not self indulgent, per se (it may be this of course, but the point here is that this is not the only function of narcissism); it is also a tool which is u sed by humans to present and project themselves as attractive potential mates. Therefore narcissism facilitates human socialisation at the most basic of levels. It is not a superfluous mechanism in which social reality is defined as the title implies. It has a base function which assists humans to find and attract partners through the internet and electronic discourses. However, since the title proposition that the Hi5 website is social reality in an age of narcissism has been critiqued here, let us turn to the alternative proposition which is presented in the question title; is the site just virtual reality? This too is far too narrow a definition of what the site may be to be a credible description of the site. The fact is that the site cannot be simply virtual reality, given its function within both online and offline relationships. This has been argued above. The internet site involves a degree of integration between online and offline expectations and motivations which prove that it is therefore not just virtual; it cant be simply this. It is a complex interconnected network which cannot be pigeonholed into either the category of virtual reality or social reality in an age of narcissism. Both of these representations misunderstand the use and importance of the internet site to society. They force the concept of the internet site into a narrow b olthole which cannot accommodate the complexities of a mechanism such as the Hi5. To present this question as if a choice must be made between the two implies that one of the other is an accurate representation of what the internet site is. The argument of this thesis is that this is a false premise to begin from. The internet site and the mode of its dissemination, the internet has become so integrated; so important and so pervasive that to define it in such narrow terms is both to do it a disservice and to misunderstand its function, and use. The next chapter will turn to the methodology of the thesis enquiry. It will discuss the different paradigms of research and it will explain how the research methodology of this thesis has been chosen and the reasons why. An argument will be made that qualitative research is more compatible with the overall aim of the thesis enquiry and therefore it has been the most appropriate means through which the research is the be carried out. CHAPTER THREE Methodology This chapter will firstly ask some questions about the nature, structure and applicability of certain methodologies within the framework of this research project. It will then go on to outline which methodology will be used as the foundation for the thesis and will explain why. In this way the advantages and disadvantages of each methodological framework will be evaluated and explained and the suitability of particular methodological frameworks will for this linguistic and discourse orientated project will be outlined. Firstly, what is methodology? Methodology involves two separate paradigms; qualitative (phenomenological) and quantitative (positivist) (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). The main difference which may be identified between the two paradigms of research is that qualitative method involves a socially constructed matrix of understanding (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). Conversely the quantitative seeks to understand phenomena through objective observation and hypothesising (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). Characteristics of qualitative research therefore are that it tends to be specific, confirmatory, scientific and outcome orientated (Jensen, K. (2002) 230). Characteristics of qualitative research involve explanatory aims and the method involved tends to be more situational than outcome oriented (Bauer, M. (2000) 4). The aim of qualitative research is to understand and interpret viewpoints subjectively whereas qualitative research involves more concrete and deductive foundations of research (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). The methodology which will be used will primarily be qualitative in nature. There will be interviews conducted with interested parties in the field of friendship databases, there will be a semiotic and discourse analysis of the Hi5 website and there will be a questionnaire; the results of which will be interpreted qualitatively. Therefore the research design will be both constructed and interpreted qualitatively. The sampling of data will involve random internet searches of the Hi5 website and the writer will use themselves as a device to take in views and imagery which will be presented in the results chapter and assessed through qualitative means. The targets of the writer in terms of samples for the research will take the form of firstly, the Hi5 website itself, and then profiles will be consulted. The writer will try to focus specifically upon an analysis of just Greek profiles, since the website allows one to narrow ones search on the basis of ethnicity. It must be emphasised that while this does narrow down the pool of profiles, the writer has no control over which profiles are presented, other than to specify that they should be from persons who classify themselves as Greeks. Therefore the integrity of the research in terms of using random data is preserved. Sampling techniques are very important to preserve the qualitative integrity of the research and therefore its credibility. The writer has been careful to attempt to examine profiles from both genders and to examine representations of both the male and female forms, since the factor which the writer would like to control is ethnicity (therefore just Greek profiles will be focused on primarily). The writer has attempted to guarantee that random material has been generated and has relied upon the mechanism on the Hi5 website itself which allows one to generate random searches. Representativeness too was considered throughout the research. As the topics which were under consideration were imagery, self representation and the concept of the self and body, it was important to have sufficient diversity within the constraints of the research variables which were to be controlled (i.e. age (20-25) and ethnicity Greekne Impact of the Internet on Relationships of 20-25 Year Olds Impact of the Internet on Relationships of 20-25 Year Olds An electronic space for meeting new people, staying connected with friends and sharing ideas: Virtual reality or social reality in the age of narcissism? A study of hi5 network as an online community; its connection to offline relationships and motivations and expectations of people that become members. CHAPTER ONE Abstract The internet has changed the lives of many individuals and, with millions of people online it arguably represents the single most influential technological advancement of the Twenty First century (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3). Therefore the world of the internet is one which becomes more and more relevant in the lives of individuals across the world (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19). The internet has touched the lives of most people within the 20-25 age groups, and this it perhaps even more relevant within Greek society, where internet dating and socialising has proven exceptionally popular. It is therefore not surprising that the internet is used effectively as a medium for the formation of relationships. The internet has given us electronic mail; internet blogs; pop-up message advertising; video messaging; smiley faces; on-line dating and friendship services; instant messages and internet threads and all of these have changed the way that individuals communicate with one another (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Jordan, T. (1999) Ch.1). These more contemporary methods of communicating have impacted society at many levels (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3) (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) and this may be seen through an analysis of contemporary communication discourses and methods of socialisation. Specifically, the website www.hi5.com has provided a nexus where all of these technological and communication techniques have recognition and importance. Hi5 is an online community where communication is uniquely confined to electronic means and discourses. Introduction This thesis will explore the relevance of the internet to the formation of key social relationships within the 20-25 age group of Greek society. The fact that the formation of relationships online influences and shapes the nature of relationships offline is an interesting one to approach and it will be focused on throughout the thesis. The nature of the internet and specifically websites such as Hi5 as an electronic space which facilities human interaction and the maintenance of relationships will be considered. The dichotomy between social and virtual reality will be broached within this context and the writer will attempt to comment on which description of the internet is most appropriate. The question of whether the internet is a social reality in an age of narcissism or a virtual reality will also be addressed within the research. The subject matter of the thesis will also involve a consideration of the ways that the internet has indirectly and directly affected offline relationships and the motivations and expectations of people that become members. This is an important perspective; however it is one that could easily be neglected. Therefore one of the most important points which the thesis will seek to express is the pervasiveness of the internet, and specifically the pervasiveness of the online community which engages Greeks in the 20-25 age group, and its ability to influence their offline as well as online lives, self representations, motivations and expectations. The thesis will attempt to argue that the internet is an important mechanism of social interaction, which should not be pigeon-holed to simply make what is anyway a facile critique of the internet (i.e. that the internet simply promotes narcissism), more convenient to articulate. This chapter will provide the skeleton framework through which this argument will be made. The chapter will provide definitions of the internet, communication, language, computer mediated discourse, and semiotics and these definitions will be used as a springboard to discuss how the internet has changed the lives of Greeks within the 20-25 year age category. Wider issues such as globalisation, self representation, creativity and technological advancement (Smith, M. and Kollock, P. (1998) 4) will also be considered in this chapter since these are intrinsic to the ultimate argument of the thesis that internet friendship databases such as Hi5 are crucially important and representative of developments in human socialisation patterns. The effects of these processes will be extrapolated within the context of the research question and they will assist the writer to achieve a more in depth understanding of the significance of the internet within the social circles of Greeks within the 20-25 age group. The models of analysis that will be used will be discourse analysis and semiotic analysis of text and images. The profiles of Greek members of Hi5 will be widely consulted and primary research in the form of interviews and a questionnaire-based study will be consulted and evaluated qualitatively in the analysis of all of the above mentioned issues. Therefore there will be a lexicographical and semiotic extrapolation of both text and imagery to assist the writer in answering the question of whether the internet as a social medium/social hub is a positive development and to comment upon the question title. Computer mediated electronic discourse is the label given to describe electronic discourses (Holt, R. (2004) 129) and the effects which they produce at the level of social interaction between humans. Lexicographical sequences, syntax, the length and structure of sentences, the use of colloquial words and phrases and elaborate uses for punctuation devices may all be considered to be a part of this newly developing discourse which specifically facilitates communication over the internet (Holt, R. (2004) 129-130). These aspects of language and how language is represented have changed to reflect and to facilitate online communication and the development of new relationships through the medium of the internet (Holt, R. (2004) 129-132). Images and self-representations will be looked at in minute detail; these images and representations will be deconstructed and looked at in their most basic terms. It is hoped that this focus will allow the writer to consider the research question in a comprehensive and minutely detailed manner. It is anticipated that such a focus will impart an original and innovative insight into the subject of computer mediated discourses and the increasing importance of the internet in the lives of young people (20-25) in Greece and Greeks abroad in the Twenty First century. CHAPTER TWO Research Question and Theory The Hi5 Website: What is it? This website is an internet community where friendships and romantic attachments are solicited by members. The site enables members to represent themselves and to enable others to view what they have to say about themselves, remotely through the internet. The site itself involves the use of a database of individuals all over the world who have added internet pages describing themselves; their characteristics and interests. These descriptions are referred to as profiles and are added to the database which may be searched by prospective members and member of the Hi5 website alike. Members generally add photographs of themselves, and their friends and sometimes the members can add links and descriptions of the music that they like to listen to. Primarily the website is aimed at individuals from all ethnicities who are in their twenties, and who would like to make friends, stay in touch with friends or form romantic attachments to new people over the internet. The site allows companies and other advertisers to advertise their services on the website, which allows the website to disseminate products and services which may be of interest to young people within the 20-25 age group. The website is also different from online dating services as the romantic connections which may be formed through the internet are not the principal selling point of the website. The ideas of friendship, self representation and companionship are instead emphasised. Certainly, the idea of romantic attachments is something which the website may facilitate, but its capacity to do so is understated and not focused upon. Therefore the website describes and sells itself as primarily designed to enable people to form platonic relationships through using its facilities. What is Communication? Communication, at its most basic level may be understood as a way to convey messages and emotions between human beings (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Jennings, B. and Heath, R. (2000) 91). This is done mainly (although not exclusively as we will see explained below) through the use of language (Kaplan, R. (2002) Ch. 1), which is a complex collection of symbols which have specific meanings and when used collectively may be understood to represent codifications of human emotions and messages. The system of symbols which may be understood as the building blocks of a language do not have meaning in themselves; rather they represent meaning when they are arranged within certain patterns which are objectively recognisable by others who wish to interpret them. Therefore the signals which are relied upon in the context of language are constructed; they are not generic or pre-existing. This complex system of symbols allows humans to make others understand messages which have a generic codified meaning, which may be understood objectively, and cognitively. It is important to understand communication in these terms within the context of this thesis enquiry as it is an understanding of this particular property of communication which will allow the writer to comment upon the language used on Hi5 in an abstracted and theoretical manner. This will facilitate the methodology of discourse analysis and semiotics which underpins the thesis. Communication is therefore a cognitive process (Ellis, D. (1999) 1) (Giora, R. (2003) 13). It is essentially a manipulation of the senses of humans through systematic representations of meaning and images (Ellis, D. (1999) 1). Communication does not just involve language; one can communicate at many levels (Ellis, D. (1999) 1-3) (Giora, R. (2003) 13) (Turkle, S. (1997) Ch.1). Facial expressions; sign language; body language; intonation; voice pitch and just a few mechanisms which may be used to communicate without the use of language. Language may employ these techniques in an integrated manner, as communication rarely adopts a singular mode. Therefore the clothes we wear (their colours and texture); the facial and bodily expressions we adopt; the mannerisms we adopt; various postures and the signals which we give out are all complex and systematic methods of communicating (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25). The underlying system (culture) is what allows one to describe these processes as both communicative and connected with language (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). Language may be described through the idea of a discourse (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124) (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 5). Discourses are particular amalgams of how language has come to be used within particular spheres for specific purposes (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 5). These purposes may be political, sociological and even ideological in nature (Duranti, A. (1997) 23-25) (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). What makes a discourse a discourse is the style in which the language and communication techniques are manifested. These may be identified objectively and regarded as belonging within one given discourse. It is often the case that a discourse will be uniquely identifiable. Discourse may be understood at the level of lexicographical constructions and syntax (Fairclough, N. (2003) 123-124) (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). In this sense the discourse which is understood is viewed in a more mechanical and objective manner. Discourses of this modality will mainly occupy the methodological framework of the thesis, since this type of discourse analysis allows one to approach the understanding of the subject of electronic communication and socialisation techniques in an effective and simple way. Language also becomes a communication discourse when it is used as a system of communication within a particular community or culture (Fairclough, N. (2003) 124). This was Bourdieus viewpoint (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1). Pierre Bourdieu (1990) was one of the most influential communication theorists (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1). Pierre Bourdieu (1990) has attempted to deconstruct the idea of communication (Danaher, G., Fensham, R., Schirato, T., Threadgold, T. and Webb , J. (2002) 1) and to assist him he used the analogy of a map and a journey (Schirato and Yell (2000) p1). He argued that communication involved rules, conventions which map a language and that actual acts of communication were akin to the taking of journeys(Schirato and Yell (2000) p1). This broadly fits the writers earlier definition of communication which has been explained above as it explains how language symbols takes on a level of significance when they are arranged within a given structure or amalgam. Semiotics Communication may also be understood through the idea of signs and meanings (Giora, R. (2003) 13). Semiotics is perhaps a more abstract and theoretical way to understand the way that language is used to engender meaning. Saussure (1989) argued that the meaning of language is a subjective exercise whereby individuals read meanings into what he referred to as signs, which do not have any intrinsic meaning of themselves, but have meaning imputed into them by virtue of the meaning which is attached to them by people (Schirato and Yell (2000) p19). Therefore, for Saussure, language was not as important as what he regarded as its most basic constituent part; the sign. The sign is what is represented in relational terms and not in substantive terms through the medium of language and images (Schirato and Yell (2000) p19). Saussure split the idea of communication and meaning into three parts; the sign, the signifier and the signified, with the signifier meaning the actual physical manifestation or form of the sign (an example being a road sign or the written form of a word), and the signified meaning being what this physical form evokes and the sign itself being a combination of both the signified and the signifier (Schirato and Yell (2000) p20). Saussure believed that a sign was a link between a concept and a pattern of sound (Schirato and Yell (2000) p20), and that these linkages came together to comprise a semiotic system which disseminated meaning. What is Culture? Culture may be described in the following functional terms: In any society, culture, in its most general sense, is concerned with individuals in a group. It has four main functions: It determines the various ways open to the individual within the group to develop the self, and hence the group as well. It specifies means for self-preservation. It determines the individuals place within the group. And, it determines the individuals and the groups perception of the world. (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). Culture also constrains the perceptions which an individual may be exposed to and given that this exposure is generally delivered through discourses, it is important to understand the connections between culture and individual perceptions. Chimombo and Roseberry (1998) give us an account of this connection: The specific culture of the group restricts each of these cultural attributes to a range of values or possibilities deemed acceptable to the members of that culture. Thus, the ways in which an individual can achieve self-fulfilment or perceive the world within a given society are limited by that societys cultural norms and practices (Chimombo, M. and Roseberry, R. (1998) 6). What is the Internet? The internet is a complex network of technological communication mechanisms (Crystal, D. (2001) 24) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). These enable people to communicate through the use of computers (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). The internet itself is both a communication mechanism and a source of information (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56) as it also allows the user to search vast databases of information using key word searches (Crystal, D. (2001) 24). It has changed the way that business, politics, government, education, communication and commercial affairs are conducted (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56), and has enabled individuals both to access and to disseminate information more quickly and effectively (Crystal, D. (2001) 24) (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). In this sense therefore the internet represents a mode of communication which is electronic in nature (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56), and the world is connected through this mode. This electronic characteri stic of the internet means that various modes of media may be enabled through the internet and these media connect people on another level (Gattiker, U. (2001) 56). How has the Internet Changed the Lives of Greek 20-25 Year Olds? Greek individuals in the 20-25 categories have been particularly susceptible to the changes which the internet has both precipitated and facilitated. It is often the case that a primary concern of those belonging to this age category will be romantically unattached and seeking to form relationships, both in the form of friendships and sexual partnerships. Therefore, it is important for one to understand that the internet is integrated within the lives of Greeks between 20-25, given the role it plays in allowing for relationships to be instigated and explored. The internet is a forum for these relationships to be instigated and played out (Kendall, L. (2002) 139-141). In the globalised world where technological advancement features strongly in the lives of most individuals this is not a surprising that the internet would be integrated in this way into such a fundamental sphere of the lives of these individuals (Gauntlett, D., Gottlieb, N. and Mclelland, M. (2003) 19) (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3). It is impossible to integrate the internet to this extent within a persons life, without the integration producing noticeable effects in both the offline and online settings. It is possible to infer from this, that offline relationships as well as the motivations and expectations of people that become members will be moulded and shaped through this process of integration. This rationalisation will be borne out in the next section. The offline relationships of individuals who also have access to online channels of communication will be affected in a number of ways. For example, it is often the case that the internet simply removes the inhibitions which are often experienced at the outset of a relationship (friendship or sexual). In a sense, the approach which may be employed between two people who are interested in one another is made easier and the fact that the feelings of rejection which may be experienced by a person after a spurned advance can be compensated for by that person, through withdrawing communication effectively and efficiently. The person in question can make their profile invisible and can also choose to which members their profiles can be made visible to. In a sense therefore traditional methods of engaging the opposite sex (or the same sex in the case of non heterosexual encounters) in conversation have been redefined through electronic discourse. Crews and Thierer (2003) give us a springboard upon which to elaborate on this point by explaining the system of rules and conventions which underpin the use of the internet: There are rules. Some of them are mechanical in the sense that the architecture of the Internet and the protocols that define its function determine the way in which it operates and the way in which applications like e-mail are or can be supported. Others are a consequence of policies set in a variety of venues and jurisdictions and informed or motivated by a variety of constituencies. (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) vii). Electronic discourse have facilitated the adoption of these rules and protocols to allow for easier and more relaxed connections to be established through the use of friendship databases such as Hi 5. This point will be backed up more thoroughly using primary research in the next section, in which syntax and the formations of language will be deconstructed and extrapolated to show how the language itself is a vehicle for these particular functionalities. For the moment it is enough to point out that these electronic discourses are driven by individual preferences of internet users. Crews and Thierer (2003) reinforce the point: Some rules may even be said to be set by the personal preferences and behaviours of Internet users, almost independent of outside forces. The ensemble of rule sets does not form a consistent or even coherent whole and there are notable conflicts, especially as local jurisdictions seek to enforce local rules on a system that is patently global (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) vii). Another point to be made about how useful the internet has proven in the lives of young Greeks is that fact that in purely logistical terms, traditional forums which are used to meet members of the opposite sex are not very effectual for the person who seeks to meet new people. Nightclubs for example could be a classic example. These venues are often very noisy and crowded. Interaction in such environments may be stressful and cumbersome. Therefore people tend to stick within the groups of people that they are familiar with and it is often difficult, for individuals to penetrate these niches, and thus strike up relationships with new people. The internet, and in particular websites such as Hi5 remove this logistical difficulty. It provides a safe and comfortable venue where relationships may be initiated on neutral terms, and the conventions which have evolved allow for interaction to flow smoothly within this environment. In terms of online and offline relationships, the sphere of socialisation which websites such as Hi5 provides often brings these two settings together, and it is perhaps unusual for a person within the age group to led an online life which is entirely separate from their offline lives. It is perhaps true that there are rules and conventions which govern the behaviour of actors within the two spheres in different ways; however this does not mean that in practical, physical terms the two spheres are separated. In actuality the two spheres have become more integrated than ever, as the internet grows in influence and importance. The impact of globalisation, also has made the internet very important in the lives of people within the age category 20-25 (Aitchison, J. and Lewis, D. (2003) 1) (Johnson, D. and Turner, C. (2003) Ch.1). The world is more technologically interconnected and cultures and foreign countries are more accessible than ever before (Crews, C. and Thierer, A. (2003) 3), making them more relevant in the lives of Greeks within this age group. This globalisation of culture is of particular relevance in this context, for Greeks within the 20-25 age groups. Given that Greece has become part of the European Union, free movement between European countries has heightened the changes that have taken place on a cultural level to an even greater extent, and this has allowed for greater integration between cultures online. This has changed socialisation processes. In this sense the internet may be understood as a virtual space in which people can meet and exchange ideas. However, the ways in which these outcomes are achieved may not be understood without looking more closely as the way that human relationships are formed through the internet, through electronic means and how this spills over into conventional human interplays. To identify the age of narcissism in the question title is arguably a meaningless endeavour. It is facile to tie narcissism just with contemporary society. The reality is that this is a universal concept which has many applications within both the traditional and the contemporary. We find narcissism everywhere; it is not just a generic feature of the internet, or generically manifested through internet discourses. Therefore the proposition in the thesis title that puts forward the view that the internet represents social reality in an age of narcissism is an over simplification of a process (narcissism) which pervades so ciety at many levels; not just specifically through the internet. Certainly one cannot deny that the internet and the Hi5 site can be a vehicle for narcissism in terms of individual modalities of self-representations. The images of the body, images of self which are communicated through text and image convey narcissistic tendencies. Indeed, this however is perhaps not just a cultural construct, but a more basic survival mechanism. The title proposition which insinuates that narcissism is a purely self indulgent process therefore fails to understand the various applications which narcissism may have within the context of human development (which must be set apart from mere social reality). Let us look for example at human reproduction. This is a natural instinct within most humans, and narcissism assists the human in attracting a mate; the presentation of self within particular terms is therefore not self indulgent, per se (it may be this of course, but the point here is that this is not the only function of narcissism); it is also a tool which is u sed by humans to present and project themselves as attractive potential mates. Therefore narcissism facilitates human socialisation at the most basic of levels. It is not a superfluous mechanism in which social reality is defined as the title implies. It has a base function which assists humans to find and attract partners through the internet and electronic discourses. However, since the title proposition that the Hi5 website is social reality in an age of narcissism has been critiqued here, let us turn to the alternative proposition which is presented in the question title; is the site just virtual reality? This too is far too narrow a definition of what the site may be to be a credible description of the site. The fact is that the site cannot be simply virtual reality, given its function within both online and offline relationships. This has been argued above. The internet site involves a degree of integration between online and offline expectations and motivations which prove that it is therefore not just virtual; it cant be simply this. It is a complex interconnected network which cannot be pigeonholed into either the category of virtual reality or social reality in an age of narcissism. Both of these representations misunderstand the use and importance of the internet site to society. They force the concept of the internet site into a narrow b olthole which cannot accommodate the complexities of a mechanism such as the Hi5. To present this question as if a choice must be made between the two implies that one of the other is an accurate representation of what the internet site is. The argument of this thesis is that this is a false premise to begin from. The internet site and the mode of its dissemination, the internet has become so integrated; so important and so pervasive that to define it in such narrow terms is both to do it a disservice and to misunderstand its function, and use. The next chapter will turn to the methodology of the thesis enquiry. It will discuss the different paradigms of research and it will explain how the research methodology of this thesis has been chosen and the reasons why. An argument will be made that qualitative research is more compatible with the overall aim of the thesis enquiry and therefore it has been the most appropriate means through which the research is the be carried out. CHAPTER THREE Methodology This chapter will firstly ask some questions about the nature, structure and applicability of certain methodologies within the framework of this research project. It will then go on to outline which methodology will be used as the foundation for the thesis and will explain why. In this way the advantages and disadvantages of each methodological framework will be evaluated and explained and the suitability of particular methodological frameworks will for this linguistic and discourse orientated project will be outlined. Firstly, what is methodology? Methodology involves two separate paradigms; qualitative (phenomenological) and quantitative (positivist) (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). The main difference which may be identified between the two paradigms of research is that qualitative method involves a socially constructed matrix of understanding (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). Conversely the quantitative seeks to understand phenomena through objective observation and hypothesising (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). Characteristics of qualitative research therefore are that it tends to be specific, confirmatory, scientific and outcome orientated (Jensen, K. (2002) 230). Characteristics of qualitative research involve explanatory aims and the method involved tends to be more situational than outcome oriented (Bauer, M. (2000) 4). The aim of qualitative research is to understand and interpret viewpoints subjectively whereas qualitative research involves more concrete and deductive foundations of research (Darlington, Y. and Scott, D. (2002) 1-6). The methodology which will be used will primarily be qualitative in nature. There will be interviews conducted with interested parties in the field of friendship databases, there will be a semiotic and discourse analysis of the Hi5 website and there will be a questionnaire; the results of which will be interpreted qualitatively. Therefore the research design will be both constructed and interpreted qualitatively. The sampling of data will involve random internet searches of the Hi5 website and the writer will use themselves as a device to take in views and imagery which will be presented in the results chapter and assessed through qualitative means. The targets of the writer in terms of samples for the research will take the form of firstly, the Hi5 website itself, and then profiles will be consulted. The writer will try to focus specifically upon an analysis of just Greek profiles, since the website allows one to narrow ones search on the basis of ethnicity. It must be emphasised that while this does narrow down the pool of profiles, the writer has no control over which profiles are presented, other than to specify that they should be from persons who classify themselves as Greeks. Therefore the integrity of the research in terms of using random data is preserved. Sampling techniques are very important to preserve the qualitative integrity of the research and therefore its credibility. The writer has been careful to attempt to examine profiles from both genders and to examine representations of both the male and female forms, since the factor which the writer would like to control is ethnicity (therefore just Greek profiles will be focused on primarily). The writer has attempted to guarantee that random material has been generated and has relied upon the mechanism on the Hi5 website itself which allows one to generate random searches. Representativeness too was considered throughout the research. As the topics which were under consideration were imagery, self representation and the concept of the self and body, it was important to have sufficient diversity within the constraints of the research variables which were to be controlled (i.e. age (20-25) and ethnicity Greekne