Hawthorne studies Essay Example for Free

Hawthorne studies Essay A student of science conducts a research study in order to test a hypothesis or a theory. He/she is guided by a problem and or questions that he/she hopes to answer in order to refute or confirm existing theoretical constructs. A research study is an application of the scientific method and a researcher delves into that with a set of predetermined hypotheses. There are many ways of conducting researches but experiments are the most applicable if the study seeks to establish cause and effect. The Hawthorne studies started out with the purpose to prove that lighting in the workroom had an effect on worker productivity (Ballantyne, 2000). Although the motivation for conducting the research was utilitarian it however forever changed the concept of management and gave birth to the â€Å"Hawthorne Effect†. The insights I gained from digesting the Hawthorne studies were that a research study does not necessarily confirm our research assumptions (Fawcett Downs, 1999). Conducting a research is actually like wading into a pool full of disparate objects and sometimes what we find is not what we are looking for. It is important to maintain objectivity and we must not force or lead our discussions and findings towards supporting our hypothesis if we truly want to be scientific and maintain academic integrity. Another thing I learned was that even if we are guided by a research problem that we wish to answer, it is how we measure and manipulate the variables that we want to explore dictates the results that the study yields. In the Hawthorne studies on lighting and work productivity, although the variable degree of illumination was manipulated to test whether work output increased, the relationship was not established because the researchers was not able to identify beforehand that the presence of the researchers was an extraneous variable (Levine Parkinson, 1994) hence the concept of the â€Å"Hawthorne effect† which referred to the phenomenon where the presence of the researcher corrupts the results of the experiment. Lastly, the Hawthorne studies demonstrated that even the most rigorous experiments or study has limitations and anyone who wishes to conduct experiments must recognize in the outset what the limitations of his/her study are.

A Developing Epidemic in Argentina :: Buenos Aires Journalism Influenza Health Essays

A Developing Epidemic in Argentina BUENOS AIRES, Argentina--December is one of the loveliest times of year in the southern hemisphere of South America. On a typical summer day on a warm, Sunday afternoon, residents of Buenos Aires enjoy a relaxing jaunt along the Avenida de Mayo where one can browse the numerous shops of rare antiquities or simply retire to drinking tea in front of one of the many cafes along the avenue. Families with boisterous children picnic within the many public parks and gardens and bask in the warm sun. Expecting to revel in the long days of summer, I was surprised to find that these scenes that danced in my memory, while fighting sea-sickness en route, have vanished along with the citizens of Buenos Aires. The streets of the city are quiet, day and night. This proud South American city with its traditional colonial origins and its progressive embracement of modernity has become a ghost town of fear, fear of the illness that U.S. citizens know as the Spanish Influenza. According the local authorities, the origins of Influenza was brought by ships traveling from North American ports to Buenos Aires. Currently, port authorities have been cautious with the admission of foreign vessels and have established a quarantine period prior to entry. U.S. clipper ships the Elsie and the Snowdon, along with the steamer, the Royston Grange of Edinburgh have been subject to this quarantine which not only limits their admission into port, but also places an embargo on certain perishable goods. These actions have provided dire consequences for the local economy. Because of a lack of foreign goods, many dock workers are jobless along with local merchants facing scarcities which have greatly inflated the price of certain foods. While this is a serious economic situation, authorities of Buenos Aires feel justified in their restrictions and cite current statistics related to the spread of influenza. As of last Monday, the civil registry in Buenos Aires reported that in one district, as many as 192 deaths from influenza occurred just on that day. Because of this large amount of death, the local cemetery was unable to offer proper burials to 155 of those victims. City leaders are beginning to realize that preventative methods are the best means of defense against influenza. Public address messages about personal hygiene are published in papers and broadcast on the radio.

Ethical or Not Essay

As far as the media is concerned, one ethical standard I know they must follow is responsible reporting. If this alone is the standard, then I would give a thumbs up for the showing of the documentary. By this criteria alone, the airing of the documentary is already ethical. As claimed by the article itself, â€Å"this was a responsible and important documentary. It was not primarily about Princess Diana or Dodi Al Fayed. It was about the photographers who were subjected to an authority instituted and media supported lynching. Locked up without charge for over two days. Two years later they were formally cleared. Mohamed Al Fayed pursued an action against them for breach of privacy and was awarded derisory damages. † The rights involved here are not only those of Princess Diana or her sons or Al Fayed. The documentary was mainly focused on the rights of the photographers involved. Thus, if the motivation for airing the documentary is to show to the world how they were treated without ill-motives of hurting the royal family or Princess Diana’s memory, then there is no reason why it should be unethical for Channel 4 air the documentary. Its airing falls as responsible reporting from where I stand. Why is it ethical? Ethics should be viewed from the point of view of the one whose acts are concerned. In this case, whether the act of airing the documentary is ethical or not should be viewed from the perspective of Channel 4. Many great thinkers support the act of Channel 4 as ethical. Of course, this is assuming that it was done in the name of responsible reporting and without bad faith on its part. And this is a fair assumption because this is the only fact we can assume from the article as this was specifically mentioned therein. What I am driving at is that we cannot assume bad faith on the part of Channel 4, like for example, airing it just to gain ratings or money for the in-between commercials, because these are not mentioned in the article. To proceed, I will start my defense with the ethical principles ordained by Socrates, who is regarded as one of the greatest teachers of ethics. He said that anyone who knows what virtue is will necessarily act virtuously. He further said that those who act badly, therefore, do so only because they are ignorant of, or mistaken about, the real nature of virtue. Applying it to Channel 4, if they acted out of responsible reporting, then they acted ethically. If it should happen that they acted badly, then they were only mistaken on what should have been the proper conduct. This mistake should not automatically make the act unethical. Necessarily, Channel 4 should know what responsible reporting is. In fact, it acted upon this virtue. Thus, the airing of the documentary is ethical. Confucian ethics will also support the act of Channel 4 as ethical. The heart of Confucian ethics is character. He said that it (ethics) centers neither on acts nor on their consequences, but on character. Applying this principle, airing the documentary or the consequences of airing it are not material to deterrmine whether the act is ethical or not. What matters is the character of Channel 4. Thus, the question is whether Channel 4 aired the documentary with ill-motives or with a noble and genuine purpose. Seeing that Channel 4 aired the documentary out of responsible reporting, which is a noble purpose as far as the media is concerned, then the act was nothing but ethical for them to perform. However, it should be borne in mind here that there might be other factors which Channel 4 considered before airing the documentary. These other factors may possibly range from improving ratings, to generating income from the in-between commercials, to simply just starting an intrigue. Whatever these other factors are, they will not be considered in this discussion because we do not have enough facts from which we could draw a decent assumption. And finally, Spinoza’s view on ethics is that nothing is intrinsically good or bad, except to the extent that it is subjectively perceived to be by the individual. He therefore suggests that whether an act is ethical or not depends on the perspective of the person doing the act. Spinoza’s view makes my argument so simple: if Channel 4 thinks it is right and ethical to air the documentary, then airing it is right and ethical. As aforementioned, the motive behind airing the documentary is responsible reporting. If responsible reporting is an ethical thing to do in the opinion of Channel 4, then it is so. Did the public need to know or want to know? I will not presume to know what is the opinion of the general public regarding the matter. So I will just hazard a guess to answer this question. And I will assure you that it will be an intelligent guess. So let me proceed. Considering the facts that Princess Diana is a public figure, that the media is an industry impressed with public interest, and that the wrongful detention of persons is contrary to public policy, then I would dare say that the public should see the documentary. They need to know what is in it. In fact, it is their constitutional right to know. The Constitution guarantees that the people should be informed on matters which are of public concern. It need not be belabored that the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess of Diana are matters of public concern. She is a celebrity and part of the royal family, which is the public head of England. This makes her a public figure. Moreover, certain members of the media were wrongfully detained because of her death. This is also a matter of public concern. Therefore, the general public should be informed whether the rights of these people, which rights are zealously protected by no less than the Constitution, were violated or not. So yes, the public needs to know about the documentary and what is in it.

Evolving Federalism Essay - 1022 Words

Evolving Federalism Pre-Class Assignment nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Federalism by definition is the division of power between a central government and its participating members. How that power is divided is the subjective aspect of federalism that was before the framers of the United States. Through compromise and necessity the seeds for a strong central government were planted alongside already strong state governments. Over time the seeds for strong central government grew; wars, economic fluctuations and national growth established a strong central government. As America’s idea of federalism changed the central government grew more powerful, the state’s government gave more power away, and local governments were established.†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Schreiber’s fifth and final stage is the post-World War II era. Here, â€Å"creative federalism† is born. Creative federalism points to a strong centralized government that initiates federal programs to fight poverty, hu nger, crime, and other social issues. This stage sees a noticeable increase of power given to the national government by the Warren Court. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Schreiber concludes by describing a struggle between cooperative federalism and creative federalism. He sees these two models of federalism in competition with one another on how power will be distributed between the three levels of government. This is best described by Russell Hanson, in Governing Partners, as â€Å"competitive federalism†, which is the idea that the three levels of government must compete for power in a â€Å"zero-sum† game. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It can be argued that we now are in a sixth stage that can be defined as competitive federalism. Recent struggles involving gay marriage, education, tax reform, and anti-terrorism funding prove that a struggle for power between the three levels of government is ongoing. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The issue of education best exemplifies the changing nature of intergovernmental relations. State and local governments run their own school systems, and for the most part, fund them as well. States differ from one in anotherShow MoreRelatedEssay on Federalism1371 Words   |  6 PagesFederalism Federalism is a widely accepted system of government in North American cultures. To many North Americans it seems to be the obvious choice for all world governments, but this is not the case. In all honesty, federalism is a fairly unique form of government. Out of approximately two hundred nations on the earth one hundred and eighty states practice unitary forms of government, leaving only twenty or so as federal nations (Winchester, 1999). 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