Monday, September 26, 2005
Sunday, September 25, 2005
British Universities losing allure with overseas students:
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that Britain’s share of the productive market in overseas students has declined sharply as Australia and other competitors countries attract more Asians students on degree programmes. However, there are number of foreign students are coming to study in the UK, its market share is falling faster than any other developed countries and, threatening its position as the second most popular undergraduate destination after the US.
Australia has been the biggest beneficiary,making progress particularly in attracting students from China, the largest and rapidly growing source of new business. Andereas Schleicher, head of analysis at the OECD said " The advantage that the UK has traditionally had is getting smaller,". He also warned that the other countries, particularly in the Nordic area, were introducing courses taught in English, threatening to erode further the dominance of universities in English speaking countries.
Mindful of the £1.25 bn a year revenues earned from foreign students' fees, ministers are struggling to balance the need to promote and support British university courses aboard with concerns about security and illegal immigrantion. Under a Home Office pilot scheme, colleges are being asked to report back when enrolled students disappear or accepted candidates fail to turn up.
Australia has been the biggest beneficiary,making progress particularly in attracting students from China, the largest and rapidly growing source of new business. Andereas Schleicher, head of analysis at the OECD said " The advantage that the UK has traditionally had is getting smaller,". He also warned that the other countries, particularly in the Nordic area, were introducing courses taught in English, threatening to erode further the dominance of universities in English speaking countries.
Mindful of the £1.25 bn a year revenues earned from foreign students' fees, ministers are struggling to balance the need to promote and support British university courses aboard with concerns about security and illegal immigrantion. Under a Home Office pilot scheme, colleges are being asked to report back when enrolled students disappear or accepted candidates fail to turn up.
Mr. Schleicher said " In higher education there is fundamental change going on in many countries and a lot of investments being made." He predicated that greater internationalisation of education would have a growing impact on countries' balance of payments. There was also a burgeoning market for cross broder programmes delivered electronically.
"The strength of the pound is hurting UK, the Americans are coming back into the market after staying away for a few years after 9/11, and now the prime minister, who had highly successful strategy to increase the number of foreign students, has let the Home Ofice sabotage everything."
Thursday, September 22, 2005
The meaning of work:
Children are frequently asked the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up? My Mother and Father used to ask me same type of questions when I was child. I used to reply very eagerly that I want to be Pilot. When I completed my higher secondary level course, I tried to choose medical field. Because of time, situation and different circumstance I had to change my field in business studies in graduation level. When I got an opportunity for further study at UK, I continued my further study in Advance Manufacturing and MIS (Hybrid Manager) which was funded by EEC Union for Air Bus UK. As time passed and I am adult now, if the question is rephrased to me ‘What do you do?’ It is more likely now to mutter that I am qualified to work in strategic level in an organisation rather than any particular profession like Pilot, Doctor, Charter Accountant, Human Resource Manager, Marketing Manager and Industrial Engineer.
These two common questions are significant because both underline the fact that paid employment is generally considered to be a central defining feature of ourselves as individuals. As children we are being judged in terms of our employment aspirations and, as adults we are being assessed in terms of our employment status. In summary, paid work is one of the principle means by which we evaluate other people.
An individual experiences work as the meaning of work in terms of the economic necessity to work and moral necessity to work. In terms of the economic necessity includes the material reasons for work and raise the question of whether people would carry on some form of work even if they had no financial need to do so. In terms of the moral necessity includes the concept of a ‘work ethic’ and assess its various elements that are supposedly encouraging people to work irrespectively of any economic necessity.
It is a common sense view is that people work simply for money. However, research always revels that the actual reasons why people work are far more complex. Certainly, it is true that money is important, but employees tend also to give a range of other reasons for working. To illustrate this point, let’s take a research question done at Swan Hunter Shipbuilder in UK by Erickson, Stephenson and Williams (2000: 180-1). The research question was ‘Why do you work?’
‘I want to provide for my family, but I enjoy the trade union side of my work. I like going to meetings, negotiation and helping people.’ (Design engineer)
‘To keep my family. But I think it’s important to do something you enjoy.’ (Draughtsman)
‘The pay packet. But work is a necessary ethic when you work all your life- it governs your existence.’ (Welder)
‘For self-respect-I don’t want to become a social parasite. And I don’t want to be bored. It’s good for meeting people and I get a lot of job satisfaction, and for the money too.’ (Steel-metal worker)
‘Making a living and getting the self-respect of doing something productive. It gives me peace of mind.’ (Driller)
‘To exist. I like the job. I come to work to use my skill and to make enough money to have a decent way of life.’ (Planter/foreman)
‘It’s all I know.’ (Caulker/burner)
Now, I want to move my topic to evaluate the importance of the economic need to work. From the earlier discussion about the work, we roughly know that people work in order to earn money to live; it is through paid work that basic needs are satisfied because it provides money for subsistence (food, housing, clothes, and so on). However, it is hard to accept blindly this argument as it stands: can we really talk about the need to work for the purpose of subsistence when most developed societies provide welfare system that prevents people from falling below the basic level of subsistence?
These two common questions are significant because both underline the fact that paid employment is generally considered to be a central defining feature of ourselves as individuals. As children we are being judged in terms of our employment aspirations and, as adults we are being assessed in terms of our employment status. In summary, paid work is one of the principle means by which we evaluate other people.
An individual experiences work as the meaning of work in terms of the economic necessity to work and moral necessity to work. In terms of the economic necessity includes the material reasons for work and raise the question of whether people would carry on some form of work even if they had no financial need to do so. In terms of the moral necessity includes the concept of a ‘work ethic’ and assess its various elements that are supposedly encouraging people to work irrespectively of any economic necessity.
It is a common sense view is that people work simply for money. However, research always revels that the actual reasons why people work are far more complex. Certainly, it is true that money is important, but employees tend also to give a range of other reasons for working. To illustrate this point, let’s take a research question done at Swan Hunter Shipbuilder in UK by Erickson, Stephenson and Williams (2000: 180-1). The research question was ‘Why do you work?’
‘I want to provide for my family, but I enjoy the trade union side of my work. I like going to meetings, negotiation and helping people.’ (Design engineer)
‘To keep my family. But I think it’s important to do something you enjoy.’ (Draughtsman)
‘The pay packet. But work is a necessary ethic when you work all your life- it governs your existence.’ (Welder)
‘For self-respect-I don’t want to become a social parasite. And I don’t want to be bored. It’s good for meeting people and I get a lot of job satisfaction, and for the money too.’ (Steel-metal worker)
‘Making a living and getting the self-respect of doing something productive. It gives me peace of mind.’ (Driller)
‘To exist. I like the job. I come to work to use my skill and to make enough money to have a decent way of life.’ (Planter/foreman)
‘It’s all I know.’ (Caulker/burner)
Now, I want to move my topic to evaluate the importance of the economic need to work. From the earlier discussion about the work, we roughly know that people work in order to earn money to live; it is through paid work that basic needs are satisfied because it provides money for subsistence (food, housing, clothes, and so on). However, it is hard to accept blindly this argument as it stands: can we really talk about the need to work for the purpose of subsistence when most developed societies provide welfare system that prevents people from falling below the basic level of subsistence?
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Blauner’s version of alienation:
Blauner suggested an alternative way of looking at alienation that starts from two assumptions which is different from Marx’s suggested alienation.
Assumption 1: alienation is not unavoidable under capitalism.
Assumption 2: work has different meaning for different people.
Both of these assumptions suggest that it is insufficient to view alienation as an objective condition (the same for all employees under capitalism) however, alienation should be considered as a subjective experience (differing from situation to situation, and person to person). Blauner (1964) has undertaken in this manner to explore the concept. Blauner (1964) begins from the proposition that ‘alienation is a general syndrome made up of a number of different objective conditions and subjective feelings-states which emerge from certain relationships between workers and sociotechnical settings of employment’. He also stresses that alienation should be divided into four dimensions, each of which can be investigated for different workers to enable a profile of alienation to be drawn up which are summarised as following table. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
Assumption 1: alienation is not unavoidable under capitalism.
Assumption 2: work has different meaning for different people.
Both of these assumptions suggest that it is insufficient to view alienation as an objective condition (the same for all employees under capitalism) however, alienation should be considered as a subjective experience (differing from situation to situation, and person to person). Blauner (1964) has undertaken in this manner to explore the concept. Blauner (1964) begins from the proposition that ‘alienation is a general syndrome made up of a number of different objective conditions and subjective feelings-states which emerge from certain relationships between workers and sociotechnical settings of employment’. He also stresses that alienation should be divided into four dimensions, each of which can be investigated for different workers to enable a profile of alienation to be drawn up which are summarised as following table. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
There is … no simple answer to the question: Is the factory worker of today an alienated worker? Inherent in the techniques of modern manufacturing and the principles of bureaucratic industrial organisation are general alienation tendencies. But in some cases the distinctive technology, division of labour, economic structure, and social organisation-in other words, the factor that differentiate individual industries-intensify these general tendencies, producing a high degree of alienation; in other cases they minimize and counteract them, resulting instead in control, meaning, and integration. (Blauner, 1964: 166-7)
Eventually, this leads Blauner to a position of technological determinism: he suggests that greater automation will free workers from drudgery of assembly-lines and machine-minding and will result in decreasing alienation for employees (Blauner, 1964: 182-2). This is an optimistic projection that suggests the problem of alienation will be resolved within the capitalist framework- a position which was passionately challenged by Braveman (1974) and subsequent labour process theorists.
Eventually, this leads Blauner to a position of technological determinism: he suggests that greater automation will free workers from drudgery of assembly-lines and machine-minding and will result in decreasing alienation for employees (Blauner, 1964: 182-2). This is an optimistic projection that suggests the problem of alienation will be resolved within the capitalist framework- a position which was passionately challenged by Braveman (1974) and subsequent labour process theorists.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Alienation:
The word ‘alienation’ mostly used in the media (especially in serious late night TV talk shows and Sunday newspapers) and arises in everyday conversation. Yet it remains one of the consented terms in the academic study of work. Alienation is an objective state and builds on concepts originally defined by Karl Marx, while Robert Blauner introduces elements of subjectivity into the analysis. It illustrates the importance of viewing work as a rich and varied domain of human activity. It is concerned with the ways in which employees get through their working day: how they survive the boredom, tedium, monotony, drudgery and powerlessness that characterise many jobs. There is one central principle around which the discussion is organised: the notion that in order to ‘survive’ work, people are obliged to become resourceful and creative in developing strategies that allow them to assert some control over, and construct meaning for, the work activities they are directed by managers to undertake.
In dynamic world where the subjective experiences of individuals are collectively constructed and reconstructed to create shared understandings and develop norms that guide and pattern behaviour. In real scenario, it is also a regulated world where the structural constraints imposed by power holders (especially managers) limit the actions of individuals and workgroups. The result is a curious mixture of consent and resistance to work.
Marx argues that alienation is an intrinsic part of the capitalist labour process and therefore is an unavoidable objective state in which all workers find themselves. It apparent itself because in selling their labour power, employees are surrendering the right to control their labour, how and when work should be undertaken becomes the prerogative of employers.
According to Karl Marx (1930:713) under capitalism all the means for developing production are transformed into means of domination over and exploitation of the producer; that they mutilate the worker into a fragment of human being, degrade him to become a mere appurtenance, make his work such a torment that its essential meaning is destroyed. (quoted in Fox, 1974: 224)
According to Marx, employees experience four types of estrangement as a result of this relationship:
1) self-estarangement: According to capitalism, work is merely the means for people to acquire money to satisfy their needs out-side of working hours however work ought to be a source of satisfaction in its own right. As a result, employees experience a sense of ‘self-estrangement’ because while they are in work undertaking the activities as instructed by their managers, they cannot be themselves (separate from their true selves) which make them to experience a sense of alienation.
2) estrangement from the product of their labour: Marx labels a process as ‘objectification’ that the output (the product or object) of one’s labour is the physical expression of the effort that has been undertaken and the skills that have used. However, the product of a person’s labour is not owned by the employee; it becomes the property of the capitalist. Therefore the product becomes an alien object. Marx states it:
The alienation of the worker in his product means not only that his labour becomes an object, an external existence, but that it exists outside him, independently, as something alien to him, and that it becomes a power on its own confronting him; it means that the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as something hostile and alien. (Marx, 1969: 97)
3) estrangement from their species being: The alienation caused by self-estrangement and estrangement from the product has wider repercussions for humankind. Marx argues that through work, people express their creativity, produce the means of their own existence and hence realise their humanity. This free, creativity endeavour is the very purpose of life, but under capitalism work becomes coercion: forced labour. This means that people become estranged from their very nature; they are left alienation from their ‘species being’.
4) estrangement from others: People are left estranged from each other due to estrangement from their essential nature. Marx argues that human beings are distinct from animal due to their self-awareness. So that a person can understand the world through his/her own actions and behaviour, and by appreciating the role and estrangement combine to create conditions in which the unique qualities of humankind are diminished. Under forced labour, people are owned and controlled. They experience this directly and also recognise this estrangement in other people. As a result, they are both alienated from their own humanity and from others. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
In dynamic world where the subjective experiences of individuals are collectively constructed and reconstructed to create shared understandings and develop norms that guide and pattern behaviour. In real scenario, it is also a regulated world where the structural constraints imposed by power holders (especially managers) limit the actions of individuals and workgroups. The result is a curious mixture of consent and resistance to work.
Marx argues that alienation is an intrinsic part of the capitalist labour process and therefore is an unavoidable objective state in which all workers find themselves. It apparent itself because in selling their labour power, employees are surrendering the right to control their labour, how and when work should be undertaken becomes the prerogative of employers.
According to Karl Marx (1930:713) under capitalism all the means for developing production are transformed into means of domination over and exploitation of the producer; that they mutilate the worker into a fragment of human being, degrade him to become a mere appurtenance, make his work such a torment that its essential meaning is destroyed. (quoted in Fox, 1974: 224)
According to Marx, employees experience four types of estrangement as a result of this relationship:
1) self-estarangement: According to capitalism, work is merely the means for people to acquire money to satisfy their needs out-side of working hours however work ought to be a source of satisfaction in its own right. As a result, employees experience a sense of ‘self-estrangement’ because while they are in work undertaking the activities as instructed by their managers, they cannot be themselves (separate from their true selves) which make them to experience a sense of alienation.
2) estrangement from the product of their labour: Marx labels a process as ‘objectification’ that the output (the product or object) of one’s labour is the physical expression of the effort that has been undertaken and the skills that have used. However, the product of a person’s labour is not owned by the employee; it becomes the property of the capitalist. Therefore the product becomes an alien object. Marx states it:
The alienation of the worker in his product means not only that his labour becomes an object, an external existence, but that it exists outside him, independently, as something alien to him, and that it becomes a power on its own confronting him; it means that the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as something hostile and alien. (Marx, 1969: 97)
3) estrangement from their species being: The alienation caused by self-estrangement and estrangement from the product has wider repercussions for humankind. Marx argues that through work, people express their creativity, produce the means of their own existence and hence realise their humanity. This free, creativity endeavour is the very purpose of life, but under capitalism work becomes coercion: forced labour. This means that people become estranged from their very nature; they are left alienation from their ‘species being’.
4) estrangement from others: People are left estranged from each other due to estrangement from their essential nature. Marx argues that human beings are distinct from animal due to their self-awareness. So that a person can understand the world through his/her own actions and behaviour, and by appreciating the role and estrangement combine to create conditions in which the unique qualities of humankind are diminished. Under forced labour, people are owned and controlled. They experience this directly and also recognise this estrangement in other people. As a result, they are both alienated from their own humanity and from others. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
Non-alienation conditions:
The bottom half of the diagram suggests how under non-capitalist conditions the problem of alienation might be avoided. In both diagram, it is clear that there are similarities, the difference is that the person undertaking the work remains in control of both their labour and the product of their labour. The consequence of self-control over one’s labour is that a person is more likely to derive intrinsic meaning from the work being undertaken, rather than only seeing it as a means of getting money. In turn, this might mean that a person’s self-esteem and feelings of worth are enhanced- therefore it contributes to their self-identity. Overall, there is no alienation because the four features of separation do not occur.
References:
Marx, K. (1930) Capital, London: Dent.
Marx, K. (1969) ‘Alienated labour’, in T. Burns (ed) Industrial Man: Selected readings, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 95-109.
Marx, K. (1976) Capital, Vol. 1, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Noon, M. and, Blyton, P. (2002) The realities of work: Palgrave, pp. 228-232.
The bottom half of the diagram suggests how under non-capitalist conditions the problem of alienation might be avoided. In both diagram, it is clear that there are similarities, the difference is that the person undertaking the work remains in control of both their labour and the product of their labour. The consequence of self-control over one’s labour is that a person is more likely to derive intrinsic meaning from the work being undertaken, rather than only seeing it as a means of getting money. In turn, this might mean that a person’s self-esteem and feelings of worth are enhanced- therefore it contributes to their self-identity. Overall, there is no alienation because the four features of separation do not occur.
References:
Marx, K. (1930) Capital, London: Dent.
Marx, K. (1969) ‘Alienated labour’, in T. Burns (ed) Industrial Man: Selected readings, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 95-109.
Marx, K. (1976) Capital, Vol. 1, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Noon, M. and, Blyton, P. (2002) The realities of work: Palgrave, pp. 228-232.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Love, Attraction and Loneliness:
Am I really lonely? If I ask same question to others I will get simple answer: No, you are absolutely not lonely. This is a part of life and we need change sometime. What sort of change do I need? Now, at last I can assume that I need somebody or partner. Am I attracted with somebody? Have I met my dream girl? I am not quite sure where my dream girl is?
What produces attraction may change with time and circumstance? If I am feeling bad about myself, I may be attracted to a person who is complimentary and supportive. If I am feeling bored with daily events, I may be attracted to someone who promises change and excitement. Attraction has no single cause.
Loneliness is to make a self-defeating attribution. The individual is saying, “I am too uninterested and unattractive for anyone to care about.” The depression and inactivity then reduce the likelihood of the individual seeking new relationships. We are only human beings who have different skills, experiences and knowledge however all of us are not psychologists and do not know different psychological aspects happen in our daily life. Most of the people love their near and dear ones. They would not knowingly do anything to damage the self-esteem of their loved ones. Sometimes they do not say exactly what they mean. For example, sometime our loved one may say, "I did not like you very much when you told me this". We may take it to mean that he/she does not like us at all. It would be better if he/she had said, "I get scared and nervous when you shout". This is the way, an individual can make clear that it is the behaviour that is beings criticized, not the worth of the person. The same applies also in interpersonal relationships at workplace, play-ground and so on. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
The odds are that most of the people are not aware that their words are so harsh. Most peers and friends honestly want to support and encourage their peers and subordinates and help them feel loved. They try but they may not do everything perfectly. Self-esteem is a pride and acceptance of our self. It is our sense of personal worth. When we feel worthwhile we are able to make good decision, experience acceptance from others and give and receive love. Loneliness increases to the people who are in Love however love often causes pain.
· Depend on each other
· Want very much to help each other
· Want an exclusive relationship.
There are various reasons which individuals are attracted to each other:
Familiarity and proximity: - They must have some form of regular contact or association. This includes such situations as attending the same class, working in the same office, and living in the same apartment building.
Personal needs: -We are attracted to individuals who satisfy our needs and desires. These include the need for love, emotional support, and the desire for financial status and attractive physical appearance.
Similarity: -Similar in terms of socio-economic level, race, religions, beliefs, and education level. e.g. in a study with students.
Reinforcement: -Individual tend to attracted to individuals who reinforce and support their own opinions, values and ideas or who share similar interests, such as hobbies and activities.
Parental models: - It is sometimes suggested we are attracted to individuals who possess the trail of our theory, females are oedipal attracted to males who possess the trails of their fathers, male are attracted to female who have the trails of their mothers.
I have tried to explain the psychological aspects how the attraction develops from love to hate which has been tried to explain as followin
g figure. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
Deep relationships between people in western culture usually progress through a regular series of stages. Starting with zero contact, mutual awareness develops as a result of proximity, repeated exposure, or a positive response to physical appearance. At the level, that of surface contact, mutual interests and attitudes may be explored. If relations continue to be rewarding couple may move to the level of maturity.Matuality increases to the extent that the participants reveal themselves to one another, accept each other, and complement each other’s needs. Marriage and friendship is depending on person’s sacrifice and loyalty. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
What produces attraction may change with time and circumstance? If I am feeling bad about myself, I may be attracted to a person who is complimentary and supportive. If I am feeling bored with daily events, I may be attracted to someone who promises change and excitement. Attraction has no single cause.
Loneliness is to make a self-defeating attribution. The individual is saying, “I am too uninterested and unattractive for anyone to care about.” The depression and inactivity then reduce the likelihood of the individual seeking new relationships. We are only human beings who have different skills, experiences and knowledge however all of us are not psychologists and do not know different psychological aspects happen in our daily life. Most of the people love their near and dear ones. They would not knowingly do anything to damage the self-esteem of their loved ones. Sometimes they do not say exactly what they mean. For example, sometime our loved one may say, "I did not like you very much when you told me this". We may take it to mean that he/she does not like us at all. It would be better if he/she had said, "I get scared and nervous when you shout". This is the way, an individual can make clear that it is the behaviour that is beings criticized, not the worth of the person. The same applies also in interpersonal relationships at workplace, play-ground and so on. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
The odds are that most of the people are not aware that their words are so harsh. Most peers and friends honestly want to support and encourage their peers and subordinates and help them feel loved. They try but they may not do everything perfectly. Self-esteem is a pride and acceptance of our self. It is our sense of personal worth. When we feel worthwhile we are able to make good decision, experience acceptance from others and give and receive love. Loneliness increases to the people who are in Love however love often causes pain.· Depend on each other
· Want very much to help each other
· Want an exclusive relationship.
There are various reasons which individuals are attracted to each other:
Familiarity and proximity: - They must have some form of regular contact or association. This includes such situations as attending the same class, working in the same office, and living in the same apartment building.
Personal needs: -We are attracted to individuals who satisfy our needs and desires. These include the need for love, emotional support, and the desire for financial status and attractive physical appearance.
Similarity: -Similar in terms of socio-economic level, race, religions, beliefs, and education level. e.g. in a study with students.
Reinforcement: -Individual tend to attracted to individuals who reinforce and support their own opinions, values and ideas or who share similar interests, such as hobbies and activities.
Parental models: - It is sometimes suggested we are attracted to individuals who possess the trail of our theory, females are oedipal attracted to males who possess the trails of their fathers, male are attracted to female who have the trails of their mothers.
I have tried to explain the psychological aspects how the attraction develops from love to hate which has been tried to explain as followin
g figure. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)Deep relationships between people in western culture usually progress through a regular series of stages. Starting with zero contact, mutual awareness develops as a result of proximity, repeated exposure, or a positive response to physical appearance. At the level, that of surface contact, mutual interests and attitudes may be explored. If relations continue to be rewarding couple may move to the level of maturity.Matuality increases to the extent that the participants reveal themselves to one another, accept each other, and complement each other’s needs. Marriage and friendship is depending on person’s sacrifice and loyalty. (Click on diagram to enlarge.)
The three most important of target dependent variables: propinquity (The more I see you, the more I like you) or physical closeness, the emotions of feeling that an individual happens to be experiencing, and the level of that person’s need for affiliation. We can take reinforcement theory about the conditioned feeling based on psychological theory as follows: (Click on diagram to enla
rge.)
rge.)References:
Saturday, September 10, 2005
How The Brain Works:
Few days ago there was a documentary on BBC "How The Brain Works: why Kevin cannot help being an outsider". I found a commentary article by Clive Cookson in Science & Technology column in Financial Times which made me to write something about this topic as well. I love psychology and, to do research on human behaviour is being my passion since my dissertation research. Such topic always attracts me, so I thought it would be useful to make a note for future reference.
The discovery of brief but marked deterioration at puberty in the ability to recognise some emotions was the by product of a large study taken at the institute of Child Health, looking at different in social intelligence between boys and girls. It was designed to investigate the causes of autism and its milder manifestation Asperger's syndrome, represent extreme forms of normal male brains.
The temporary dip in social intelligence "followed by recovery and acceleration to adult levels of achievement", turned out to affect both sexes. The loss of ability to detect emotions in other people was most marked for anger and sadness. Prof. Skuse said the Kevin phenomenon "probably reflects the rewiring of the brain that occurs due to genetic and hormonal changes" during puberty.
Nine out of 10 people with autism and Asperger's are male. According to the popular "extreme male brain" theory, promoted particularly by Simon Baron-Cohen at Cambridge University, the reason boys are so vulnerable is simply that syndrome represents the extreme form of male (as opposed to female). As prof Baron-Cohen said in his recent book "The essential Difference", "the female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain........... for understanding and building systems."
Inability to decipher facial expressions is characteristic of autistic disorders. Autism also impairs the ability to remember faces and to work out which way people are looking. If extreme male brain theory is correct, boys as a whole should be significantly worse than girls at recognising emotion, prof Skuse believes.
Prof Skuse said that the results of study did not strongly support the extreme male brain hypothesis. He began by supporting the theory however he also stressed that he is very sceptical at this moment. A lot of evidence for it comes from questionnaire-based methods, which may jut be reflecting cultural expectations.
At the age of six, female performance was indeed significantly better: 70 percent of boys were worse than the average for girls at recognising emotion. But the differences diminished with the age and by lat adolescence boys and girls were very similar, although a small female advantage persisted for some emotions (recognition of disgust, for example). The overlap between the sexes is more than 90 percent by t he age of 17.
Prof Skuse stress his view that whatever the ultimate "cause" of autism, the male preponderance "must implicate the sex chromosome, directly or indirectly," Females may be protected in some way from the complex risk factors by the fact that they have two X-chromosomes while male have only one.
Prof Skuse is beginning to think that the hunt for causes of autism in the way people handle social information may be misguided: "There may be something else going on" he says.
So autism remains mysterious, but the scientific drive to explain it is throwing up fascinating observations-such as insights into the teenage mind.
The discovery of brief but marked deterioration at puberty in the ability to recognise some emotions was the by product of a large study taken at the institute of Child Health, looking at different in social intelligence between boys and girls. It was designed to investigate the causes of autism and its milder manifestation Asperger's syndrome, represent extreme forms of normal male brains.
The temporary dip in social intelligence "followed by recovery and acceleration to adult levels of achievement", turned out to affect both sexes. The loss of ability to detect emotions in other people was most marked for anger and sadness. Prof. Skuse said the Kevin phenomenon "probably reflects the rewiring of the brain that occurs due to genetic and hormonal changes" during puberty.
Nine out of 10 people with autism and Asperger's are male. According to the popular "extreme male brain" theory, promoted particularly by Simon Baron-Cohen at Cambridge University, the reason boys are so vulnerable is simply that syndrome represents the extreme form of male (as opposed to female). As prof Baron-Cohen said in his recent book "The essential Difference", "the female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain........... for understanding and building systems."
Inability to decipher facial expressions is characteristic of autistic disorders. Autism also impairs the ability to remember faces and to work out which way people are looking. If extreme male brain theory is correct, boys as a whole should be significantly worse than girls at recognising emotion, prof Skuse believes.
Prof Skuse said that the results of study did not strongly support the extreme male brain hypothesis. He began by supporting the theory however he also stressed that he is very sceptical at this moment. A lot of evidence for it comes from questionnaire-based methods, which may jut be reflecting cultural expectations.
At the age of six, female performance was indeed significantly better: 70 percent of boys were worse than the average for girls at recognising emotion. But the differences diminished with the age and by lat adolescence boys and girls were very similar, although a small female advantage persisted for some emotions (recognition of disgust, for example). The overlap between the sexes is more than 90 percent by t he age of 17.
Prof Skuse stress his view that whatever the ultimate "cause" of autism, the male preponderance "must implicate the sex chromosome, directly or indirectly," Females may be protected in some way from the complex risk factors by the fact that they have two X-chromosomes while male have only one.
Prof Skuse is beginning to think that the hunt for causes of autism in the way people handle social information may be misguided: "There may be something else going on" he says.
So autism remains mysterious, but the scientific drive to explain it is throwing up fascinating observations-such as insights into the teenage mind.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Case study:
Case study is used to research few objects for numerous considerations. A case study is an empirical study that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context when the boundaries between the phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and are used multiple sources of evidence. An important advantage with case study research is the opportunity for a holistic view of a process (Gummesson, 1991). That is to enable the researcher to study many different aspects, examine them in relation to each other, view the process within its total environment and also utilise the researcher’s theoretical knowledge and understanding. The case studies are the preferred strategy when
(1) “how” or “why” questions are being posed,
(2) when the investigator has little control over events and
(3) when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real life context (Yin, 1994).
Sources to a case study are not limited to qualitative research, quantitative methods could be used as well (Yin, 1994). The nature of a case study could also be of either quantitative or qualitative nature. A quantitative case study tests a theory while a qualitative case study creates theories (Merriam, 1994). Main sources of information in the case studies should be documentation (research papers, books, manuals, internal reports etc), interviews (with technical and management personnel) and direct observations (industrial studies).
(1) “how” or “why” questions are being posed,
(2) when the investigator has little control over events and
(3) when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real life context (Yin, 1994).
Sources to a case study are not limited to qualitative research, quantitative methods could be used as well (Yin, 1994). The nature of a case study could also be of either quantitative or qualitative nature. A quantitative case study tests a theory while a qualitative case study creates theories (Merriam, 1994). Main sources of information in the case studies should be documentation (research papers, books, manuals, internal reports etc), interviews (with technical and management personnel) and direct observations (industrial studies).
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Jagjit's song
Today,while I was on my way to University,I had downloaded few Jagjit's song in my mp3 player that I was listening. I found this song absolutely fantastic. I am not very good in Hindi translation but it is my small try,hope it would be all right. Any volunteer to help,would be warm welcome.
Lyricist: Atal Behari Vajpayee Artist and Music director: Jagjit Singh
Kay khooya kaya paya jagmee, Milte aaur bhechadte nagmee,
Majhee kise se nahi sikayaat, Yaadapi chala gayaa pag pag me,
Yak dhristee biti par daali, Yadoo ki woo taali tatoolee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole,
Majhee kise se nahi sikayaat, Yaadapi chala gayaa pag pag me,
Yak dhristee biti par daali, Yadoo ki woo taali tatoolee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole,
Prithibi lakhoo anssa purani, Jivan yak annanta kahani,
Par tanki apni semayee, yaadapi sauoo sabda ki baani,
Yetana kafee hai antima dastak paar darbaja kholee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole,
Par tanki apni semayee, yaadapi sauoo sabda ki baani,
Yetana kafee hai antima dastak paar darbaja kholee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole,
Janam maran ka avirat phera, Jivan banjaroo ka deera,
Aaj yaha kaal kaha puch hai, kauna janata kidheer sabera,
Addheeyara aakash asimita, prana ki pankkha ko tolee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole.
Aaj yaha kaal kaha puch hai, kauna janata kidheer sabera,
Addheeyara aakash asimita, prana ki pankkha ko tolee,
Apnee he manse kuchha bole, Apnee he manse kuchha bole.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The Economics of Manufacturing:
The economics miracle of our age has been the strength with which previously vanquished economics of Japan and West Germany have risen from the ashes of war to become two of the wealthiest societies in the world. They have achieved this result through the execution of sound manufacturing strategies clearly invented to produce high quality technology products requiring substantial research and development (R&D) expenditure and massive investment in new capital plant and machinery. China’s vast manufacturing base is raising its GDP by around 9 percent a year as a result of poorly endowed with natural resources and massive manpower. China will have the second largest economy in the world by 2050, after US. As a result of the growing tended to increase the proportion of manufacturing products both exported and imported by industrial nation like the US, EEC nations and Asian countries (Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, India and so on), China is being more successful and better equipped for this competitive rivalry than others.
A nation’s ability to capture and retain a consistent or increasing share of the world market for manufactured products has considerable economic implication. In the first place it means it means that the largest economic sizes of plant incorporating the best technologies can be employed in the confidence that their capacities will be filled, yielding ‘technical benefits of scale’ and providing the user with cost advantages. Secondly, such investments permit productivity gains to be realized by replacing or supplementing human effort with machine power and artificial intelligence.
Productivity improvements can be made in the face of dwindling profits providing there exists the human will to realize such improvements. To achieve this end it is necessary for pride (in the product being manufactured) and total commitment of the workforce (to make products better than those of competitors) to predominate over entrenched restrictive working practices and antipathy or even suspicion of technological and organisational change. Therefore, a Luddite mentality must not prevail if a nation’s workforce is to prosper in the long run but instead it must be fired by the passion to excel in the manufacture of products which it must carefully select and fund accordingly.
Manufacturing organisations have to accommodate the inevitable obsolescence of products and processes, by anticipating and meeting market change. They can achieve this in three ways:
Through incremental improvements to their products, plants, processes and working methods;
By exploiting their expertise in different marketing areas; and
Through radical innovations incorporating new technologies, processes and products.
Technological innovation requires a commitment both at the national and corporate level for innovation requires a commitment both at the national and corporate level for invention and development of innovations which then become the nation’s ‘seed corn’ for its future prosperity. A definitive policy towards technological innovation is required for another major reason. The major industrial nations compete for markets against each other but also to an ever increasing extent with manufacturers from developing nations. The industrialized nations have moral obligation to ensure that the living standards of the poorer nations are raised substantially anyway but, as manufacturing processes and techniques become standardized, these nations will implement these schemes and with modern plants and cheap labour they will posses a comparative cost advantage permitting them to take market share where conventional products are concerned. To contain this change at a rate which is politically acceptable to those involved, the developed nations have to invent and exploit new products and processes which involve high levels of human skill, knowledge and inventiveness: in other words they have to innovate to survive.
Mao Tse Tung (1950) explained his view in his book "The Little Red Book" that to this day many of comrades still do not understand that they must attend to the quantitative aspects of things-the basic statistics. They have no figure in their heads, and, as a result, cannot help making mistakes. From this argument, we can figure out that eventually most of the companies need to invest in new, more productive assets if that wish to survive and prosper.
A nation’s ability to capture and retain a consistent or increasing share of the world market for manufactured products has considerable economic implication. In the first place it means it means that the largest economic sizes of plant incorporating the best technologies can be employed in the confidence that their capacities will be filled, yielding ‘technical benefits of scale’ and providing the user with cost advantages. Secondly, such investments permit productivity gains to be realized by replacing or supplementing human effort with machine power and artificial intelligence.
Productivity improvements can be made in the face of dwindling profits providing there exists the human will to realize such improvements. To achieve this end it is necessary for pride (in the product being manufactured) and total commitment of the workforce (to make products better than those of competitors) to predominate over entrenched restrictive working practices and antipathy or even suspicion of technological and organisational change. Therefore, a Luddite mentality must not prevail if a nation’s workforce is to prosper in the long run but instead it must be fired by the passion to excel in the manufacture of products which it must carefully select and fund accordingly.
Manufacturing organisations have to accommodate the inevitable obsolescence of products and processes, by anticipating and meeting market change. They can achieve this in three ways:
Through incremental improvements to their products, plants, processes and working methods;
By exploiting their expertise in different marketing areas; and
Through radical innovations incorporating new technologies, processes and products.
Technological innovation requires a commitment both at the national and corporate level for innovation requires a commitment both at the national and corporate level for invention and development of innovations which then become the nation’s ‘seed corn’ for its future prosperity. A definitive policy towards technological innovation is required for another major reason. The major industrial nations compete for markets against each other but also to an ever increasing extent with manufacturers from developing nations. The industrialized nations have moral obligation to ensure that the living standards of the poorer nations are raised substantially anyway but, as manufacturing processes and techniques become standardized, these nations will implement these schemes and with modern plants and cheap labour they will posses a comparative cost advantage permitting them to take market share where conventional products are concerned. To contain this change at a rate which is politically acceptable to those involved, the developed nations have to invent and exploit new products and processes which involve high levels of human skill, knowledge and inventiveness: in other words they have to innovate to survive.
Mao Tse Tung (1950) explained his view in his book "The Little Red Book" that to this day many of comrades still do not understand that they must attend to the quantitative aspects of things-the basic statistics. They have no figure in their heads, and, as a result, cannot help making mistakes. From this argument, we can figure out that eventually most of the companies need to invest in new, more productive assets if that wish to survive and prosper.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Discrimination:
Every organisation’s management is seeking to discriminate between people on the basis of whether or not they have the appropriate attributes to carry out the job. The main issue is not whether discrimination is occurring however discrimination as based on fair criteria. The word ‘discrimination’ has lost its literal meaning and is more normally used to imply criticism. There have been identified six criteria that represent the main bases of discrimination and lead to accusations of unfairness:
Sex/gender;
Race/ethnicity;
Disability;
Sexual orientation;
Religion;
Age;
These are not limited categories so that people find themselves experiencing unfair discrimination from several different directions. It depends upon individuals who experience one or several sources of disadvantage based on work experience or expertise. The experience of discrimination also has some common manifestations which transcend these individual categories.
Sex/gender;
Race/ethnicity;
Disability;
Sexual orientation;
Religion;
Age;
These are not limited categories so that people find themselves experiencing unfair discrimination from several different directions. It depends upon individuals who experience one or several sources of disadvantage based on work experience or expertise. The experience of discrimination also has some common manifestations which transcend these individual categories.
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