How was the Gupta Empire (India) scientifically advanced Essay

When thinking back to the Gupta Empire in India, one might remember the famous works of literature, or perhaps the vast lands conquered by the great rulers of the time. But it would be imprudent to ignore the influential achievements made in the areas of science, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy that made the empire scientifically advanced. Many people fail to realize that countless things mistaken for solely modern-day science, for example, plastic surgery, existed centuries ago. Here, the technologies of the Gupta Empire (320-467), such as the development of a more accurate value for pi, the perfection of the modern numeral and decimal system; surgery, inoculation, the formulation of medical guides and a better calendar; and lunar astronomy, will be discussed in detail. First we will deal with the area of mathematics. One of the most recognized achievements of the Gupta period was the highly accurate calculation of pi, made by the renowned mathematician Aryabhata. Before this time, pi, the value that explained the relationships between the area, circumference, diameter, radius, and volume of circles and spheres, was frequently represented by Indian mathematicians as three, or the square root of ten. (Although both of these values are far from accurate, the fact that the civilization had a knowledge of geometry and mathematical relationships is proof of scientific advancement, especially when one compares it to Europe, which in the eleventh century still had no knowledge of mathematics.) Aryabhata calculated pi to the fourth decimal place at a value of 3.1416. Aryabhata also studied and improved other concepts of mathematics; for example, he determined the rule for the area of isosceles triangles and researched algebraic identities and intermediate equations. His work can be observed in the Gitikapanda, a book which includes a trigonometrical sine table, rules for extracting square and cube roots, the concepts of spheres, pyramids and other plane figures, concepts of interest, the rule of three, and fractions, as well as the principles mentioned previously that pertain to him. All of these ideas can be found in modern-day science, which shows their great influence. Another prominent Indian mathematician of the Gupta period was Brahmagupta, who systemized the rules of astronomy, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry and  published his works in the Brahmasphuta-Siddhanta and ‘Khandakhadyaka.’ Other mathematical knowledge that had its foundations with Indian mathematicians were the so-called â€Å"Arabic† numerals and the decimal system, as well as the concept of zero and symbol for infinity, all of which previously did not exist. The number system that Gupta mathematicians devised was based on ten, and was the first of its kind. After a period of time, it was passed on to the Muslims of Baghdad, and then to the Europeans, which is why it is referred to as Arabic, though it really had its origins in India. Indian medicine was also remarkably advanced. Indian doctors of the Gupta period knew how to perform surgery, including plastic surgery to repair injured ears and noses–something thought of exclusively as new-age medicine and only recently perfected in the United States–and were experienced in setting broken bones. Furthermore, their surgical methods were quite sophisticated, as they knew to sterilize their tools before and after usage in order to prevent the spread of diseases and to keep a level of hygiene. More proof of their advancement in medicine comes from their philosophy of it; like ancient Greek doctors, as well as the doctors of today, the doctors of the Gupta Empire used an ethical code similar to the Hippocratic oath, in which they pledged to be honest and moral in their practice of medicine. Indian doctors were the first to give inoculations to prevent diseases, and were well ahead of their European peers, who did not give vaccines for another 1,000 years. Their cowpox vaccine was helpful in preventing epidemics of the fatal smallpox disease, and they even had free hospitals in which to administer it. Ironically, this is perhaps more progressive than today’s society, where free hospitals are considered an unreachable ideal. As well as advanced surgery and inoculations, the Indians of the Gupta Empire possessed medical guides much like those of today, such as the Bower Manuscript and the Hatyayurveda. These manuals contained information on things such as medicinal plants, prescriptions, diseases and children’s medicines. In total, â€Å"†¦these works classified more than 1,000 diseases and  described [the properties of] more than 500 medicinal plants,† such as garlic, a lotion that promoted eyesight, oils from trees, etc. There was even information on animal disease treatment! For these reasons, the Indians from the Gupta period were extremely advanced in their knowledge of medicine and treatment of ailments. Another area of science that flourished during the Gupta Empire was astronomy. The partial cause of acquired knowledge pertaining to it was the increase in trade, because while at sea, sailors used the stars to find their positions. Knowledge of astronomy also increased because of the work of Aryabhata, the mathematician previously mentioned. He was the first to tell that the earth was a sphere that rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun, and that lunar eclipses were caused by the shadow of the earth falling on the moon. He even founded his own mathematical-astronomical school and wrote a book on astronomy, called the Aryabhatiya. Thus, scientists of the Gupta period were knowledgeable even of such complex areas of science as astronomy. With an increased knowledge of astronomy, scientists were able to keep better time, basing their calendars on the cycles of the sun, appropriating a seven-day week, and breaking each day into hours, as is the way with Western timekeeping. Aryabhata had calculated the length of the solar year to 365.3586805 days, which is very close to modern measurements made by an atomic clock–thus the calendars of the time were accurate. Another well-known astronomer from the Gupta age was Varahamahira, who in the sixth century wrote the Panchasiddhantika, which summarized other astronomical works, and the Brihat samhita, an encyclopedia of astronomy and other sciences. Paired with the work of Aryabhata, Gupta knowledge of astronomy was ample. The people of the Gupta Empire were technologically very well developed. They had a great knowledge of medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, had an accurate value for pi, knew how to perform plastic surgery and administer inoculations, understood the stars, and were far ahead of other areas, such as Europe. Their advancements were a representation of an excelled and  sparkling civilization that will be remembered for centuries to come by scientists and philosophers alike. Bibliography Beck, Roger B. (et al). World History: Patterns of Interaction. McDougal Littel. Boston. 1999. This textbook provided quality information that was relevant to the topic and accurate when compared to other sources. Binongo, Jose Nilo. â€Å"Randomness, Statistics, and Pi.† Proquest. online. Internet. 1 June 2002. The source was not relevant to the topic, as it pertained to modern estimations of pi, but was interesting and of good quality. The website through which I obtained it was helpful and easy to use. Cajori, Florian, Ph. D. A History of Mathematics. Macmillan. New York. 1924. The book gave good information on general advancements that were made in India, but did not state periods, which made the information difficult to navigate. However, the information was accurate and easy to read. Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad. History of Science and Technology in Ancient India. Firma Klm Private Limited. Calcutta. 1991. The majority of the book focused on very early advancements that took place long before the Gupta period, but there was some valuable information at the end on the topic. â€Å"Gupta.† Encyclopedia.com. online. Internet. 7 May 2002. The information, though accurate and relevant, was not specific enough to really help. Jaggi, O.P. Dawn of Indian Science: Volume Two. Atma Ram & Sons. Delhi. 1969. The information was irrelevant to the time period as well as inconsistent with the other sources. Jain, Nem Kumar, M. Sc. Science and Scientists in India. Indian Book Gallery. Delhi. 1982. The book was helpful in identifying names of people and their achievements, but had very little information on the topic otherwise. Krieger, Larry S. (et al). World History: Perspectives on the Past. McDougal Littel. Boston. 1997. The textbook gave a general overview of the information but did not go into specifics. However it was accurate, relevant, and helped spark interest in the topic. Langer, William L. (ed.). An Encyclopedia of World History. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 1968. The information was relevant and accurate, but not specific. It did, however, provide some interesting new details that were not known previously. Mookerji, R. K. The Gupta Empire. Shri Jainendra Press. Delhi. 1969. The information was relevant and accurate when compared to other sources. It was well-organized and provided useful information of the topic. Papanek, John L. (ed. et al). Ancient India: Land of Mystery. Time-Life Books. Virginia. 1994. The information was accurate and somewhat relevant to the topic. It was a little difficult to follow, but did provide some good information. Ronan, Colin A. Science: Its History and Development Among the World’s Cultures. Facts on File Publications. New York. 1982. The information was interesting and relevant, but badly organized, as it did not provide specific dates. Also, it did not go into great enough detail. Saran, Santosh and Ravindra N. Singh. History of Science and Technology During Gupta Period. Prachi Prakashan. New Delhi. 1994. The source contained some relevant information in the beginning that was accurate and of good quality. It gave specific information on areas usually ignored, such as animal medicine. Smith, Vincent A. The Early History of India. Oxford University Press. England. 1924. The book was not very relevant to the topic, but helped clarify previous information with dates.

Mughal emperor of India Essay

Jahangir (Mughal emperor of India) (1569-1627), was the fourth Mughal Emperor of India who ruled for 22 years. Jahangir was a friendly and a moderate Muslim. Jahangir loved architecture, fine arts and was very fond of paintings. Besides being a successful ruler, he was kind to his Indian subjects whether they be Hindu’s or Muslim’s. Jahangir was a ruler with many military ambitions, the foremost being to conquer the seat of the government of Timurids, the Transoxiana. Jahangir was the son of one of the most notable rulers in the Islamic history, Akbar and his wife Jodha Bai. He was brought in the best possible manner and given the best education at the new capital of India; Fatehpur-Sikri. He was taught Persian, Arabic, Hindi, History, Arithmetic, Geography and Turki by different expert teachers. The teacher who influenced Jahangir the most was Abdul Rahim Khan, a genius in every aspects of life. Under his influence, Jahangir mastered the art of composing verses. Anxious For the Throne Jahangir was given training in the civil and military department. He was placed in charge of the Kabul expedition in the year 1581, where he conducted military expeditions. Four years later he was given the rank of an Army officer with command over 12000 soldiers. At an early life he was familiar with wine and became addicted to the life. Besides being a master in different parts of life, he was very much impatient. His ambition to become the new ruler without the traditional death of his father was the reason he became annoyed with his father. When Akbar was convinced by one his favorite companions Abul fazl to make a committee of seekers who think of him as a divinely inspired person and gave him the phrase of Allah Akbar, thinking that Abul Fazl was going to be the next successor because of his close relationship with his father, Abul Fazl was murdered by the prince in the year 1602. This really depressed Akbar and he did not show his face in public for 3 days. Finally in the year 1605 a dying King Akbar unwillingly placed his turban on his Eldest son and hence Prince Salim was hailed as the new King. He was given the throne at the age of 36 and assumed the name of Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir. But Jahangir soon too was disturbed by his eldest son Prince Khusrau. Soon after Prince Khusrau’s army was defeated at the hands of the imperial forces near Jallandar, the prince was faced with total humiliation. Jahangir had his own son walk in a street with the pierced bodies of his supporters. This demoralized his son so much that he could organize a revolt and was given any moral support from the people who didn’t wanted him to be the next ruler. Later Jahangir had his eyes on the Sikh ruler Guru Arjun, who had given money to Prince Khusrau. The Sikh leader was fined for this offence and tortured till he breathed his last breath. Studies show that Sikh’s suffered only when they were involved in political matter otherwise Jahangir did not mistreated with them. Jahangir was so determined to give justice, that he ordered a chain of justice made purely from gold to be hung outside the Agra fort and who ever thinks he is not given justice can ring it to draw the attention of the ruler and he may be given a fair chance to rectify his injustice. Disturbances in India later on provoked the Shah of Persia to buy the Fortress of Kandahar which had a very strategic and commercial importance as it was the reason of argument among India and Persia in the Middle Ages. After the death of Humayun, it was handed to Shah Hussain by a Persian ruler, which was later captured by Akbar but than again passed to the Persians. There were unsuccessful attempts made to capture the fort, but each and every time the Mughal’s failed. These failed attempts reduced the status of the Mughal Empire. Jahangir increases Territories and Builds Statues and Mosques Jahangir main aim now was to conquest the whole of India. He sent his second son to conquer the great fort of Chittor which was under the hands of a Hindu ruler by the name of Rana Amar Singh. The first attempt was unsuccessful in 1605, in 1608 another army was sent to conquer the fort but instead in 1615 a peace treaty was signed among the Hindu ruler and Jahangir’s second son. No one in history had managed to end a long conflict into a peace treaty and this treaty is a landmark. Jahangir ordered for two life size marbles to be placed in the Palace of Agra, one of his son and other of the Hindu Ruler. Jahangir got the Loyalty of the Mewar’s which lasted till his grandson Emperor Aurangzeb who divided the two kingdoms. One of the most notable achievements in the Jahangir regime was the successful capture of Kanga. Jahangir’s desire to seize Ahmadnagar and the two independent states of Bijapur and Golkunda were assigned to his third son Prince Khurram. The seizing of Kanga prompted the Emperor to go to the place and built mosques there. However Ahmadnagar was not conquered due to the opposition coming from a former slave who trained soldiers of Maharasthra in guerilla combat. Prince Khurram was rewarded for his partial success by been given a title of Shah Jahan meaning King of the World. Wife and Son strive For Power The most important in the first half of Jahangir’s regime was the rise of his most favorite wife Nur Jahan meaning Light of the World and his son Prince Khurram. A lady having a great amount of energy and many talents, Nur Jahan became an effective leader in Politics. Many Persian poets, architects, musicians and artists came to Agra just because of her. Shah Jahan was the next in line for his Father throne which made Nur jahan disliking him. The first step Nur Jahan took was to persuade Jahangir to make Shah Jahan return to the military which will automatically make him go away from the political affairs. Shah Jahan accepted and along with his Brother Khusrau went against rival kings in Deccan. Later hearing that Jahangir’s health was worsening, he planned on killing his brother who would become a rival in his way to the throne. In the year 1623 Shah Jahan had an open march towards Agra which prompted Nur Jahan to order find the forces of Shah Jahan and kill him. Being at a military disadvantage Shah Jahan avoided the forces and was chased around India for continuously three years and than agreeing to return to his father. Jahangir was very fond of religious dialogues. Sir Thomas of England held a dialogue with the emperor to allow Christians, Muslims and Hindus to be treated as equal and should celebrate their religious festivals. He allowed all the religions to hold their festivals without any problems. Problems between his wife and son Shah Jahan were disastrous for the Mughal Empire. Jahangir’s situation was serious after facing pressure from the Persian Empire and continued problems between his wife and son. Reign an Era of Family Strife And Notable Architecture Jahangir was famous for his architectural works. His magnificent tomb at Agra was finished in the year 1628 by his chief minister’s daughter, Nur Jahan. It was brilliant art with different styles of inlay. It features included the use of white marble and inlay as a decorative item. The quality of paintings and coins during the regime of Jahangir was the result of the Emperor’s own interest. He was a student keen in paintings and knew had the ability to tell as to who painted the eye and the eyebrow in the face and who painted the rest of the picture. Towards the end of his era, his wife Nur Jahan took an active role in the government affairs and she appointed her skillful brother Asaf Khan to be a chief in the kingdom. Later both Brother and sister decided to attack the powerful afghan by birth name Mahabat Khan. When Mahabat khan realized the delicate situation, with the help of 5000 troops, he marched towards the bank of river Jhelum. As Jahangir and Nur Jahan were traveling to Kabul, the emperor was taken prisoner the Afghan. Jahangir managed to escape with the help of her clever wife, Nur Jahan. Later Shah Jahan joined forces with Mahabat Khan to become more powerful than ever. The emperor turned towards Kashmir, where he found comfort and made regular journeys there. There he found natural paradise, which he along with his court had tried to make an artificial one. The Mughal gardens in Srinagar are one of the results of his interest. Shalimar garden in Lahore, Pakistan was also a beautiful place with carved pillars, pools which can be reached only by stepping stones. Jahangir died in October of 1927 at the bottom of the Kashmir Hills; Nur Jahan was betrayed by her brother Asaf Khan who joined Shah Jahan. When Shah Jahan came to know about his father’s death his rushed to Agra to claim his father’s throne. Nur Jahan was sentenced to live her life in solitude in Lahore where she died in 1645. Some historian’s think Jahangir was a changeable dictator where as the Indian authors regard him as a noble and kind ruler. Most people agree that he was an educated and a cultural man. The most notable building renovated by him is his father’s tomb in Sikandra. A great mosque is also built in Lahore under his guidance, which rivals a mosque built by his son in New Delhi. Conclusion Jahangir was a successful ruler and during his era people were very well off. Many industries flourished during his time mainly Agriculture. His main idea was to promote social justice and an administrative efficiency, and in most cases he tried to follow his father’s footstep but was less successful in putting them into effect. Jahangir was one of the most successful Emperors of the Mughal Empire. Bibliography †¢ Wheeler M Thackston, 1999 the Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India, Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press, USA.

The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and Octopus Card System ÂÂ

The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and Octopus Card System  Ã‚   Lam Ka Chun 3035069794 The University of Hong Kong CCST9029 Cyberspace Crime: Technology and Ethics Dr. K. P. Chow Ms. Chan Vivien Pui Shan Abstract This article is about the leakage of data of the Octopus card company. In 2010 , Octopus sold the information of their clients to 6 companies for promotion and made a profit of 44 million Hong Kong dollars over 4. 5 years . In view of the case of Octopus case, this article will go through three part to study it : technical aspect, ethical aspect and legal aspect.It will also suggest feasible suggestions. The dis-honest company led a leakage of personal data: Octopus Card Company Introduction of Octopus card company According to the statistics, 95% of those between the ages of 16 and 65 have an Octopus and Octopus processes over 12 million transactions a day. The card is accepted by more than 100 transportation service providers and 160 retailers, including 7-Eleven, St arbucks, and Park & Shop. It can also be used at pay phones, photo booths, and parking garages. This reveals that the octopus is commonly and widely used.Also implied that the leakage of personal data influences a lot of people. Technical Issue In terms of technical Issue, Octopus card is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used widely in transportation and retail business. How can it transfer the money without contact? It is because it used the technique of Radio  Frequency  Identification (RFID). We will go into deeper of the RFID. RFID is the use of a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data from a tag attached to an object, for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking.The Octopus card requires no battery and are powered and read at short ranges via magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction). The tag contains electronically stored information which can be read from up to several meters (yards) a way. Unlike a bar code, the tag does not need to be within line of sight of the reader and may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID tags are also used in many industries. An RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line.Pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses. Livestock and pets may have tags injected, allowing positive identification of the animal. Ethical Issue In terms of the ethical issue, there are a few points we would like to discuss. Firstly it is whether there is too much personal information required in the client agreement. The Octopus Company was questioned about if the personal information required on the client agreement was too much. The complainer claimed that the necessary information required by the scheme is actually just name and Octopus card number.Also, the client agreement was not user-friendly, because the text was too small, almost unreadable and the whole statement is too long a nd clumsy. But on the other hand, nowadays Hong Kong citizen are easily give out their information without knowing how the information will be used. The awareness of protection their personal data is too weak. It's always customers' duty to read the whole statement no matter how not user-friendly it is because it should be themselves to protect their own privacy. Legal Issue The Octopus Card Company has actually sued the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.The company collected excessive personal data for the purpose of customer authentication and it failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the applicants were explicitly informed of the classes of persons to whom the data may be transferred. Also, the company shared member's personal data with third parties for monetary gains without their consent. The provision of data for monetary gain was not expressly stated in the Terms and Condition. This incident has actually highlighted the inadequacies of the present Ord inance as public expectation in data privacy raises, especially those in conjunction with business activities.Therefore, the government has amended the ordinance in 2012 to protect data users' right. Six data protection principles: Principle 1 – purpose and manner of collection of personal data Principle 2 – accuracy and duration of retention of personal data Principle 3 – use of personal data Principle 4 – security of personal data Principle 5 – information to be generally available Principle 6 – access to personal data DPP1 and DPP3 are violated. Since the octopus company sold the data of their clients, the purpose of collection of personal data is different from what the pubic thought about.Also, there is no direct related to octopus system when the data is used. Therefore, use of personal data is also violated. Suggestion There are four suggestions which can help protecting personal data. First and foremost, due to the little attention t o protect their own information of the citizen, the government should educate the citizen to build up the idea of protecting personal data. Second, improvements can be made in the security and privacy systems of companies to ensure low unintended data leakage. Third, government should make the rule stricter and clearer in order not to let the companies escape the law.Forth, set up a department to investigate among the all the companies to check whether there is similar issue happened. In conclusion, it is a fact that once our personal data has been leaked, it is not possible to stop the spreading of the data. It is both, companies, government and citizens’ responsibilities to protect our personal data. Reference Websites: http://healthymethod. blogspot. hk/2011/06/octopus-card-scandal. html http://www. cdeclips. com/en/hongkong/fullstory. html? id=49560 http://www. octopus. com. k/octopus-for-businesses/benefits-for-your-business/en/index. html A video of RFID PDPO Newspaper s: The Standard, ‘Legco probe alert in Octopus data row’ 2/8/2010 The Standard, ‘Octopus chief tight-lipped as public says time to go’ 4/8/2010 Articles: Richard MacManus (2 September 2009). â€Å"Hong Kong's Octopus Card: Utility Outweighs Privacy Concerns†.

Organization and religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organization and religion - Essay Example ligion have been the result of an effective organization/or ineffective management.1 Naturally, one cannot blame organization and cohesion upon all the different branches of religion that exist; however, understanding the role that organization plays in defining and effectively constraining the responses and approaches of believers goes a very long way in helping the individual to understand the powerful and dynamic role that organization has within religion. A secondary way through which organization can be seen as having a powerful impact upon religion is with regards to doctrine. For instance, considering the case of Islam, core doctrines stipulate the attitudes and behavior that proper Muslims should exhibit to one another and to the outside world. In a matter speaking, the organizational constraints that are oftentimes adopted by religious organizations have to do with the risen or canonical laws that are the result of a particular holy book, relics, or prophecy. In such a way, these written approaches oftentimes are uniquely similar to the way in which a business entity operates under a set of guidelines and standard operating procedures. Without these procedures and guidelines, the business would not have a grounding or anchor with respect to the way in which to engage and understand the situations that present themselves within the day-to-day interactions that take place. Similarly, without a level of doctrine and written belief that creates a distinct aspects of cohesion within the believing communities, religious organizations would lack the same qualities that have been previously described with respect to the business world. From the information that is thus far been engaged, it is clear and apparent that organization plays a prominent and extraordinarily important role with respect to the way in which religious conviction and practice is carried out.2 Although this has only been analyzed with respect to the major world religions of Islam and

Exemplar approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Exemplar approach - Essay Example The results of the approach depend on the categorization which is done based on the concept categorization. When compared to the other approaches, exemplar approach can be applied to any sort of psychological illusions and problems. The category is classified based on the psychological approaches and this is done to ensure that they are classified in a proper manner. Concepts and categories form the major part of the exemplar approach. The cognitive and psychological functions require concepts and categories. This is one of the striking differences between exemplar approach and other psychological approaches. These are essential to determine the psychological functions and activities of a person. Concepts are considered as the representations and activities based on the mental representations. The use of these concepts is more in exemplar approach due to the varied psychological aspects used in it. Concepts indicate the ideas and ideologies pertaining to a particular idea. These repr esentations include understanding; thinking and even the memory power are included in the classification of concept. Since these are the direct interpretation from one’s mind, they are given more importance. Concepts are classified into three major types namely classification, prototype and exemplar approach. ... (Shan, 2005). These categories are classified and described using several approaches like prototype approach, definitional approach and exemplar approach. In terms of exemplar approach, category is described as the principle that helps to point out the knowledge that has been classified using the concepts. (Braisby, 2005). Category is a collection of properties or items that are similar in nature or by their property. The similar objects possess things that have common properties. The words and properties that are used to define an object are also considered as concepts since they directly deal with the ideas of the people. Exemplar- A Unique Approach Exemplar approach stands out due to its unique approach and easy methodology that is used in dealing with psychological problems. There are certain differences that make exemplar the most sought after method. The major problems with classical approach and prototype approach are eradicated in this approach. Classical approach generally h as problem with defining attributes for a particular category, where as exemplar approach easily generates the required attributes. Classical approach uses fuzzy concept, but exemplar approach uses well defined objects to determine the mental representations. Prototype approach also lacks in certain aspects but exemplar approach scores over them in almost all the aspects. Prototype approach implements abstract concept and this act as a disadvantage while deriving categories. In case of exemplar approach, concrete concept is used since it deals with physical presence. A definite and predefined structure is not followed either in prototype or classical approach. Exemplar approach makes use of predefined steps

Burning Man outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Burning Man outline - Essay Example ve such a large number of individuals across the world spending so much of their efforts and their time to construct something that will only last a few weeks? Why would the same people spend a junk of their resources on things that do not have any monetary gains? What compelling force was behind the formation of the Burning man and what powers make it possible to spread as fast as it did soon after its foundation? The last question is what importance does the festival of burning man have on our lives? The answers to such issues relate to the creativity of the founders of the movement, who developed an idea that replicated and extended on itself to form one of the strongest movements. As such, the founders of the ceremony talk of the importance of the ceremony on the sensitization of humans on the need for identity. The body of this work will discuss a number of implications of the ceremony of burning man on the lives of people. For instance, there will be a demonstration of how the whole idea of the ceremony developed in relation to propaganda. As such, the work will describe the usefulness of idea novelty in the manipulation of the minds of individuals. There are those people who participate in the without understanding the needfulness of the same. Essentially, the creative extremities that the ceremony holds are a result of its differentiating ethos (Johnson 20). The ceremony could be one that satisfies the truthfulness of the quotation that what matters to the lives of people Is not what happens to them, but what they remember as well as how they remember it. What people do in life in relation to the burning man ceremony is, therefore, an emphasis on the usefulness of propaganda in the development of life-binding ideologies. The movement is now among those that inspires people across the world on the need for identity and personality. McRae, Kateri, et al. "Context-Dependent Emotion Regulation: Suppression and Reappraisal at the Burning Man Festival."Â  Basic

Unit 8 Asignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 8 Asignment - Essay Example Key players involved in investigating a disease outbreak includes local, state or federal agencies depending on the extent of disease spread and type of disease. Most diseases start at the local level and hence it is the primary duty of local agencies to initiate response. In case the diseases spread across states and nations, state agencies also gets involved in the response. Help from federal agencies such as CDC is sought when the diseases spread is huge or the disease is unusual. The basic step to initiating a disease response is joint collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). These agencies investigate the reasons behind a diseases outbreak, initiate steps to control and subsequently prevent it. This is done by food tests and inspection of food products and service quality at restaurants. Epidemiologist, Microbiologists, Environmental health specialists and regulatory compliance officers and inspectors make up a basic investigating team. Another important stakeholder is the Food industry. I personally feel that the food industry needs to comply strictly with food regulations s to prevent contamination of the food and subsequent outbreaks. Today food is not restricted to one place only, we engage in import and export of several food items which also raises concern in case such items are contaminated. In case of a diseases outbreak it become hard to pin point the cause and hence a series of steps is adopted to investigate the problem. After detection of the outbreak a cause is determines. A hypothesis is made after interviews are conducted with those involved in or witness to the outbreak. Laboratory tests are carried out and in case nothing is found the hypothesis is changes. However in case the findings are positive, point of contamination is investigated and a food is recalled. After recalling, if the disease is in control it is declared safe else the hypothesis is

Staphylococcus aureus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Staphylococcus aureus - Essay Example This test also helped in identifying the resistance of staphylococcus against certain antibiotics revealing the mechanisms used in developing the resistance such as enzyme production. Staphylococcus aureus are spherical, gram positive non spore forming with 0.5- 1Â µm long bacteria as viewed under microscope. In 1988, S.aureus was first discovered in Aberdeen by Alexanda Ogston. Determination of Staphylococcus follows an observation in solidified medium such as nutrient agar and selective medium manitolagar. This bacteria is salt tolerant. From the main genus staphylococcus there are 32 species of which 11 are harmful and can be spread causing diseases in human body. The most common of these diseases causing staphylococcus are S.aureus and S.epidermis. Growth rate and survival of Staphylococcus is affected by a number of factors including temperatures, PH, Oxygen and water present (Stewart, 2003). Staphylococcus ureus have been found to posses the ability to live in both aerobic and anaerobic environment. Staphylococcus gain entrance into the body through causing open lesion skin that is mostly red, swollen and painful. When they enter the blood vessel, staphylococcus multiplies and releases toxins that cause life threatening complications such as septic shock and endocarditis complication of heart (Gwendolyn, 1996). Studies on these bacteria have shown that people who suffer from particular diseases including diabetes, people with chronic kidney diseases, people with cancer therapy, skin burns are more susceptible of getting the Staphylococcus aureus infection. Additionally, people with transplanted organs also depict high susceptibility to infections from staphylococcus aureus since they take immune suppressive drugs. Staphylococcus aureus can be found on the noses of up to 25 percent of healthy people , in which case it remain harmless but when it gain entrance into the blood stream it causes diseases such as septic shock and meningitis

Reading Response 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading Response 2 - Essay Example ling is overcome, when it appears that it is a normal thing that happens daily, with people exchanging the old cars they do not want with other new ones, which is the business of Avis Rent-a-Car, a dealership company. However, the most unique element of the company is the mode of advertisements it places for the trade-ins, which almost always makes individuals ready to exchange their cars with those offered by this company, due to the luring nature of the advertisements. For the company, sexuality takes a center stage in the advertisement, while infidelity is the most apparent and common feature displayed by the advertisements. However, this exchange is aligned to the husband-wife infidelity, making anyone who gives out or receives a car from the company feel a bit uncomfortable about the exchange. The thesis of this reading revolves around the discomfort of car trade-ins, where giving up an old car that have served an individual well over the years for a used-new car is not a good idea. There are many comma splices, sentence fragments and run-ons, which affects the smooth flow of the reading, making it not enjoyable and even difficult to understand. There is a limited application of conjunctions and punctuations that would have made the reading enjoyable and comprehensible. However, the most admirable and worth appreciating thing about the reading is the fact personification has been applied so well in the reading, making the old cars elicit feelings in the reader, as they do to the car trade-in participants. The complains that the old cars wage against their owners for disposing them in exchange for other ones makes the reader feel the pain of betrayal and abandonment (Fish, 1). This feeling can easily be related with an experience I had of abandoning my friends when I had t o join college. This experience was one full of mixed feeling, since I enjoyed advancing with my studies and thus felt happy and excited to leave my locality to join college. There was also a

Operations Management and Loreal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Operations Management and Loreal - Case Study Example The analysis of the report shows the absolute advantage of L'Oreal in terms of its sale and market share in the industry. To emphasise the competitiveness, the report presents a comparative study of L'Oreal with some of its rival companies. To a major extent the profit of a company depends how aptly the aforementioned tasks are carried out. If the effectiveness of the company in managing these operations is more then it will cost less and consequently it will reap a larger profit. And this entire mechanism once done helps a company to achieve a distinct competitive advantage with lower costs and better quality. This study is confined within the cosmetic industry since it is one of the burgeoning industries in today's world. The cosmetic industry today is a $29 billion business whose aggressive marketing and advertising efforts have forged a powerful trajectory of continued growth. According to the manufacturing census data on toilet items, "sales of cosmetics in 1900 stood at about $100,000." Thereafter, the cosmetic industry emerged and rapidly expanded, as "women's growing interest in beauty products coincided with their new sense of identity as consumers." Around mid-1920s, retail cosmetics sales were estimated at about $125,000,000 per year and about $150,000,000 in 1940. (Daum C.M.L., May 2006) The target company taken for analysis is the world's largest cosmetic company L'Oreal. With top cosmetic brands like Garnier, Maybelline, Lancme, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel and Matrix in its portfolio, L'Oreal stands as a notable brand. Its only hurdle was to penetrate in the Indian market where Lakme enjoyed a monopoly, but has managed to cross that hurdle with ease. Literature Review Operations management plays a key role in making an organisation's potential to grow evident in any industry. It is the area that is concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of the core operations of an organisation to support strategic goals of its business. Operations management also forms an important area in the academic field of business management. This field of study has been gaining tremendous attention and development for the last couple of decades. Supply chain management decisions constitute a crucial part of a company's. long run planning. Understanding of the domain and carrying out an analysis of a company, demands a brief literature review on supply chain management. Theories of Halldorsson, Ketchen and Lavassani on SCM provide a base for further research

A Rumi of One’s Own Essay Example for Free

A Rumi of One’s Own Essay Several years ago Kabir Helminski, a sheikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufism, received a call from Madonna’s producer, who wanted to hire his troupe of whirling dervishes for a music video inspired by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi. Helminski read the script, learned that a guy would be lying on top of Madonna while she sang â€Å"Let’s get unconscious, honey,† and wrote a polite letter declining the request. He also sent a package of books so that the singer might get a better sense of Rumi’s teachings. Like many Persian literary scholars, Helminski, who runs the Threshold Society, a Sufi study center in California, has had little success in convincing Americans that Rumi is about more than transcendent sex. (Madonna later recited Rumi’s poems on a CD, A Gift of Love, along with Goldie Hawn and Martin Sheen.) One of the five best-selling poets in America, Rumi, who was born 800 years ago in what is now part of Afghanistan, has become famous for his ability to convey mystical passion: his lovers are frequently merging into one, forgetting who they are, and crying out in pain. Yet his religious work—one book is popularly called the â€Å"Koran in Persian†Ã¢â‚¬â€is often ignored. To uncover and celebrate his heritage, UNESCO has declared 2007 the Year of Rumi; conferences about his work are being held in Istanbul, Kabul, Tehran, Dushanbe, and Ann Arbor. One of the featured speakers in Ann Arbor this fall will be Coleman Barks, an American poet who is largely responsible for Rumi’s American popularity as well as his reputation as an erotic soul-healer. Born in Tennessee, Barks freely admits to not knowing Persian (scholars call his best-selling works from the translations of others â€Å"re-Englishings†). While his poems are far more elegant and accessible than any previous English renditions, they tend to turn holy scenes into moments of sexual passion. Sometimes he takes out references to God and replaces them with â€Å"love.† As he explained in the introduction to his 2001 collection of poems, The Soul of Rumi, â€Å"I avoid God-words, not altogether, but wherever I can, because they seem to take away the freshness of experience and p ut it inside a specific system.† But Rumi, who spent most of his adult life in Konya, Turkey, based his life and poetry around that system. The son of an Islamic preacher, he prayed five times a day, made pilgrimages to Mecca, and memorized the Koran. Under the influence of an older dervish, Shams of Tabriz, he devoted his life to Sufism, an ancient, mystical branch of Islam. Sufis are less concerned with the codes and rituals of Islam than with making direct contact with God; as one scholar puts it, â€Å"Sufism is the core of the religion, the nut without the shell.† Still, the traditional Islamic texts are central to the faith. â€Å"I am the slave of the Qur’an and dust under the feet of Muhammad,† Rumi writes. â€Å"Anyone who claims otherwise is no friend of mine.† Rumi put forth an alarming quantity of writing—about 70,000 verses in 25 years—which affords translators the luxury of leaving out poems that might alienate the average American reader. In the introduction to his 2003 Rumi: The Book of Love,Barks jokes that his previous book of translations â€Å"achieved the cultural status of an empty Diet Coke can.† He gives the language a Southern hominess and an almost childlike simplicity: Love comes sailing through and I scream. Love sits beside me like a private supply of itself. Love puts away the instruments and takes off the silk robes. Our nakedness   together changes me completely. Starting with 50-year-old prose translations by the British scholar A.J. Arberry, Barks takes liberties to make Rumi’s language more accessible and universal. Occasionally this results in more than subtle changes in meaning. In one mistake, documented by the independent scholar Ibrahim Gamard, Barks mistranslates the word â€Å"blind† as â€Å"blond† due to a typo in Arberry’s version—inadvertently turning a scene about the abandonment of those who don’t know God (â€Å"Bright-hearted companions, haste, despite all the blind ones, to home, to home!†) into a part about resisting sexual lures (â€Å"I know it’s tempting to stay and meet these blonde women†). In Rumi’s time, it’s hard to imagine that there were many women with yellow hair; there wasn’t even a word for it. Barks’s wholesome soulfulness should be credited for bringing Rumi’s work to popularity, but in the process he leaves behind perhaps the most important part of the poems. â€Å"Rumi is not a great poet in spite of Islam,† says William Chittick, a Sufi literature scholar at Stony Brook University. â€Å"He’s a great poet because of Islam. It’s because he lived his religion fully that he became this great expositor on beauty and love.† There’s a sense in Rumi’s poems that he is at his emotional limits, simultaneously ecstatic and exhausted. His faith seems desperate, and almost tangible. Such devotion is striking because it’s inspired by God, not by the promise of sex as it sometimes appears in the translations. â€Å"He was the most important religious figure of his day,† says Jawid Mojaddedi, an Afghan-born Rumi scholar at Rutgers, whose translation of Book Two of Rumis Masnavi came out this month. â€Å"And yet people are shocked to find out Rumi was Muslim; they assume he must have spent his life persecuted for his beliefs, hiding in some cave in Afghanistan. We talk of clash of civilizations, and yet there’s this link that needs to be spelled out.† (Rumi’s success in America has actually boosted his popularity, Mojaddedi says, in parts of the Middle East.) But for many readers, Rumi’s Persian background has little bearing on the force of his poems. He has come to embody a kind of free-for-all American spirituality that has as much to do with Walt Whitman as Muhammad. Rumi’s work has become so universal that it can mean anything; readers use the poems for recreational self-discovery, finding in the lines whatever they wish. â€Å"It’s impossible to take Rumi out of context,† says Shahram Shiva, a Rumi translator and performance poet who regularly gives readings of Rumi’s poems, often in yoga studios. â€Å"Great art doesn’t need context,† he says. â€Å"The best thing for Beethoven’s popularity was when they put a disco beat behind Symphony no. 5.† Shiva recites Rumi to the accompaniment of flute, piccolo, piano, conch shell, and harmonica and belts out the lines in a deep, sultry Broadway voice. â€Å"Rumi’s one of the great creative beings on this planet,† he says, â€Å"a mixture of Mozart and Francis [of] Assisi, with a little Galileo thrown in, and maybe some Shakespeare and Dante.† In his most anthologized poems Rumi comes off as a saintly Tony Robbins, urging people to break barriers, stop worrying, touch the sky, make love, never surrender. It’s as if publishers worry that reading poetry is such a fragile enterprise that too much weight and context and not enough sex will scare everyone away. Helminski, who used to run a publishing company that put out Barks’s early books, noticed a consistent sensibility in the lines readers were requesting permission to quote: those suggesting that there’s no conventional morality, no such thing as ethical failure. The number one requested line was â€Å"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing / there is a field. I’ll meet you there.† â€Å"Our culture is so shame-ridden that when someone comes along and says, ‘You’re OK,’ it’s a great relief,† says Helminski. â€Å"Americans still have an adolescent relationship with Rumi. It will take some maturing before we move beyond the clichà ©s.†

Reflection on the History & Systems of Psychology Essay Example for Free

Reflection on the History Systems of Psychology Essay Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. In this paper I will attempt, in a reflective manner, to walk through and revisit the areas we covered in course, the end aim being to gain a measure of insight into where the field of psychology stands today, particularly with regard to oppressive forms of ethnocentric monoculturalism. In terms of pre-modern perspectives, in the course we first discussed historical issues concerning the mind-body problem. I stated the nature of the relationship between body and mind and whether they are one and the same or two distinct substances, which is the center of the debate between monists and dualist. Descartes, the most well known dualist, argued for a separation of mind from soul and body. Also an interactionist, Descartes held the mind influenced the body as much as the body impacted the mind (Goodwin, 2009). Plato, his predecessor from antiquity, was also a dualist and an interactionist arguably, and believed the body and soul/mind were temporarily at one during life; each came from a completely different place, the body from the material world and the soul from the world of ideas. At the moment of death, the body withered away in time and space, the soul or mind returning to the world of forms and there realizing universal truths (Wozniak, 1992). Delving deeper into pre-modern views of the mind-body problem I touched upon Spinoza. Spinoza, a contemporary of Descartes, dismissed Descartes two-substance view in favor of what is called double-aspect theory (Wozniak, 1992). Double-aspect theories hold the view that the mental and the physical realms are varying aspects of the same substance. For Spinoza, that single substance is God, perceived as the universal essence or nature of everything in existence. In Spinoza’s view, there is no partition of mind and body, therefore. Instead they are of a single substance, in a pre-established coordination, reflecting the divine essence. In reflection, I continue to side with Spinoza and double-aspect theory in terms of pre-modern perspectives. I do believe that there is a pre-established coordination between mind and body that is reflective of the divine creation. I am therefore I think is my continued response to Descartes. In terms of modern perspectives in the course we examined the origins of psychology as a subject discipline. During the course I stated that psychology first appeared as a subject discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt started a psychology lab in Germany at the University of Leipzig. The laboratory devoted itself to the analysis of conscious thought in its basic elements and structures, which was uncovered through a process of introspection (Gross, 1996). What differentiated this ‘new psychology’ at the time from philosophy was its use of measurement and control as well as its emphasis on the scientific method to study mental processes relevant to human consciousness. Due to his influence on Edward B. Titchener, Wundt’s frame of reference arguably helped give birth to structuralism. Indeed Wundt’s disciple, Titchener, is credited with developing and labeling structuralism in an 1898 paper called â€Å"The Postulates of a Structural Psychology (Goodwin, 2009). In the paper he compared and contrasted structuralism with functionalism, which he claimed infested most US universities, save Cornell where he was cultivating what would come to be  called the â€Å"the Cornell school of psychology.† Notwithstanding, Goodwin (2009) has stated that Titchener and the Cornell view of psychology was extremely narrow largely because of its insistence on introspection and due to Titchener’s attitude that his way was the only way, a position that often does not bode well in academia. In this vein and perhaps arrogantly so, Titchener, likened structuralism to anatomy, its purpose being analysis he surmised whereas functionalism he likened to physiology, stating that functionalists examine how the mind is able to adapt one to his or her said environment, wh ich to Titchener was a waste of time without a deep understanding of structure. As one needs to know the ins and outs of human anatomy before being able to fully delve into physiology, so thus was the  functionalist at a loss, in his view, without the ability to outline the structures of human consciousness via a highly difficult process of systematic, experimental introspection as stipulated by him in almost cult like exclusivity, which spawned criticism. Accordingly, his movement never gained the momentum it needed to win American hearts and minds, falling into the dustbin of history in favor of functionalism. Nevertheless, in spite of Titchener’s unpopularity in the US, his enduring contribution is that he helped create a place for the lab and experimental psychology in all colleges and universities with programs in psychology. While functionalists were also interested in looking at mental processes such as consciousness in so far as assessing human behavior in terms of how it aided people in adapting to ever-changing environments, they did not, unlike followers of Titchener, emphasize introspection (Goodwin, 2009). Psychologist James R. Angell, a follower of John Dewey, the founder of functionalism in America, became its most outspoken spokesperson, criticizing Titchener and drawing a sharp contrast to him in a 1907 popular paper called â€Å"The Province of Functional Psychology.† It was a damning response to Titchener’s 1898 paper. For Angell, the structuralist was  interested in the â€Å"what?† of conscious thought, whereas the functionalist psychologist wished to know the â€Å"how?† and â€Å"why?† of it, asking what is consciousness for? (Goodwin, 2009). This way of viewing psychology in terms of its practical applications, became an important influence in modern times, because it led to the study of topics such as developmental and abnormal psychology, in addition to examining the individual differences of mind, (which Titchener and the Cornell school remarkably had no interest in). When asking how psychology can be used to solve everyday problems in a practical way, we are taking from the functionalists and their movement. Perhaps the most prominent movement in the field of modern 20th century psychology was behaviorism. Behaviorism began essentially due to the work of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov who did not consider himself a psychologist, but, rather a physiologist interested in the process of digestion in dogs, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904 (the year B. F. Skinner was born) in Physiology and Medicine. In the course of his research, Pavlov observed that the dogs would often start salivating before any food being given to them, when they would see the food or the food’s container, or when they heard the footsteps of the lab assistant who was on his way to feed them. His observations led to the study to what we now call classical conditioning (Gross, 1996). The first attempt to apply Pavlov’s findings on conditioning to humans was made by John B. Watson in a dubious and arguably unethical experiment on a small boy named Albert, showing that the fear of rats can be deliberately induced (Watson and Rayer, 1920). The experiment served to popularize a new behavioral approach to psychology that would within a decade become the dominant force in America, Watson its founder, propagator and publicist (Goodwin, 2008). To the modernist Watson (1913), psychology is an objective natural science,  its theoretical goal the prediction and control of behavior. Wundt and Titchener’s view on introspection has no place in its methods, nor is consciousness addressed or studied. There is no marked borderline between people and animals. Due to Watson’s input and influence cats, dogs, rats, and pigeons became the major source of psychological data. As ‘psychological’ now meant ‘behavior’ rather than ‘consciousness,’ animals that were easier to study and whose environments could be more readily controlled could replace people as experimental subjects (Gross, 1966). B. F. Skinner, also a behaviorist and modernist, went steps further than Pavlov and Watson, casting behavior in a more interactive light. He made a distinction between respondent and operant behavior and argued that most animal and human behavior is not brought about in the way Pavlov and Watson indicated and surmised. Skinner, like Edward Thorndike before him, was interested in how animals operate on their environment and how this operant behavior brings about particular consequences that can determine the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. In experiments he used a variation of Thordike’s puzzle-box, a Skinner box, which was made for a rat or a pigeon to do things in, rather than escape from. Fundamentally, Skinner saw the learner as much more actively involved than did Pavlov or Watson, for whom behavior was due to stimuli, unconditioned stimuli before learning and conditioned stimuli after learning. In addition to behaviorism, modern views of psychology took twists and turns. As a reaction to both Titchener’s structuralism and Watson’s behaviorism, the Gestalt psychologists of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany and Austria were primarily concerned with perception and held that perceptions could not be deconstructed in the way that Wundt and Titchener wanted to do with thought, and that behaviorists had sought for with behavior. Their belief could be  succinctly stated as follows: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ (Gross, 1996, p.3). The whole is essentially destroyed when you break down perception and behavior into parts, the Gestalt psychologists held. There are organizing principles of perceptual organization which were voiced by Gestalt’s founder Max Wertheimer. These principles are frequently highlighted in units on perception in general psychology textbooks and are as follows: the principle of proximity, the principle of similarity, the principle of continuation. All of the organizing principles have in common what is called the law of simplicity or what Gestaltists term Prà ¤gnanz. This refers to the tendency for perceptions to mirror reality as closely as possible (Goodwin, 2009). In the course I gave an example of gestalt thinking, which in reflection I would like to return to as it clearly remains in mind. I used the example of a bus stopping at a bus stop in one’s neighborhood. On a given day the bus stops at the same corner the person is accustomed to, and is recognized to be that bus. The person gets on, but has made a mistake. She did not realize that there was a route change that morning and the bus she took was numbered differently. What gives? Is it only a matter of not paying attention? In Gestalt inspired, top-down conceptually driven processing, we begin with one’s prior knowledge, motivations, expectations and beliefs. In the bus example, the inability to see and decipher or register a different number on the bus and get on it, means it was recognized it to be the customary bus due to top-down processing (Danner, 2009). If one were to notice the different bus number, however, that would entail bottom-up processing, because such processing is data driven. The different number is perceived in terms of information in the sensory input, in conjunction with top-down processing, revealing to the person that it is not the customary bus. Perhaps after realizing her mistake, the person in  the example will be more careful next time, thereby exercising more bottom-up processing. If Austria was home to some of Gestalt’s most prominent members and adherents, it was also home to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Freudian psychoanalytic theory was the first to state the significance of innate drives and define abnormal and normal behavior in relationship to the role of the unconscious mind. Its importance is that the theory of personality popularized contextualizing human behavior in terms of the id, ego, and superego, notating development in five psychosexual stages. Each stage was marked by shifts in what Freud believed were the underlying modes of gratification: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital (Glassman, 2000). In reflection, I continue to find merit in Freuds concept of stages for sure. I would still prefer to call them development stages, however, and not necessarily put a sexual meaning on them, as Freud and his supporters have done and continue to do. There is no need to detail the well-known limitations and criticisms of Freudian theory, which according to Glassman (2000) are its falsifiability, the great deal of emphasis put on case studies, and its cultural bias towards women. Regardless of such naysaying, his supporters would passionately argue for and be adamant about such a sexual narrative of the human person, which if not fodder, certainly has entertainment value. In fact, Freudian theory is fascinating to me largely due to the dramatic (almost cinematic) conflicts and challenges that mark each psychosexual stage. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the Oedipal conflict (which occurs in the so-called phallic stage). It was interesting to read that some analysts called the fe male variant, the Electra conflict, but Freud himself did not use the term (see Freud 1924). Perhaps the most attractive modern theory of personality, in my view, would belong to Carl Rogers. In Carl Roger’s theory, a person is the source of his  or her basic needs such as food and water. He or she is also the source of a growth motive which he called an actualizing tendency, which is an innate drive that is reflective of the desire to grow, to develop and to develop one’s capabilities (Glassman, 2000). It is the actualizing tendency that stimulates creativity, causing a person to seek out new challenges and skills that motivate healthy growth in one’s lifetime (Gross, 1996). According to Rogers (1961, but originally proposed in 1947): Whether one calls it a growth tendency, a drive towards self-actualization, or a forward moving direction tendency, it is the mainspring in life†¦ It is the urge which is evident in all organic and human life – to expand, extend, become autonomous, mature and develop. In reflection, I continue to feel that Roger’s influence and continuing popularity in the psychotherapeutic community give his theories merit. APA members have been asked which psychotherapist they believe to me the most influential figure in the field (Smith, 1982). In 2006, this survey repeated in the Psychotherapy Networker. In both surveys, Carl Rogers was the â€Å"landslide† choice. While this does not prove Rogers to be correct, certainly it gives his theory of motivation more credence than not, increasing its believability. Certainly, I feel influenced by Rogers as I move forward in my career. While Rogers theory of an actualizing tendency and the overall nature of the client-centered approach may be controversial due to its allowance to let the client call the shots and as stated by Goodwin (2009) for its overemphasis on the the self at the expense of the importance of the community, in addition to being clearer what it was against than what it was for, it is nevertheless, a credible postulation in terms of its application in therapy and remains my preference over Freud. Accordingly, I continue to feel that all clients  innately wish to be successful in life and to be praised as contributors to their own selfactualization. They wish to expand their knowledge and achieve  higher levels of success beneath all the guises that seem otherwise. When clients are not performing to their fullest potential, praise and support can help ignite the actualizing tendency in a manner that would otherwise have remained dormant. When exploring postmodern views of psychology we have to inherently speak about cultural narratives and meta-narratives. What is psychology today and who defines it? What is psychology’s story, who told that story historically, and who gets to tell it today? When we look at psychology as a practice, historically and today, is important to bring to the fore the ethnocentric monocultural aspects that were oppressive to women and continue to be to minority groups in reinforcing white male Euro-American culture as the normative and desirable culture. Indeed, therapists and helping professionals should try to help deconstruct and unveil monoculturalism whenever it rears its despicable head. When oppressive forms such as heterosexism, ageism, gender and sexism come to the fore in therapy, for example, therapists should not reinforce them but try to encourage reflection on such prejudices with the aim being for the client to indentify for what it is – and to grow accordingly. The field of psychology itself is not immune but remains at risk to the debacle of monoculturalism. According to Yutrzenka, Todd-Bazemore and Caraway (1999) even though the data forecast that by 2050, ethnic minorities will make up over 50% of the US population, this quickly changing demographic has minimal effect on the number of ethnic minority psychologists. This is particularly true for Native Americans, who are far more underrepresented than any other ethnic body. Though the APA as stated by Goodwin (2009), is vigorously addressing this entire issue at present, with such efforts to be praised, still the legacy of ethnocentric monoculturalism is a stain on the profession, and will remain so until  significant numbers of minority psychologists abound. In spite of the barriers confronting them, women and minorities have made many notable, valuable and vital contributions to the field of psychology. During the course I discussed Eleanor Gibson who received the National Medal of Science in 1992 for a lifetime of research on topics dealing with the development of depth perception to the fundamentals involved in reading, faced discrimination while at Yale from psychologist Robert Yerkes who wanted no females in his lab (Goodwin, 2009). While she was able to get her PhD there under the guidance of the neobehaviorist Clark Hull, she unfortunately went on to experience difficulties at Cornell (where her husband had gained a position) forced into an unpaid research associate position in spite of winning competitive and prestigious research grants. As a result of these grants, however, she was able to carry out pioneering studies on depth perception with Richard Walk. When Cornell, home to Titchener’s legacy, removed its nepotism rules in 1966, only then did she become a full professor. Furthermore, as discussed in the course, African-Americans have also made outstanding contributions to psychology. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark again come to mind in terms of their best known research titled Racial identification and preference in Negro children (Goodwin, 2009). In this research it was shown that black children showed a preference for white dolls over black ones when asked which they would like to play with and looked more like. The Clarks concluded, according to Goodwin (2009) that one insidious effect of racial segregation was its negative influence on African-American self-esteem. As a result of this research, in part, the Supreme Court was compelled to do the right thing and reverse the racist separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education. The Clarks’ contribution to psychology and the contributions of other AfricanAmericans preceding them were not without struggle. Their mentor at Howard University, Francis Sumner faced huge obstacles when attempting to get a graduate degree and gain employment in academia. African-Americans have often had their basic intellectual abilities questioned (Goodwin, 2009). The legacy of white racism and of the field of psychology’s complicity by not taking a firmer stand until only recently is without question a significant reason why African-Americans remain heavily underrepresented in the profession, in spite of the gains made for women. 60 percent of doctorates in psychology are awarded to women today, while Native Americans as we discussed and African-Americans continue to be awarded a paltry percentage in turn. Such dismal figures have nothing to do with intelligence. We know that early intelligence tests were normed on just Caucasian, middle-class populations and only recently has such bias been addressed and perhaps abated. This also was the case for the MMPI personality tests as well. In the case of the MMPI, many of the original items became dated and according to Kassin (2008), to bring the test up to the 21st century and more postmodern views, new items were written in, and a more diverse cross-section of the US was sampled. The result of that updating is the newer 567-item version called the MMPI-2. In reflection, my guess is that similar advances have been made or are being considered in IQ testing as well; otherwise we would have to call into question whether biased IQ tests are valid for minority groups. Accordingly, great care should be taken when formulating test questions as well as interpreting the results of test-takers from different cultural groups and urban tribes. Fundamentally, it is crucial that test makers be made aware of cultural differences when putting together IQ test questions, as recommended for the MMPI (Church 2001). Exercising caution does not mean  minority groups are treated with kid gloves, but rather that a lens of understanding is in place and that can come about as a result of the test makers and assessors informing themselves. Otherwise an IQ tests validity for minority groups is at issue. Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. Accordingly, I have attempted in a reflective manner to revisit the areas of psychology’s history we covered in course. If psychology as a profession is to continue to grow and develop, it will occur through a similar process of reflection, followed by action. It is important for psychology to know its origins, its history and respective story. However, in realization of the depth of ethnocentric monoculturalism, its leadership, particularly in the APA, must act on the call to bring about the inclusion of more minorities. Otherwise, the oppressive stain of monoculturalism shall abound and continue to blemish the profession we hold dear. References Angell, J.R. (1904). Psychology. New York: Holt. Church, A.T. (2001). Personality measurement in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Personality, 69, 979-1006. Danner, N. (2011). Psychology: ORG5001 survey of psychology I. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions. Freud, S. (1924) A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. New York: Washington Square Press (reprinted 1952). Glassman, W (Ed.). (2000) Approaches to psychology. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Goodwin, C.J. (2009) A history of modern psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Gross, R. (Ed.). (1996) Psychology, the study of mind and behavior. London: Hodder Stoughton. Kassin, S., (2008). Psychology in Modules: ORG 5002 Survey of psychology II. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing. Rogers, C.R. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Smith, D. (1982) Trends in counseling and psychology. American Psychologist, 37, 802–809. Watson, J.B. (1913) Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 15877. Watson, J.B. Rayneer, R. (1920) Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. Wozniak,R. (1992) Mind and body: Renà © Descartes to William James. Retrieved from http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%206%20MindBody/DUALISM.htm. Yutrzenka, B.A., Todd-Bazemore, E., Caraway, S.J. (1999). Four winds: The evolution of culturally inclusive clinical psychology training for Native Americans. International Review of Psychiatry, 11, 129- 135. ProQuest: 43479524.

Risk Management In Construction Contracts

Risk Management In Construction Contracts Risk management is vital when tendering for construction contracts. Risk is described by Atkinson (2001) as the probability of an occurrence of a hazard and the magnitude of the consequences. Consequently risk can be considered as the likelihood of an experience occurring and the resultant effect of that experience if it takes place. As defined by RICS (2009) risk management is a means of processes where risks are identified, analysed and managed. It is a constant cycle that begins at the pre-tender stage; this means that risk can be priced into the bid and continues after post contract stage. During the different phases of a project, new risks will emerge throughout the contract. Identifying in advance allows quicker mitigation; to reduce impact risk has on the project. This study has examined the inaccuracy of pre-tender risk management by using both pre-tender and post contract risk registers. As well as risks there were opportunities and these were also recognised in the processes of risk management. This subject area was chosen to be researched after discussion with line managers and work colleagues, during my 2010 placement year with Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM). This topic was considered as an ideal subject area for a research project because SRM were improving their risk management procedures. Therefore the plan of the study was to feedback findings, to further enhance the Tender risk management process. The line manager gave me risk registers for two different project types, and explained how SRM assess risk at all stages of a job. The emphasis being on highway construction, as this information was available from my placement and SRM. 1.2 Rationale The subject of what to research developed from consultations with colleagues and the line manager at SRM. The line manager was involved in risk management and was working to improve SRMs pre-tender risk process to make it replicate the post contract phase. This therefore illustrated a requirement in the business and indeed construction for research in to this topic area. The main reason for eventually electing the subject area of risk was the open access of information provided by SRM and the contact with knowledgeable personnel in my placement. This gave a better understanding of the processes currently used, which allowed me to gain a greater grasp of the subject area. Also access was gained during placement to potential data in the form of contract and tender risk registers from various Highway works undertaken by SRM. The aim, objectives and hypothesis came about from carrying out the literary research, it wasnt until that point that the information was collected, and a plan formulated of how to use it. The research aimed to understand how the pre-tender risk process may be inaccurate. After that considering how it could be improved and whether it was possible to do so. Subsequently, recording any conclusions of pre-tender process in order to develop and better it. 1.3 Aim, Objectives and Hypothesis 1.3.1 Aim To see whether the post contract risk process identifies significant additional risks that the pre-tender risk process failed to identify and thus determine how inaccurate the pre-tender risk process is. 1.3.2 Objectives Identify processes currently used to manage risks at post contract and pre tender stage in recognising and measuring risks. Analyse whether the key additional post contract risks identified were included at pre-tender stage. Compare SRMs risk management processes with other contractors and analyse to find the best solution. If possible, note any resulting conclusions and input results into the pre-tender risk process to produce a new accurate tender risk management. 1.3.3 Hypothesis The post contract risk process in Highway construction successfully identifies additional risks and as a result pre-tender appraisal is inaccurate. 1.4 Overview of work done / Methodology 1.4.1 Literature Review In order to understand the processes used to manage risk in the industry a literary review was embarked on. This meant the research would gain an appreciation of how risk is perceived by the industry, as prior to this my personal experience had only come from SRMs perspective and the processes they use. In order to gain real understanding and to funnel clearly on what my hypothesis stated, it was decided to split the literature review into two sections. One section, comprising of processes used by industry, taken from an assortment of books. The second section being that of SRMs highways process and accompanying documents. This makes it possible for an assessment to be conducted between SRM and the other contractors, so as to gain a better view of how Risk management at different stages of a contract work in Highway works. 1.4.2 SRM Projects The 3 SRM projects looked at were M1 J25-28, A19 upgrade (both Highways Agency) and M74 Glasgow council, they were all Highway maintenance contracts although they differ slightly. A19 was Term Maintenance Contract (TMC) whereas M1 J25-28 and M74 upgrade were (MAC) contracts. When examining the A19 upgrade the contract risk register was acquired but the tender risk register for this contract was not. However the contract risk register for this project was compared with a tender risk register from another contract. Not ideal but the only solution at the time. The majority of the risks are common and on most projects registers, so comparable/related risks were drawn from the tender register, and included in the A19 contract risk register. An evaluation was done involving the contract risk costs, and tender risks. This was done by incorporating the maximum, minimum, most likely costs and the probabilities from contract and tender appraisals. A total assessment for each risk occurred via averaging the maximum, minimum and most likely costs then multiplied by probability of risk occurrence. All risks types were identified, in order to distinguish trends in risks identified at pre-tender stage and found at post-contract stage or were not found at all. The M74 contract risk register was distinctive to M1 J25-28 and A19 upgrade registers as it didnt contain costs. Every risk was divided by its probability and impact, whether that was high, medium or low assessment. Having a pre-tender risk register for this project, meant risks were matched up with the contract risks. Assessing if each risk was covered was done by assigning costs and probabilities to every risk. To find the overall assessment, the probability and cost were multiplied. These costs were then evaluated against the overall pre-tender costs, as with the A19 upgrade. 1.4.3 Interviews Interviews via telephone were conducted with a few companies to really see what processes are used at post contract and pre-tender. Also to find out how precise these methods are. Companies interviewed were: Morgan EST. Vinci Balfour Beatty May Guerney 1.5 Overview of main conclusions The data and analysis carried out imply there is data to sustain in part the hypothesis. This is due to a large number of risks being identified in contract stage that were not previously seen at pre-tender. Even though assessments for any one risk were fairly inaccurate, the overall assessments for pre-tender and post-contract stage were close. Showing that the pre-tender risk process is inaccurate and needed improving if assessments and risk management is to become more reliable. 1.6 Guide to the report Chapter by Chapter overview of report: 1 Introduction An opening on risk management in relation to the project and validates the basis for choosing the subject area. It also states the aims, objectives and hypothesis which the project is established upon, as well as outlining the work done and an overview of the Conclusions. 2 Methodology Explains the methods used to investigate my hypothesis, from Literature review, approaches used data collection, analysis and interpretation of results. This describes the reasons for using the methods chosen and any research boundaries/ limitations. 3 Literature Review This chapter contains my understanding and background reading for the subject area. This was done by, studying the risk process used in management. Allowing a greater comprehension of risk in Highways work, and how its viewed and used. 4 Results and Analysis Confirms the results of the research, and the subsequent analysis for the SRM projects and other contractors interviews. It outlines the assessment made concerning the pre-tender risk register and the post contract risk registers. From this it then cross-examines the data so as to be able to test the hypothesis. 6 Conclusions and Recommendations This analyses all the results in relation to the hypothesis and whether they support it or not. It details any limitations that affected the project, while also imparting proposals for both industry and any future dissertations. 2 Methodology 2.1 Introduction The methodology was vital to the accomplishments of research and was dealt with care in order for the most appropriate research methods to be chosen (Fellows and Liu, 2008). The methodology outcome depended on the subject area, research aims and amount of literature review obtained. For data collection and analysis, the methods employed ought to be realising the aims and objectives so as to continually test the hypothesis and validate the research. The information that was obtainable and available played a huge role, as work on the dissertation could not be done if the information wasnt relevant. The information therefore can be decided by the hypothesis, as if the information is not on hand then one cant trial the hypothesis. Due to these factors, risk management was identified as an appropriate topic from the beginning, but it wasnt until the research was started that defining the hypothesis was possible, yet having an impression of the aims and objectives that were to be accomplished. From the off, the aim was to gauge how precise pre-tender risk management was, even if unsure of the data and information existing prior to consulting SRM team. Ultimately this section highlights the research methods utilised in the research, and the close association that has been made when doing so between the methods and Aim, hypothesis and objectives. 2.2 Aim Employed to help concentrate the methodology in choosing the right methods, also to clarify to the person who reads the dissertation what precisely is being investigated. So this shall be done by recalling the Aim set out: To see whether the post contract risk process identifies key additional risks that the pre-tender risk process failed to identify and thus determine how inaccurate pre-tender risk process is. 2.3 Quantitative and Qualitative methods In Data collection there are two key styles; quantitative and qualitative forms of research. Quantitative being the collection of data measured with figures and analysed with statistical trials in order to to test the hypothesis (Creswell, 1994). While Qualitative research is quite different, it is a method that uses meanings, experiences and descriptions (Naoum, 2007). Quantitative research can be easier to examine as it creates measurable/quantified outcomes that can create analytical arithmetical results. While, qualitative information from research has a tendency to be complicated as it often requires researcher input and manipulation to ensure its appropriate for investigative procedures (Fellows and Liu, 2008). The research methods depend on the information obtainable and the aim of the research. In carrying out good piece of research, its generally required and essential to use both quantitative and qualitative. A combination of methods was used, to enable the correct and more reliable conclusions; more is detailed further in this section. 2.4 Literature Review A literature review was undertaken; to provide the core subject knowledge of risk management in construction. The idea was to comprehend how risk is analysed in the construction sector, and the procedures used in controlling it. Next research was done to discover how risk is managed, by using literature in form of books and journals. Then see SRMs risk management process from their risk management documentation. Dividing the literature review in two sections meant that one of the objectives could be fulfilled by comparing SRMs risk management approach with other construction companies. Overall the literature review gave a greater understanding of the chosen topic of risk, and illustrated the problems and successes in risk management. While also showing the diverse and numerous ways in managing risk, and how the approach identified and selected can depend on many factors such as project size, contract used and size of companies involved in the managing of the project. The list literature sources below were used in delivering the dissertation: Textbooks -were very useful in gaining the relevant knowledge of risk management, and procedures used. Books were found by searching Loughborough Universitys library database. Chapters needed or thought appropriate were studied, and compared against searches that had been made on the internet. A check system, which assessed the validity of both sources of information against each other. With much of the research it became apparent that information in books available werent current especially in the older series of books. Despite this it wasnt a predicament for Risk management as texts of up to ten years old were and are significant and applicable now, with some techniques having improved. The books allowed for great comparison for up to date information on the internet. Journals were again located on the Loughborough University library database, which with the relevant buzz words located material of use. Finding journals proved difficult in comparison to textbook numbers, yet the sources were helpful. Internet supplied a platform for research of literature. Being easy to use and handy, collating information could be done at speed and with relative ease. It allowed greater understanding of what type of book would be needed from the library. Information from the internet was important but it had its limits and it was vital to know that it can be inaccurate and cause misguidance, research can be more guaranteed with text and journals. This way of thinking about limitations in using the internet was in mind when searching websites on risk in the construction. Finding various helpful websites any information was compared other websites in order to increase reliability, but most importantly against book and journals. As with all research appropriate sources of reliability were identified and used like the RICS website. Two editorials from RICS site provided constructive, and were used in the literature review. In finding books the internet was most useful as many articles on websites h ighlighted book of particular relevance and use. SRMs Risk Management Procedures document SRMs risk management procedure document was used as section two of the literature review. Reading through the document and important information was used in the literature review, particularly, on the processes used by SRM in risk management. A comparison was made between SRMs procedures and with those found in the first half of the literature review. 2.5 Data Collection When actually collecting the data for the research the collection was again split into two parts. The initial data collection was from SRM projects, other data collection was associated to other contractors. The intention was to compare the risk procedures, and attempt at analysing which was the superior one. The next section shows how all the data collection was collected and prepared. 2.5.1 SRM Projects The data for SRM projects was collected during a placement year, when working in the relevant packages and job roles. Prior to any data collection, discussions with line managers and seniors took place in order to help formulate and aid the research as what would be required in terms of data. At this stage no hypothesis had been decided, the idea was to assess the accuracy of pre-tender risk assessments. It was therefore recommended that the applicable information in the form pre-tender and post contract risk registers could be provided. The contracts that would be made available were the M1 J25-28 scheme, A19 upgrade and M74 Glasgow project. Three similar Motorway/road maintenance projects that differ from each other contractually. A19 upgrade is a TMC to maintain, operate a network of strategic roads in the North East. M1 J25-28 and M74 are both MAC contracts for similar maintenance one in the midlands and the latter in Glasgow. A19 upgrade and M1 J25-28 are HA run, while M74 is for the Glasgow city council. The HA run their contracts by splitting their contracts into 13 sections in the UK, and in these projects cases offer for the extension and maintenance of the roads within these sections. The reason that A19 upgrade was a TMC but M1 J25-28 and M74 MAC contracts is previous to the MAC HA projects were also run with the TMC contract, but now all is done under MAC style. The contracts run for 5 years with optional extensions. Different sections of maintenance start and end at different areas on the motorway in question over a 5 year cycle, meaning that when MAC contracts were first used, some sections werent using them and using TMC etc A19 upgrade was a TMCs completed in 2009, whereas M1 J25-28 scheme was a mew MAC contracts just seeing completion in late 2010. The difference in TMCs and MAC contracts is TMCs two separate companies, one as managing agent the other as main contractor. MAC contracts are one company, who runs as both the contractor and managing agent. Using the three contracts as the basis for the research the risk manager on the placement at SRM started off by providing a tender risk register for the M1 J25-28 and A19 contract, projects he had involvement on. Trying to find tender risk registers for M74 was problematic but couldnt find any. In order to have a full complete analysis, it was decided that for M74 to use another MAC contract tender risk register. This was exactly the same as M74 except the location geographically. For sure this would create limitations but it was decided, it would possible to use the risk register as SRM tend to re-use the risk register from preceding bids for specific contracts. So similarities would be high and that as long as it was noted in the dissertation as to its use and reasons why. Due to the generic nature of the risks they were deemed suitable as with what SRM do in practice. While on placement working on the M1 J25-28 contract meant developing contacts with people in the relevant field of risk management. Therefore requesting the use of the risk register on M1 job was easier than the other projects. The A19 contract risk register was also obtained contracts at work so. Finally also getting the M74 contract risk register, because although never having worked on this contract the line manager on my placement gave contact details of relevant personnel to enquire with and the registers were duly emailed. 2.5.2 Other Contractors Obtaining data via contractors in the sector of road maintenance was much more difficult than from SRM sources, as they were very protective of information they gave out. All the projects obtained so far from SRM contracts were Highways related, so the focus was on trying to collect data from Highway contractors. By doing this it would allow for a honest comparison between SRM and other contractors. Processes to manage risk are expected to be similar involving different construction projects; the data was likely to be different. The plan was to send questionnaires to the chosen contractors, but after unsuccessful returns it became apparent that another route would be needed, so interviews via telephone were deemed suitable. It seemed with written questionnaires, companies were more likely to ignore them, whereas on the phone they would respond to the questions asked immediately, with no real confusion of what the question was asking as myself in person could explain. The Highway contractors contacted were: Morgan est. Vinci Balfour Beatty May Guerney A semi-structured set of questions was planned in order to gain the information required but also allowed telephone participant to elaborate and discuss the subject in a friendly professional manner. Contractors in Highways works were contacted, the dissertation of Risk Management was explained with the aims and objectives that needed to be achieved and the following questions were asked: Do you have a pre-tender risk management method? How do you detect risks in the pre-tender phase? How do you calculate risks to arrive at a total risk pot? Do you undertake risk management post-contract phase? Could I obtain a pre-tender risk analysis and post contract risk analysis for my research use (for the Highways project you are on)? To each conversation it was explained that my aim was; compare the risks types at tender stage with contract stage as well as assessments made. The questions were supposed to identify the processes companies used in managing risks. Overall the different companies were helpful in answering these questions. The Fifth and final question was done to get registers like that gained from SRM. It was the only difficult part as many refused to hand registers over from live projects due to the sensitivity of their data and company policies. However some registers were received but didnt really contain the crucial information required just a formatted company risk register. Throughout the interviews, notes were made on the first four questions and the results put into a table at the time of the interview showing the company and their response to each question. Thus, making analysis easier when looking at the responses later in the dissertation. 2.6 Data Analysis Prior to data analysis, the research had assessed how SRM price risks because of the literature review and looking at the risk registers. It was crucial to identify this before undertaking the data analysis as it established what type of analysis would be carried out, and therefore detailed below. Upon formulating the risks that have been identified each risk will be categorised with minimum, maximum, most likely value and probability. Done for all of the risks, the information is put into a piece of simulation software called @ RISK which does hundreds to thousands of simulations, and creates a graph with a bell-shaped curve. The 75th percentile is put in the bid as the risk potential. SRM do this for all of their projects. For this dissertation we were concerned in the risks were identified and the individual costing of each risk as shown in paragraph above with min, max etc. The focal point being what was keyed in to @ RISK as opposed to what it produces. For the Data analysis the SRM contracts have been split into their individual projects and the Other Highway contractors. The reason for splitting the SRMs projects is that the analysis varied in parts by way it had been collected as mentioned earlier (some with full risk registers some in part). 2.6.1 M1 J25-28s scheme and M74 Glasgow Analysis for M1 and M74 projects were pretty much the same. The M1 contract and tender risk register could be compared with the contract and tender risk register for the M74 contract, due to them both being Macs. To evaluate the accuracy of the risk assessments, comparable risks to the contract register, were removed from the tender register, put against the matching risk in the contract register. When comparing values in matching risks, it was vital to have a total cost for risks in both the contract and pre-tender register. The best and most impartial way to do this for the pre-tender risk register was to take the average from the maximum, minimum and most likely figures and multiply the probability. The maximum, minimum and most likely values are the range of potential expenses that could be incurred by the risk, and any total cost was decided to be an average of these, as all projects had them. As its unknown as to its actually occurrence the average should be multiplied by the probability, which gives a total potential cost to the risk. While the contract risk registers should be considered by severity and possibility by scale of 1-5, and then an assessment of the risk is undertaken, figuring out the minimum, maximum and most likely values of each risk. Mitigation measures are identified for each risk, and then assessment is done again as before the mitigation. The M74 contract risk register did not have minimum cost of the risks, so all risks were assumed to be zero. Without any minimum values any overall assessments of the risk would not have been made. The reason for not using the likely value instead was so the data would use a range of values. It was decided greater accuracy would be found in setting the minimum as zero and range of values than the most likely. By setting all its risks as zero means they are an unimportant minimum value or a risk/event that doesnt happen. The M1 contract register had all the necessary values so no intervention was needed. Both contract risk registers failed to show any probability, just a likelihood scale from 1-5. Therefore it was assumed, giving the scale a percentage as would normally be done: 1 10% 2 30% 3 50% 4 70% 5 90% These percentages were used because they provided a suitable range, as risks with low likelihoods (1) are unlikely to occur but not impossible so 10% seemed a reasonable percentage. Similarly 90% seemed a reasonable percentage for high likelihoods (5) as they are likely to occur but not certain. The other values were then evenly distributed between 10% and 90%. Having made these assumptions the overall assessment for contract risks was made in the same way as the tender risks, finding the average of the maximum, minimum and most likely and multiplying this by the probability. Where the same tender risk was identified as being applicable to more than one contract risk the overall assessment was divided by the number of contract risks it was applicable to. This was because when these values were totalled there would be double counting of these tender risks if this was not done. To show this information a table was created showing; a list of contract risks, the corresponding tender risks, raw data inputted into the risk registers, and the overall assessments. I then split the contract risks into one of the following categories: Not identified but covered (No cost). Not identified and not covered should be identified. Not identified cannot be identified. Identified and covered. Identified but not covered. Each risk was grouped by colour to state which category from above it fell in. 2.6.2 A19 upgrade The analysis for the A19 contract was started off in the same way as had been done for the M1 J25-28 and M74 contracts, going through the contract risk register and identifying any similar risks from the tender risk register. The assessments for the overall cost for the tender risks were made in exactly the same way, by taking the average of the maximum, minimum and most likely values and multiplying this by the probability. This was because the tender risk registers were in exactly the same format. However the differences came when the assessments of the overall cost for the contract risks were made. This was because for this project, the contract risk register assessed the risks in a different way to the Area 6 and Area 13 contract risk registers. This difference was that there were no costs in the A19 risk register. Instead the risks identified at contract stage were assessed in terms of likelihood and impact on a scale of high, medium and low. This meant that assessing the overall cost for the contract risks were harder because there was no costs given. Therefore the only way to assess the overall cost of the risk was to give the risk a cost and a probability based on whether it was high, medium or low and then multiply these two figures together. This means that deciding what costs and probabilities to assign to each level of risk was important, as the overall assessment was dependent upon these assumptions. In terms of what costs to give for each level of impact, the risk matrix that SRM use for prioritising risks was referred to. They assess the impact and probability of each risk using a 1-5 scale and they give the parameters for impact as being: 1 under  £1,000 2  £1,000  £10,000 3  £10,000  £100,000 4  £100,000  £1,000,000 5 Over  £1,000,000 As this was a 1-5 scale and the risks and the contract risks were only divided into high medium and low, the figures for 1 and 5 was as too extreme both ways. For low risks I decided to take the high point of a risk impact of 2 ( £10,000) and for high risks I took the low point of a risk impact of 4 ( £100,000). For medium risks I took the midpoint between these two values ( £55,000). Using these figures seemed reasonable based upon this scale, as it created enough of a range without a too big range. For the probabilities, the likelihood scale they use was based on descriptions rather than probabilities. From knowledge in research the probabilities for low were set at 10%, medium risks 50% and high risks 90%. These percentages were used because they provided a suitable range, as risks with low likelihoods are unlikely to occur but not impossible, so 10% seemed a reasonable percentage. Similarly 90% seemed a reasonable percentage for high risks, as they are likely to occur but not certain. For medium risks the midpoint between these two percentages (50%) was used, because they are possible to occur. The cost was then multiplied by the probability to give an overall value for each risk. Following this, the rest of my analysis was exactly the same as the M1 J25-28 and M74 contracts 2.6.3 Further Analysis Explanation This section so far details how the risk registers were compared, which was the first step in terms of analysing the data, and these tables are included in the appendices at the end of this dissertation. However on there own, these tables did not give sufficient information to be able to test my hypothesis. Firstly, to interrogate how accurate the identification of the risks was, the risks that were identified, and were not identified and not commercially covered, were filtered out, and lists were made of these risks. As this was done, each risk was put into a category to see if there were particular categories that are, and are not identified at tender stage. To analyse this, tables were created for risks identified and not identified, detailing the categories of risks, and the number of risks in each category. From these tables, two pie charts were drawn to show this information graphically. To analyse the assessment of the risks, a summary table was firstly drawn to show the number of contract risks in the following categories, and the total assessments relating to these risks: Not identified but covered (No cost). Not identified and not covered should be identified. Not identified cannot be identified. Identified and covered.