My Argument Paper

Stefanie Markel 1/2/2012 English Composition II Maria Mahon Adoption vs. Artificial Insemination Argument Essay When starting a family, parents are given several options. Unassisted pregnancy, where a couple gets pregnant with no outside interference, artificial insemination, or adoption are several options that a couple would consider when deciding to start a family. The two that I will focus on are the latter two, adoption and artificial insemination. Adoption is a special, somewhat heartbreaking subject for me, however, for the sake of this argument, it needs to be addressed. I will touch on the pros and cons of each technique of starting a family. My position is that the decision to adopt or be artificially inseminated is an informed decision that each person should make after reviewing all of the information that one can gather. IF it were me, I would prefer artificial insemination, for of course, my own personal reasons. The adoption process brings to light several pros and several cons that a couple or single parent would need to consider before proceeding. Before considering adoption, one would need to consider these things, 1. cost of adoption, 2. ) domestic or international adoption, 3. ) and cost of caring for child, 4. ) opened or closed adoption. One pro of adoption is if you are not able to have a child of your own, there are many children out there that need a home and family to care for them. Depending on the situation a child is in, you may be saving that child from abuse, neglect, poverty, or malnutrition from environmental challenges (if a dopted internationally you may see this more so than domestically). On the other hand, it may be a situation of an underage mother that has no help or ability to care for the child. Another pro of adoption is that you would be able to have a child even if you as couple or as a single mother cannot conceive on your own. A con of adoption is that it is expensive; there is a lot that goes into approving someone to be able to adopt a child. And the time that it takes for an adoption to be finalized can take months up to years. The end result of holding a child in your arms is the biggest pro of all. Now a con in the child’s point of view would be not knowing who your biological parents are or your heritage. As a child who was adopted grows older, he/she may have questions that can be difficult at best to explain depending on the circumstances of the adoption. This is where my experience comes in; however, my experience is an exceptional situation. I was adopted by my maternal grandmother at the age of 10 years old. This was an open adoption. This made things very difficult. My mother did not just have my grandmother adopt and then leave me be. No, she was in and out of my life constantly, usually when it was convenient for her. This made things difficult for my adoptive mother to deal with. This is not usually a normal situation. My children, not by my choice, however, were also adopted last year. The adoptive parents do not allow me contact, this is a closed adoption. I hope to one day change this. (personal experience) While my mother gave up her rights willingly, I did not willingly sign the papers giving up my rights, I was forced to. These are two extreme situations of adoption. When my children get older, they will ask the questions of who they are and where they come from of their adoptive parents, then my hope is that they will come find me so that we may eventually have a mother/children relationship. The second option that is available for prospective parents is artificial insemination. This is a slightly less expensive option to become parents, depending on what route you take. A pro to this, is that you can become a natural parent, by this I mean the child is yours biologically. Now depending on the situation, you may be seeking to have a child, but do not have a partner. Or your partner (male) may not be able to help conceive a child. These are just two reasons that you would choose this option, there are many reasons, and all are different for different people. In this process, at least one process that is, you can go to cryogenic clinic, select the donor you wish, and have a doctor inseminate you. To choose a donor, select age, race, medical history (personal and family), profession, hobbies. This will bring up donors to choose from. Another con is that even though you can select pretty much everything about a donor, your child will not look like your partner, and could eventually raise questions later. Another con, as a single parent choosing this option, as your child grows older, they may ask questions that you cannot answer, as well as the question to find their biological father. In conclusion, of the two options given, each have their pros and cons but they both have a wonderful ending result, a child to love. No matter what choice you choose, remember a child is a precious responsibility and nothing to take lightly. When it comes time for me to choose, it may be possible for me to choose both, having been adopted I do know the benefits to the child in a normal situation. And I would love to experience pregnancy again, although I may not have a partner, I do know that I will have lots of support if I decide to do the second option. I would very much like to give a child a home someday and get them out of whatever situation they are in. References Adoption. com, retrieved 1/4/2012 from http://forums. doption. com/thanks-life/62158-seeking-adoptees-pro-life-pro-adoption-testimonies. html Adoption. org, retrieved 1/3/2012 from http://www. adoption. org/adopt/pro-adoption. php Personal Experience of being adopted and having my children taken from me and being adopted by foster parents LifeScript: Healthy Living for Women, retrieved 1/3/201, http://www. lifescript. com/Health/Conditions/Womens- health/Pregnancy/The_Pros_And_Cons_Of_Artificial_Insemination. aspx WebMD, retrieved 1/3/2012 from http://www. webmd. com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/artificial-insemination

Outline and Evaluate theories and research explaning institutional aggression Essay

Institutional aggression is a form of aggression which is present in institutions such as the police, armed forces and security services, as well as criminal and terrorist groups (i.e. those who are bound together by a common purpose to be aggressive). There have been a number of theories developed to try and explain the cause of institutional aggression. The theories fall into two categories which are situational factors (referring to factors present in social situations), and dispositional factors (referring to characteristics of the individual e.g. personality). The first theory trying to explain intuitional aggression is based on situational factors was Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment. In this experiment a sample of 24 male participants (pps) was used and each pps was given a full physical and mental evaluation to ensure full health. Pps were randomly allocated into roles as guards or prisoners. As the pps started to get into their roles the guards became more and more controlling. Guard Hellman was found to be one of the most aggressive officers. Before Hellman had entered the experiment he had described himself as someone who loves all people. Zimbardo concluded that it was the ‘situation’ that had made Hellman behave the way he did. See more: outline format for essay This research supports the situational explanation of aggression because it emphasises how people will act aggressively when they are in a certain situation. A strength of this study is that cause and effect can be established. This is because Zimbardo’s had control and by removing extraneous variables such as pps being at the same levels of aggression as each other and being given a psychological and mental evaluation before they started the study. This would suggest that the being in the prison environment made the pps to behave more aggressively as they were simply trying to fulfill their roles as prison guards. However the guards were consistently aware that they were in a prison study. If they were aware that they were in a study they may have believed that their behavior was punishable. If their behavior had become extreme they would have been stopped but as Zimbardo was the one undertaking the study, the guards may have thought that he would be responsible if anything went wrong, (agentic shift). This suggests that the guards were not responsible for their actions as they were acting as directed. So therefore this study does not support the situational explanation of aggression as the pps were aware that this was a study and may have only been acting in the way they thought they were expected to act. The study of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was not a study and it was a real life scenario so this would be a better example to I=use for explaining situational factors to aggression. Abu Ghraib was a prison in Iraq where US troops kept Iraqi prisoners of war (POWs). The prison came after fire after US soldiers took pictures showing how them dehumanizing and degrading the POWs. Zimbardo was a key witness at the trial of these soldiers and argued that their behavior was merely the product of situational factors associated with being a soldier and being a guard in such a unique environment. He continued to argue that a lot of US soldiers were being murdered in Iraq and the situation within the prison was enough to turn a good soldier bad. Zimbardo stated some key factors that may have resulted in the behavior at Abu Ghraib. He noted that the status and power of those involved was a factor that may have contributed to the behavior of the soldiers. Those who were involved were usually low ranking officers, by doing this they may have thought that would move up in status. Also deindividuation may have caused the soldiers to act in the way the did as they may have been deindividuated because they were wearing a uniform and also because they were in a large group. This may have caused them not to feel as though they had a personal identity. This scenario is hard to retest or generalise because of the unique nature of the situation. Can these findings even be applied to other soldiers behavior in other wars? The soldiers may have felt that since they were in a seemingly lawless country that there would be no repercussions. So therefore it may have been this unique situation only where this kind of behavior would be seen also as it can not be replicated it is not reliable. Dispositional factors can not be ruled out. To become a soldier you have to be a certain kind of person and have certain traits within that would relate to the job so the soldiers could have certain qualities within them that may have caused them to act in the way they did.

Gambling as an Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gambling as an Addiction - Essay Example 76 By some standards, including those of the present writer, it is unfortunate that many persons now without them are apt to develop gambling difficulties under legalized systems. But it is suggested that if this problem becomes particularly serious then the society might care to discover techniques to handle the situation that are a good deal more effective than those hit-and-miss, haphazard approaches now in fashion when gambling flourishes undercover. It is claimed that psychologically gambling serves as a ritualistic flirtation with an unknown fate. Gambling has been called "a kind of question addressed to destiny," and it has been maintained that the fascination of gambling is that it is "a simulation of life itself." Success at gambling is supposed to be transposed by the gambler into a general sign of favor from otherwise inscrutable gods, somewhat in the manner of, for instance, the prize fighter who traces his success to the fact that "Somebody Up There Likes Me," rather than to a fast right hand and an unusual ability to withstand punishment. It was this mental transposition, as Max Weber has shown while tracing the purported origins of capitalism, that led financially successful persons in early Calvinistic societies to credit their wealth to divine approval of their total person and thus to regard it as an indication of a future place in heaven. Gambling shows an elaborate history through the annals of civilization. Stone-Age people are known to have tossed painted pebbles and to have cast knucklebones, though it is not certain whether their attempt was to win somebody else's stone axe or to invoke magic and to facilitate prophecy. We have records from India from as early as 321 B.C. showing the existence of a governmental department that regulated gambling, with a Superintendent of Public Games who supplied dice for a fee of 5 percent of the receipts. 10 Public lotteries were common in the United States from early colonial times until the 1830's. Many institutions of higher learning, including Columbia, Harvard, and Yale, were financed by public lotteries. Reactions against State-sponsored gambling were due to numerous scandals connected with its operation as well as to a growing sense of moral outrage. (Richard McGowan, 1994). Major concern in the United States today centers about four kinds of gambling operations: (1) numbers; (2) casino-style gambling; (3) lotteries; and (4) parimutuel betting at race tracks and its extension, offtrack betting. Numbers remain illegal throughout the United States; casino gambling is legal only in the State of Nevada; lotteries have recently been started in New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; and offtrack betting was inaugurated in New York City in April 1971, in a move that has been watched with special care by other jurisdictions, particularly those and there are but few which do

Cause and effects of Ozone Depletion Research Paper

Cause and effects of Ozone Depletion - Research Paper Example The effect of ozone depletion is more than what one would anticipate. This paper analyses the causes and effects of ozone depletion. Causes of ozone depletion â€Å"The fact that the ozone layer was being depleted was discovered in the mid-1980s. The main cause of this is the release of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons†(Ozone depletion, n. d). Ozone layer is present in the stratosphere. Majority of the refrigerators and sprays used by us contains CFC in one form or other. When we dispose these things injudiciously, CFC gets liberated from these things and reaches the stratosphere. At stratosphere, CFC’s will react with ultraviolet radiations and liberate chlorine gas. Chlorine is a highly reactive gas and it will react with Ozone (O3) and liberates oxygen (O2) molecules. Because of the high reactivity of Chlorine, each chlorine atom can destroy more than hundred thousand ozone molecules. Thus increased presence of Chlorine in stratosphere is the major reason for the depletion of ozone layer. Even though chlorine is produced from different other manmade activities, none of those chlorine reaches stratosphere because of its high solubility with water. These Chlorine atoms have the ability to reach only up to the troposphere in which it forces to combine with the rain water. â€Å"In contrast, CFCs are very stable and do not dissolve in rain. There are no natural processes that remove the CFCs from the lower atmosphere. Over time, winds drive the CFCs into the stratosphere†(Sources of ozone depletion, n. d) â€Å"Large volcanic eruptions can have an indirect effect on ozone levels. Volcanic eruptions can produce large amounts of particles called aerosols. These aerosols increase chlorine’s effectiveness at destroying ozone† (Sources of ozone depletion, n. d). Aerosols contains large amount of CFC’s which can reach up to the stratosphere. Apart from CFC, oxides of nitrogen also cause damages to Ozone layer. Supersonic Aircrafts an d space shuttles liberate oxides of nitrogen which will react with ozone layer and liberate oxygen molecules. The widespread use of artificial fertilizers may also release nitrogen oxides into the stratosphere, although this potential effect is not yet fully defined (Sources of ozone depletion, n. d).Nitrogen is one of the major contents of the chemical fertilizers. It can react with oxygen and form different oxides of nitrogen. These gases have the capacity to reach even stratosphere even though the scientific proofs are not there. Effects of ozone depletion Ozone layer depletion will increase the amount of ultraviolet radiations reaching on earth. Increased exposure to ultraviolet rays may cause chronic skin cancers like Malignant Melanoma among human beings. â€Å"Every time 1% of the ozone layer is depleted, 2% more UV-B is able to reach the surface of the planet. UV-B increase is one of the most harmful consequences of ozone depletion because it can cause skin cancer† (O zone depletion: effects, n. d). Birth defects, visual defects, lung diseases malaria etc are other diseases which can be increased among humans as a result of the increased exposure to ultraviolet radiations. Ultraviolet radiations can cause damages to plant lives also. The natural immunity of the plants could be damaged as a result of the increased exposure of ultraviolet radiations. As a result of that yields from the agricultural crops

Is Communism Considered To Be Evil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Is Communism Considered To Be Evil - Essay Example Still, it is important to note that public’s needs and wants are the basic and fundamental controlling factor that is going to determine the level of governance’s quality in both democratic and communistic systems. The public interest will have to be met in order to save reign of any kind. The communistic mechanism of the government fundamentally works towards suppressing the individual and personal needs so that collective benefits can be disseminated in the society. The communistic system is considered a crude method of governance because it is more prone towards experiencing corruption. The higher probability of corruption is stemming out of absence of any formal way of accountability in the featured type of governance system (Hardt pp.348). The humans are of the view that they are equals and therefore, should be allowed to decide their representatives who will in turn work towards maximization of public interest. The freedom of speech and choice are believed to the antecedent of applying democratic system whereas, the success of democracy is strongly linked with individualistic dimension of the culture. The China is effectively following communism (Steinmuller pp.481) through socialism because its indigenous culture is having a collective outlook and because of this reason, the children are trained to work in terms of serving the society before fulfillment of self interest. The common belief in Chinese community states that once an individual does his or her job then, government will take care of his or her needs. The Chinese governmental philosophy attempts to establish social equality in the community by assisting the people in meeting their basic needs and necessities. The Chinese society is housing substantial amount of population and therefore, they can take a holistic approach towards economic development. But, the people who have an individualistic orientation towards life consider communism as evil. The humans are popular for creating their own reality and some of them identify communism as evil because it suppresses personal and private freedoms while others view it as the means of achieving fiscal development and growth in a collective setting. Thusly, the human belief systems, attitudes and perceptions make a concept or an idea evil or noble. The Chinese economic development remained exemplary over the past few decades and therefore, it can be argued that communism is an effective source of achieving elementary objectives of governance. The problems originate in the light of Agency Theory when the national representatives do not successfully translate public interests into realities. In the presence of abovementioned condition the masses’ support towards any type of government is bound to decline and that is for sure. The communistic system is neither good nor bad in its essence but its deployment and application are going to determine its ethical value and quality. The only enemy of governmental effect iveness goes by the name of corruption and any system that represents corruption more than a certain level, is going to disintegrate sooner or later. The communistic approach in the direction of governance helped Russians in managing their national level issues and operations but things went south when governmental issues undervalued public interest so that they can meet their own personal agendas. The marginal public support for the government played a significant role in causing the breakage of Soviet Union and one communistic

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business strategy - Essay Example Therefore, strategy is all about direction, market; scope, advantage, resources, environment and stakeholders. Direction is about where the business is headed in the long-term. Markets; scope address the kind of markets the firm should compete in and the type of activities taking place in this markets. Advantage deals with the manner in which the business can achieve more in those markets. Resources look at the requirements needed in order for the firm to compete. This includes skills, property, funding, associations, technical competence, and amenities. Environment looks at the external, environmental factors that influence the business capability to compete. Lastly, stakeholders concerns are about the values and hopes of the individuals who have power in and around the firm. Strategy is about how to term a particular, fixed vision for the future. It is more about a procedure to direct decision-making than concerning a precise document to which individuals can refer. According to Al khafaji (2003 p.78), strategy plays an important role in strategic planning. Especially in the current globe where both further and higher education institutions encounter a large amount of pressures that are primarily known to managers working at all levels. These include a number of factors. First strategy assists managers to overcome the challenge of working within fast varying political scenery, particularly in relative to funding and scrutiny. Strategy enables an organization to be able to deal with fast and essential developments in information and Communication Technology that has the potential to change the manner in which education and study are carried out. Strategy also allows the organization to survive with the challenges of working within a very economical market. It also enables the organization to adopt major new strategic precedence such as internationalization and awareness to business. Strategy gives the institution chance to plan how to work with and gain from ne w stakeholders, mainly those within business and society. In addition, strategy allows for the planning of the constantly rising pressure on assets and the resulting requirement to do more for less through the full utilization of assets and reduction of surplus. It gives the organization a chance to plan on recruiting and maintaining staff with the precise skills, experience and interest. From the main point of view, business now day get accomplished in a global marketplace. Change is taking place at a predictable pace. In the past strategic management was carried out by the largest companies, and those who had lead change. Currently it is a necessity for an organization to continue to exist. Business leaders must be looking forward awaiting transform and coming up with a strategy to proactively and successfully find the way through the instability brought by change. From a micro perspective, the level of a single company, strategic planning provides an organization purpose and dire ction. Every individual in an organization must have a knowledge of what company do, who the companies target clients are, and understand how the organization compete. A strategy will enable the organization to balance revenue and output projects. Without strategic planning, organization drifts, and is at all times reacting to the demands of the day. Strategic thinking is the act of developing and evaluating each idea and action basing it on the present and

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 7

Literature review - Essay Example They further state that schoolwork burden has some negative effects on test performance. Thus, according to the theory of child-centred education, students’ intrinsic motivation for learning could be developed under child-centred circumstances. The theory of â€Å"Learning for Mastery† which states that learning is a function of three variables; student cognitive entry about the need to learn, student affective entry characteristics showing the will to learn and quality of instruction where the teacher should show willingness to teach (Tang andFu, 2008, p. 505).Therefore, the quality of schoolwork completed in both child-centred and teacher-centred settings, will be analysed to compare academic performance. In this essay, the researcher will review the literature concerning three aspects of thesubject area: the issues around the definitions of child-centred and teacher-centred classrooms and the efficiency of schoolwork under both settings; the past and present contextsof acquiringChinese literacy in primary school in China; and the value of effective schoolworkfor improving children’s educational outcome in child-centred classrooms. In this regard, effective schoolwork refers to the way students can best use their study time in the hope that examination oriented teaching can be changed toward the development of an educational system that is multi-standard with the aim of alleviating burden of schoolwork (Tang and Fu, 2008). This will go a long way in improving schoolwork among the students at the primary level. The basic concept ofchild-centred teaching is that children’s physical, psychological and cognitive development should be placed at the centre of education (Doddington and Hilton, 2007). It is argued that,due to increasing anxiety about academic performance child-centred education has been replaced by teacher-centred education, which emphasises the authority of the teacher and ignores the learner’s individual

The Quality of Service Provided by the Accounting Department Essay

The Quality of Service Provided by the Accounting Department - Essay Example The idea that non-managerial employees should not be involved in the interviews and instead limit the interview to the list of managers whom he or she perceived to be useful to the interview is inimical to the research because the exact identification of respondents is tantamount to pre-selecting the subjects that would represent the population. It is important to point out that the internal customers of the accounting department that perceives them include all employees in the company and that includes both the rank and file and managers. Limiting the samples that are supposed to represent the entire organization in the study among managers would make the study anecdotal in evidence because the small sample does not represent the entire organization. Hoeken and Hustinx stressed that anecdotal evidence is never superior to statistical evidence in any study. Statistical evidence is also far more persuasive than cherry picking the samples (Hoeken and Hustinx, 2008). In addition, the pr ofessor would also like to be present during the interviews of the members of the accounting department under the pretext that this will be an ideal opportunity to understand the operations of that department. The intent to study the operations of the accounting department is a terrific initiative given the issue that besets the accounting department. It is not however advisable in the context of a study because studying its operation by a third party is not part of the objective of the research and therefore does not contribute to the purpose of the study. I would beg the professor for us to discuss our methodology first that would allow me an opportunity to air my concern about his presence during the interview and to air my disagreement about the inadequacy of the focus group discussion that will be limited among pre-selected managers. I would suggest that he can instead have the transcript of the interview and to include rank and file staff in the focus group discussion where th e selection is random. I will also include a survey to have a wider sampling since the population of study is too large (the whole company) to be represented by a mere focus group discussion. 2. What are the likely outcomes if the research goes ahead as suggested by your professor? Having anecdotal evidences as primary data will result to an invalid study because it cannot answer the intent of the research which is to determine the extent of the match of perceptions between accounting department and internal customers. It only has the perceptions of the managers as input which does not compose the entire internal customers of the company. In addition, the professor’s insistence to be present during interview of the staff of the accounting department may also have distorted the outcome of the study due to the Hawthorne Effect. Hawthorne Effect is â€Å"the tendency for people to behave differently when they know they are being studied...’ (Davis & Shackleton, p. 55 cit ed in Chiesa and Hobbs, 2008 pg. 69)†. There is a chance that the presence of the professor may influence the answer of the staff of accounting department during the interview that could distort the outcome of the interview. 3. Negative impact on people can occur in research. What is the prospect of this kind of consequential impact on participants in this case? Participants may be tagged as trouble makers

Any form of captivity Essay Example for Free

Any form of captivity Essay Animals should not be kept in any form of captivity. Animals belong in their natural habitat. It is a breach of their natural rights to take them away, and put them behind bars. All animals that are kept in captivity should be realized into the wild. Healthy News In zoos around the world animals are suffering Weird News. Every day animals are taken out of their natural habitat and put behind bars, purely for our beneï ¬ t. Studies have shown that these animals are suffering form severe cases of depression, abnormal behavior and physiological distress. How does the bird feel in the cage when he can clearly see his wild cousin ï ¬â€šying free from his conï ¬ ne many people visit zoos so they are able to gain greater knowledge of how animals behave and operate. These people want to see the animals acting naturally, how they would in the wild. The only way to understand an animal properly is to see it in its natural environment. Zoos give totally artiï ¬ cial and misleading views by isolating animals from there ecosystem. If people want to see how animals behave they should go out into the wild to see real animals, not ones who are physiologically distressed? More questions. In some poorer zoos the conditions are extremely bad. Most of them keep their animals in wire cages which are often too small to allow the animals to move around. Most of these cages have cement ï ¬â€šoors and lack any opportunities for the animals to act naturally. To make it worse most of these animals die young due to the harsh conditions they are forced to live with. Many zoos are absolutely disgraceful Zoos are cruel jails for these animals and should be outlawed unless they provide the animals with a friendly and roomy habitat, good food and good medical care. Most unfortunately do not †¦ I cannot imagine what life must be like for these animals in your gallery and thousands like them the world over †¦and Zoos are indeed a double-edged sword. Some people claim that zoos help protect endangered animals. Some owners even think that cage is a good discipline for a pet which will calm the and make them pay attentionbut for some it causes depression and more fear from the animal more that loyalty. In my opinion I am fully against cages for animals that can cause either mental or physical pain. The only reason I would consider it an option is if you had multiple dogs and one needed it’s own privacy if it has been returned from the vets or it has been suffering from stress of other pets in the home. There is no medical need for an animal to be kept inside a cage from it’s beneï ¬ cial point of view because it has no advantages from the fact that it can only separate the pet from the outside world. No animal deserves to be treated like a prisonerit has some emotional effects on the pet which can become permanent and it could change the pet for good.

Organic certification Essay Example for Free

Organic certification Essay Marketplace Characteristics of U. S. Organic Sector The U. S. organic food industry crossed a threshold in 2000: for the first time, more organic food was purchased in conventional supermarkets than in any other venue. Industry estimates suggest that nearly half of the $7. 8 billion spent on organic food in 2000 was purchased in conventional retail outlets. Organic products are now available in nearly 20,000 natural foods stores (Natural Foods Merchandiser), and are sold in 73 percent of all conventional grocery stores (Food Marketing Institute). Growing consumer demand for organic products has been manifested in the market in many ways. Acreage of certified organic farmland is increasing to meet growing consumer demand. According to the most recent USDA estimates, U. S. certified organic cropland doubled between 1992 and 1997, to 1. 3 million acres. Preliminary estimates for 2001 suggest that certified organic acreage significantly increased between 1997 and 2001. From the consumer side, new products are being introduced rapidly. For example, over 800 new organic products were introduced in the first half of 2000. Desserts made up the majority of new products in 2000, while most new products introduced in 1999 were beverages (Myersand Rorie). The new U. S. Department of Agriculture standards for organic food, slated to be fully implemented by October 2002, are expected to facilitate further growth in the organic foods industry. The USDA standard defines organic production as â€Å"A production system that is managed in accordance with the [Organic Foods Production] Act and regulations in this part to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. † 1 The national organic standards address the methods, practices, and substances used in producing and handling crops, livestock, and processed agricultural products (see box). All agricultural products that are sold, labeled, or represented as organic must be in compliance with the regulations after October 2002. Organic food is sold to consumers through three main venues in the United States—natural foods stores, conventional grocery stores, and direct-to-consumer markets—and a small amount is exported to foreign markets. USDA does not have national statistics on organic retail sales. Industry sources have reported retail sales for organic food, but those data are fragmentary and, at times, inconsistent. A trade publication, the Natural Foods Merchandiser (NFM) reported estimates of total U. S. retail sales of organic foods for 1990 through 1996. NFM estimated total organic sales through all marketing outlets rose steadily from about $1 billion in 1990 to $3. 3 billion in 1996, the last year that total sales were reported. Since 1999, Packaged Facts, a market research firm, has been reporting organic food sales. According to Packaged Facts, organic food sales in all venues totaled $6. 5 billion in 1999 and $7. 8 billion in 2000. This increase continues the streak of industry growth equal to 20 percent or more annually since 1990. Purveyors of natural products were the primary sales force for organic food since the beginning of the organic food movement over half a century ago. Until 2000, the largest retail outlet for organic food was natural foods stores followed by direct markets (such as farmers markets), according to NFM data (fig. 1). In 2000, 49 percent of all organic products was sold in conventional supermarkets, 48 percent was sold in health and natural products stores, and 3 percent through direct-to-consumer methods (Packaged Facts). In contrast, in 1991, 7 percent of all organic products were sold in conventional supermarkets and 68 percent were sold in health and natural products stores (NFM). Fresh produce remains the top-selling organic category (see fig. 2), followed by nondairy beverages, breads and grains, packaged foods (frozen and dried prepared foods, baby food, soups, and desserts), and dairy products. During the 1990s, organic dairy was the most rapidly growing segment, with sales up over 500 percent between 1994 and 1999. Sales of organic yogurt and kefir increased 56. 4 percent between 1999 and 2000. Following closely, sales of nondairy beverages (for example, juice and soymilk) increased 53. 1 percent and sales of fresh produce grew by 51. 4 percent between 1999 and 2000, according to industry sources. Overall, according to Packaged Facts, organic sales in natural product supermarkets and conventional stores increased by 20 percent between 1999 and 2000. Organic farmers market their food directly to consumers much more frequently than conventional farmers do, and the last decade has seen a renaissance in the use of farmers markets across the country. Producers capture a much higher share of the consumer food dollar when they market their produce directly to consumers. Several surveys of certified organic producers show similar findings on theirheavy use of direct -to-consumer marketing. A 1997 survey of certified organic producers in the United States conducted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)—a California nonprofit group that sponsors research on organic farming—found that direct market use is extensive and varies by commodity sector, with fruits and vegetables the highest. Organic producers reported selling produce from about 23 percent of their vegetable acreage directly to consumers through on-farm sales (9 percent), farmers markets (8 percent), â€Å"community supported agriculture† subscriptions (4 percent), and other types of direct-toconsumer markets (2 percent). Also, produce from about 20 percent of the organic fruit and vegetable acreage was marketed directly to grocery retailers and restaurants. A 1994 USDA survey of certified organic vegetable producers in the United States found that the use of direct-toconsumer markets varied with farm size, with 60 percent of the growers with under 10 acres (three-quarters of the respondents) using this channel compared with 12 percent with 10 acres or more (Fernandez-Cornejo et al. ). Smaller growers tended to market directly to grocery retailers (11 percent versus 6 percent for larger growers) and through grower cooperatives (10 percent versus 3 percent for larger growers), while the larger growers marketed more heavily to vegetable packer/shippers, brokers, and food processors. Organically grown food is widely available in farmers markets across the United States, and organic-only farmers markets have been organized in Oregon, Illinois, Missouri, and other States. The renaissance in farmers markets in the United States during the 1990s—fostered by State and local municipalities wanting to revitalize neighborhoods and preserve regional farmland and open space— has been a boon to organic farmers who use this marketing outlet much more heavily than conventional farmers do. States are also producing directories of farm stands and pick-your-own farms, including organic directories, and developing logos like â€Å"Jersey Fresh† to promote locally grown food. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is an innovative direct marketing arrangement that organic farmers have been pioneering in the United States for about a decade. Consumers subscribe to the harvest of a CSA farmer for the entire upcoming season, and pay for their produce in advance. Under a CSA arrangement, consumers share the production risks and variable harvests of the farmer— including especially abundant harvests—and sometimes participate in festivals and other social activities at the farm. Over 800 CSAs are currently listed in the U. S. database maintained by USDA and the Robyn Van En Center at Wilson College. Most of the CSA farms use organic production systems. Production Characteristics of U. S. Organic Sector A growing body of research in the United States has been devoted to the economics of organic production systems— its yields, input costs, income, profitability, and other economic characteristics. A 1990 review of the U. S. literature concluded that the â€Å"variation within organic and conventional farming systems is likely as large as the differences between the two systems† and found mixed results in the comparisons for most characteristics (Knoblauch, Brown, and Braster, 1990). Several more recent U. S. studies have indicated that organic price premiums are key in giving organic farming systems comparable or higher whole-farm profits than conventional chemical- intensive systems, particularly for crops like processed tomatoes and cotton (Klonsky and Livingston, 1994; Batte, Forster, and Hitzhusen, 1993; Assadian, Esparza, and Ponce, 1999). Other studies have found that organic systems may be more profitable than conventional systems, even without price premiums. For example, some Midwestern organic grain and soybean production was found to be more profitable than conventional systems, even without price premiums, due to higher yields in drier areas or periods, lower input costs, or crop mix (Welsh, 1999). Also, a recent study comparing organic and conventional apple production in California’s Central Coast showed higher yields as well as higher returns under the organic systems (Swezey et al. , 1994). And another recent study compared organic, conventional, and integrated apple production systems in Washington State over a 6-year period, and found that the organic system was more profitable, had similar yields, better tasting fruit, and was more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient than the other systems (Reganold et al. ). We are not aware of recently published research that finds farming with organic methods is less profitable than farming with conventional methods. Of course, net returns to various production systems may vary with biophysical and economic factors (such as soil type, climate, and proximity to markets), and a system that is optimal in one location may not be optimal in another. Also, factors not captured in standard profit calculations, such as convenience, longer-term planning horizons, and environmental ethics, can motivate rational adoption of a particular practice or farming system. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of the factors influencing net returns to organic farming systems. The promising results from the limited number of economic studies to date have led to an increase in research on organic farming systems. USDA, universities, and other U. S. institutions are increasingly examining the long-term economics of organic farming systems through replicated field trial research and a multidisciplinary systems approach. Most of these projects are less than a decade old, and promise to answer basic research questions about yields and profitability as well as to address farmer-defined management and production obstacles to the more widespread adoption of organic production systems. Farmers in 49 States used organic production methods and third-party organic certification services on 1. 35 million acres of farmland in 1997, according to an Economic Research Service (ERS) study. Crops were grown on about two-thirds of the certified U. S. organic farmland, and the rest was pasture. The ERS study analyzed data from 40 State and private certifiers (see box, p. 8, on organic standards and certification). Uncertified acreage was excluded, even though it may represent a large segment of organic production, because of the difficulty in determining the production criteria used by uncertified growers. ERS reports statistics on certified organic U. S. acreage in the Organic Farming and Marketing Briefing Room (www. ers. usda. gov/ briefing/organic). Organic farming has made deeper inroads in the fruit, vegetable, and other high-value specialty crop industries than in the major grain and oilseed industries. While less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the U. S.corn, soybean, and wheat crops were grown organically in 1997, over 1 percent of the dry peas and tomato crops and about 2 percent of the apple, grape, lettuce and carrot crops were organic. And nearly a third of the U. S. herb and â€Å"mixed vegetable† crops were grown organically in 1997. (A â€Å"mixed vegetable† crop is a mixture of numerous horticultural crops (mostly vegetables) grown on a small farm or parcel. ) The markets for organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs have been developing for decades in the United States, and these crops are grown organically in more States than any other type of commodity. State and private certifying groups certified over 180,000 acres of these crops in 44 States in 1997, more than double the amount certified in 1994, with the biggest gains for cultivated and wild-harvested herbs such as St. John’s Wort. About 2 percent of the major fruit and vegetable crops—apples, carrots, lettuce, and grapes—were grown organically, and a third of the organic vegetable acreage was devoted to producing â€Å"mixed vegetables† in 1997. Mixed vegetable farms, as defined in the census of agriculture, are small farms—less than 50 acres—that produce a large number of vegetables. Large farms produce processing tomatoes, organic wine grapes, and other high-value crops on a commercial scale, while numerous small farms still specialize in mixed vegetable production for direct marketing to consumers and restaurants. The top producer of organic fruits and vegetables was California, followed by Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Washington. About a third of the total certified organic vegetable acreage in 1997 was for mixed vegetables. In 1997, U. S. farmers certified nearly 3,000 acres of organic mixed vegetables on farms or parcels that were 5 acres or less, and over 14,000 acres on farms and parcels over 5 acres. New York organic producers had over 1,400 acres in the 5-acres-or-less category. Mixed vegetable producers often target farmers markets, community-supported agriculture subscriptions, restaurants, and other direct marketing outlets. Organic farmers are also growing major grains and oilseeds on a small portion of the planted area in the United States. Wheat was produced under certified organic farming systems on over 125,000 acres in 1997, corn was grown on over 42,000 acres, and soybeans were produced on about 82,000 acres. Other field crops produced organically in 1997 include barley, oats, sorghum, rice, spelt, millet, buckwheat, rye, dry peas, lentils, dry beans, flax, and sunflowers. Organic acreage of these crops, especially soybeans, has undoubtedly increased since 1997. Thirty-nine States had certified organic hay and silage production, with most acreage in Idaho, Wisconsin, and New York. Acreage of these crops expanded 51 percent between 1995 and 1997 as the number of certified organic milk cows more than doubled during that period. Organic meat and poultry markets have lagged behind those for crops partly because meat and poultry could not be labeled as organic until February 1999, when a provisional label was approved by USDA. Food crops and non-meat animal foods (eggs and dairy products) are regulated by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, which allowed food packages to carry an organic label throughout the 1990s. 2 While the number of certified organic beef cows, hogs, sheep, and lambs declined during the study period (1992-97), the number of dairy cows and layer hens increased sharply. The market for organic meat products is beginning to grow now that organic labeling is permitted, and the growing market for organic milk and eggs has been pushing up the use of certified organic pasture and the demand for certified organic grains and oilseeds. Farmers and ranchers raised a small number of certified organic cows, hogs, and sheep in 23 States in 1997. Dairy cows were raised organically in 13 States in 1997, and New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were the top three producers. The number of certified organic milk cows in the United States nearly tripled between 1992 and 1994 and more than doubled between 1994 and 1997. California was the leader in organic poultry production, followed by New York and Virginia. Other organic animal specialties, including goats, fish, and colonies of bees, were certified in several States. Consumption Characteristics of the U. S. Organic Sector A number of academic and industry studies have been conducted to examine consumer behavior and identify their motivation for purchasing organic foods. Many of the industry studies use consumer surveys, which seek to identify how often consumers purchase organic food, their motivations for purchasing organic food, and demographic data on organic food purchasers. University studies have adopted different approaches to assess consumer buying behavior and to identify which characteristics (for example, income, food quality, educational level, concern for the environment, or family size) affect whether consumers will purchase organic food. Several industry groups have surveyed consumers about their preferences and buying habits for organic food. The results of the different surveys are not always consistent. The Nutrition Business Journal reported that 11 percent of consumers purchased some organic food in 2000, and less than 2 percent are regular purchasers. Results of the Hartman Group’s 2000 survey suggest that 3 percent of consumers regularly buy organic products. The Walnut Acres Survey (2001) found that 63 percent of respondents purchased organic food at least sometimes, and 57 percent of the purchasers had been doing so for at least 3 years. The Food Marketing Institute’s survey (2001) found that 66 percent of surveyed shoppers bought organically grown foods. In 2001, the Food Marketing Institute’s survey indicated that 37 percent of shoppers said they purchased organically grown food to maintain their health; and 44 percent of these shoppers had purchased organic food in the past 6 months. Consumers surveyed by the Hartman Group (2000) gave the following reasons for purchasing organic food: health and nutrition (66 percent), taste (38 percent), environment (26 percent), and availability (16 percent). 3 The Fresh Trends (2001) survey revealed that 12 percent of the shoppers surveyed reported that whether a product is organic is a primary factor in their purchasing decision. Sixty-three percent of the respondents of the Walnut Acres Survey believed that organic food and beverages were better for them and were more healthful than their conventional counterparts. Fresh Trends (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002) found little difference between the purchasing habits of men and women. Over the years, Fresh Trends found that, of the shoppers that had purchased organic produce in the previous 6 months, more purchased vegetables than fruit (according to the 1996 survey, 24 percent purchased fruit and 84 percent purchased vegetables; according to the 2000 survey, 35 percent purchased vegetables). Apples and tomatoes led the list of fruit and vegetables purchased by the shoppers surveyed by Fresh Trends. According to the Hartman Survey (2000), the top 10 organic products purchased were strawberries, lettuce, carrots, other fresh fruit, broccoli, apples, other fresh vegetables, grapes, bananas, and potatoes. The Hartman survey also suggested that fruits and vegetables were â€Å"gateway categories† (typically the first organic products purchased by consumers). The Walnut Acres Survey (2002) indicated that 68 percent of consumers revealed that price is the main reason they did not purchase organic food. Academic researchers have taken a slightly different tack in studying organic consumers by complementing surveys with statistical analysis to depict the typical consumer. Some studies reveal conflicting results, most likely because of the different methodological approaches. Consumers considered the following factors important when purchasing fresh produce: price, size and packaging, whether the item is on sale, and whether the item is organic (Estes and Smith). Age, gender, and having a college degree had little impact on a shopper’s decision to buy organic produce (Thompson and Kidwell). Consumers with higher incomes and higher levels of education are willing to pay more for organic potatoes (Loureiro and Hine), while consumers with advanced degrees are less likely to buy organic produce (Thompson and Kidwell). Appearance of fresh produce mattered, and the larger the number of cosmetic defects, the less likely would an organic product be purchased (Estes and Smith, Thompson and Kidwell). One picture of the typical organic shopper is a younger household in which females do the shopping; smaller and higher income households are the most likely purchasers of organic produce (Govindasamy and Italia) and organic apples (Loureiro et al. ). Households knowledgeable about alternative agriculture are more likely to purchase organic produce (Govindasamy and Italia) and those concerned about the environment are more likely to purchase organic apples (Loureiro et al. ). Those concerned about food safety are more likely to buy organic produce (Govindasamy and Italia) and organic apples (Loureiro et al. ). Those who enjoy trying new products are more likely to purchase organic produce (Govindasamy and Italia). Households with children under 18 are more likely to purchase organic produce (Thompson and Kidwell) and organic apples (Loureiro et al. ). Consumers with children are willing to pay less for organic potatoes (Loureiro and Hine) and more likely than other households to purchase organic apples (Loureiro et al. ). Strategies to increase purchases of organic food include shelf-labeling, which had a mixed effect on sales in an upscale grocery store but a significantly positive effect on sales of dairy products, pasta, bread, cereal, and carrots in a discount retailer in the Minneapolis and St. Paul markets (Reicks, Splett, and Fishman). The recent addition of organic food sales to scanner data, by AC Neilson and Information Resources, Inc. , has made possible econometric studies of consumer demand for organic food. Frozen organic vegetables, organic milk, and organic baby food all exhibited high price elasticity of demand, meaning that the quantity purchased responds greatly to price changes (that is, quantity purchased increases by more than 1 percent when prices fall by 1 percent) (Glaser and Thompson, 1999, 2000; Thompson and Glaser, 2001). For some frozen vegetables, there was little crossover between purchases of organic and conventional products, so that changes in prices of either commodity had no significant impact on quantities purchased (Glaser and Thompson 1999). For other products (milk and baby food), the conventional and organic products are substitutes, so that increases in the price of the conventional product result in consumers’ purchasing a greater quantity of the organic products (Glaser and Thompson, 2000; Thompson and Glaser, 2001). The Marketing Chain: From Farm to Market Food passes through many hands as it moves from farm to consumer. Some foods are fresh when delivered (apples and eggs) while others are processed before delivery (pasta and bread). Regardless of whether they are fresh or processed, higher quality products and products with unique attributes (such as organic foods) generally have a higher selling price. As a result, farmers have a strong incentive to produce and sell commodities with quality and other price-enhancing attributes intact. Yet, since most foods pass through a number of intermediaries as they move from the farm to the consumer, maintaining premium product integrity along the marketing chain can sometimes be a challenge. To do so, each agent along the marketing chain must begin by moving the product to the next agent quickly. Farmers need to sell their perishable commodities immediately after harvesting, while distributors, brokers, and wholesalers need to get fresh products to retailers as quickly as possible. Retailers want to be able to purchase a consistent and large enough supply of a wide variety of uniform quality fresh food. Consumers want to be able to buy a wide variety of fresh food that is both high quality and low priced. Organic food consumers, in particular, want to feel confident that they are buying food that not only was grown organically, but also has kept its organic integrity at each stage in its journey to the market. Each commodity, depending in large part on whether it is fresh or processed, follows an individualized path from farm to market. Because fresh foods rapidly deteriorate, they must be delivered to the market quickly. The storage and transportation systems along the way must provide the proper temperature and other conditions that help maintain freshness. Processed foods, on the other hand, have a longer shelf life—but the products that go into them must be harvested at the right time, delivered at the right time and satisfy the processor’s quality requirements. In the next sections, we trace the production and marketing chains for the major organic commodities in the United States, noting applicable regulations as well as observed marketing trends.

Evaluating The Role And Importance Of Entrepreneurship Commerce Essay

Evaluating The Role And Importance Of Entrepreneurship Commerce Essay Historically, entrepreneurship has been defined as different ways of resource allocation and optimization of organizational processes, always in a creative way in order to lower costs and improve results. Biased, is associated with the term of entrepreneurship to create new businesses, generally small and micro enterprises. Besides that entrepreneurship is linked to risk taking. In Druckers (1986), the entrepreneurial profile involves characteristics as: the search for change, the vision of opportunity, creativity, innovation and acceptance of risks and uncertainties related to business. The association between entrepreneurship and risk tolerance is usually routine. Generally, it is customary to assume that entrepreneurs are more risk tolerant. This was the purpose of analysis in this study, which study the association between level of entrepreneurship of an individual and their level of risk tolerance. This article explores the association between two variables, presented as the level of entrepreneurship of an individual, their level of risk tolerance and risk taking. Defining Entrepreneurship Characteristics or traits According to Drucker, P. (1986 pp. 131) argue that the definition of entrepreneurship in recent years see changes suffered by influences from areas as anthropology, sociology and business strategies to present their theories and assist the creation of new entrepreneurs. The idea and principle that the entrepreneurship process begins in institutions with social and cultural implications. The big question about entrepreneurship is linked in the risk that the entrepreneur runs to develop and implement a new business. There is a correlation in entrepreneurship and the theory of prospect, which deals with behaviour and relation to risk, it is the entrepreneur willing to take financial risk, strategic and operational levels to develop a new business. The issue of entrepreneurship in making decisions in relation to risk was the subject of research by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose results were known by researchers as Prospect Theory. The early study was due to the fact that entrepreneurs behave or have an average performance in accordance with the standard of the average return. The experiments have revealed patterns of behaviour determined by two major human shortcomings: the emotion that inhibits or restricts the self-control essential to the process of decision making, and cognitive difficulties that hinder the full understanding of the problem faced, particularly given the difficult to draw valid generalizations of samples available, which leads to the adoption of more subjective methods, known as degrees of belief. According to Schumpeter, J. (1987) agrees that every entrepreneur has a profile of innovative capacity and acceptance of risk, and also that not all outcomes are successful, and the entrepreneurial function has the responsibility of the relationships between the business and cultural factors that are present in organization. Entrepreneurial culture Burns, P. (2007) reports that since the beginning of the era of entrepreneurship was hoped that the cultural context had a substantial impact on the development of entrepreneurship. The tendency for entrepreneurship differs among societies, because that culture moderates the characteristics of entrepreneurs differ from place to place. As the understanding Burns, P (2007), human beings are not born an entrepreneur, he develops this trait in the environment they live and the environment, both the time and the place is a positive or negative influence of this trend. The entrepreneurial culture is based on the concentration of various forms of entrepreneurship, necessary for the determination of this culture. In the view of Kent, C. (1990), there are several initiatives and forms of entrepreneurship as the entrepreneurial profile, the entrepreneurial management, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurship collective, according to this author, there are entrepreneurial culture requires at least two of these forms. he entrepreneurial culture emphasizes the emergence of new opportunities, the means to capitalize on them and the creation of adequate infrastructure to take advantage of them. The strategy and planning are the foundations of entrepreneurial culture, to reduce uncertainties in the business opportunities, which is consistent with the attitude of the entrepreneur always calculate the risk of premeditated manner. In this sense, one can establish that Entrepreneurship Education is the process that aims at human development in the context of identifying and exploiting opportunities and their subsequent transformation into reality, thus contributing to the generation of financial values, social and cultural society in which the human being is. Through planning and developing strategies and risk measurement and goals. process of entrepreneurship Each entrepreneurial mission is different, some endeavour had success history and other did not. The entrepreneurship venture are the consequence that victory history in entrepreneur way. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurship process should be analyse an global way, since the provides a contents for analyse how entrepreneurship invents new ideas and new ways to provide opportunities and ventures. Furthermore, the procedure of entrepreneurship gives knowledge to mapping and to analyse the innovative actions. According to Wickham, P. ( 2006, pp. 223) affirms that the approach to the entrepreneurial procedure that will be described here is based on four interacting contingencies. The business person is responsible to bring these factors together to create innovation value. The four contingencies factors in the entrepreneurship process are, entrepreneur, opportunity, organisation and resources. Source: Wickham, P. (2006, pp.224): The entrepreneurial process: opportunity, resources and organisation. entrepreneur According to Wickham, P. ( 2006, pp. 209) success is based on the ventures ability to satisfy economic, social and developmental needs. In other words, the entrepreneurial success is consequence of set characteristics of personal skills, knowledge, perception and personality traits that lead to analyse and evaluate the entrepreneurial success. The entrepreneur is a business man who is responsible of entrepreneurial process, in other words, he is charge to manage and lead the organisation objectives. Entrepreneurs are not only those who have ideas, create new products or processes. They are also those who implement, lead teams and sell their ideas. It is difficult to find all these characteristics in one person. Therefore, the identification of each profile is the key, and teamwork can be critical to the success of entrepreneurs within an organization. For example, Steve Jobs is the co-founder of Apple, Pixars former owner and creator of the hottest gadgets of the last 10 years is not only a businessman, but it is undoubtedly one of the most visionary and courageous entrepreneurs who appeared in the business world in recent decades. Opportunity The opportunity is the gap in the market that should be occupied by competitors or suppliers. The opportunity aims the space on the sector or environment market that should be met by entrepreneurs. The main objective of entrepreneur is to scan and observe the available or potential opportunity in the market. The best scenario of achieve the opportunity is the innovation approach that the business man shows to the market. Organisation Searching to serve the innovation to the environment competitive the functions and activities of the employees should be coordinated, this is the propose of the company should deliver. The companies can be changed according the actions and strategies, like, their size, their structure, their research and development area, the core business and culture aspects. According to Wickham, P. (2006, pp 224) agrees that entrepreneurial companies are characterised by leadership, style, behaviour and spirit from their founder. This organisations may have unstructured hierarchy, rules or process, on the other hand this factor can be a strength in the learning process, innovation and development by being active to bring new ideas and approaches to organisation change. In addition, entrepreneurial companies are been set as a network of relationships between employees, suppliers and others stakeholders which are led by the entrepreneur. These relationship connections build a formal and mixed organisation. Some relations are classified by contracts, open markets, formal, informal and long term. In the network study, the company is defined by a nexus of relationships and the level can be complex. This relation provides to the organisations a good opportunity to analyse how they are positioned in the market. Resources The last term in the entrepreneurial process is the resources. This contingency aims to raise capital and resource that is capitalised in the company, such as investors who sponsor their capital, information, skills, know-how, experience and knowledge. This elements that lead to growth can be intangible property, like, consulting, brand, loyalty and customer goodwill can be lead to investment. The main objective of the entrepreneur is to raise capital and investment to the company and focus the investment to increase, build and develop the value proposition deliver to the customer. According to Burns, P. (2007, pp.117) commented that entrepreneurs typically identify opportunity, building and leading the company. Furthermore, entrepreneur attract and mange resources. The entrepreneurs must deliver responsibilities to the employees and the managers may take over the function to manage and bring resources. For example, the production department may take over the functions to attract resources and innovation to develop new products; the sales department may take over the responsibility to bring opportunities on the market. In the way, the entrepreneur becomes business facilitator, advisor and leader of the business. According to Wickham, P. (2006) agrees that there are three main resources avalible to the entrepreneur, such as financial resources, human resources and operating resources. FINANCIAL RESOURCES The financial resource is the source that the entrepreneur raises capital to invest the company. Money is the most common form of the financial resource and can be used to buy other resources. Financial resources are the source for the entrepreneur to invest more money in the organization. The entrepreneur must find a balance between financial gain and also the companys performance and flexibility of resource use. The financial resources that the entrepreneur has access varies according to sector, scenario and strategy also adopted by the organization. HUMAN RESOURCES Human resources are critical success factors in a entrepreneurship venture. They can bring innovation, experience and make up the company. Furthermore, the human resources can provide advantage competitive to the organisation. The employees who make up in the venture offer their labour towards the entrepreneur. OPERATING RESOURCES Operating resources are the materials which contribute and are used by the organisation to deliver and offer outputs to the business environment. The main function of operational resources aims the capacity of the organisation deliver its innovation to the market. Risk and taking decisions According to Knight F. (2002), affirms that uncertainty occurs when the investors are not able to analyse and measure the possibilities and probabilities of different results. The same author agrees that risk is a consequence of the free and conscious decision to expose himself to a situation in which the struggle for the realization of the good with the possibility of injury or loss. According to Knight, F. (2002) states that the prospect of failure and taken as the meaning of risk. And that risk is present in any entrepreneurial process, besides being an inherent situation of decision-making. Furthermore, the risk can be controlled and measured, unlike other elements, such as external factors, environmental and political. The same author defines distinction between risk (when the probability of a result can be given calculated [or is known]) and uncertainty (when the probability Ccan not be determined [or unknown]). This thesis made the insurance industry attractive, and entrepreneurship, in Knights words, tragic. According to Knight, F. (2002) says that every organization faces risk, regardless of size, industry, parents and strategy. And that is not calculated risks may cause loss of investment opportunity, loss of brand image, prejudice and even financial risk of its existence. Analyse and understand the risks that the company may face and essential for growth and development objectives and strategy, moreover, the risk monitoring helps protect your investment. There are four types of business risk, are strategic risk, operational, financial and transfer. Strategic Risk Strategic risk and the most complex type of risk that an organization can face. Strategic risks can be controlled and directed according to the market, competitors, external changes and launch new innovative products that can change the configuration of market competition. Organizations also face strategic risks when considering performance challenges that are outside its control, such as climatic variables, the other environmental factors that provide benefit to the competition. Companies that succeed in having the best ratings and control of strategic risks can identify the greatest threats to their business and financial objectives and therefore assess and identify possible solutions. Operational Risk Operational risks are also important for the performance of the company as it affects the performance and operation of the company. Operational risk can be considered as the risk of loss of processes, people, systems or errors that hurt the performance of the organization. Operational risks as is the case of failures in IT systems, equipment, supply outages and fraudulent behaviour, may have a strong impact on business continuity. The evaluation of operational risk assessment beyond the operational errors, fraud and probability not meet any companys contract. An example of risk-taking operating a new business, customers are increasingly sensitive to quality service delivery. Thus, the entrepreneurship should consider operational risk to maintain service delivery. Financial Risk The financial risk and the risk that consumers do not understand liquidity necessary to meet the expenses and liabilities of the company. Financial risk means the risk of a possible future change in one or more interest rates, prices of financial instruments, commodity prices, exchange rates, indices of prices or rates, credit rating or credit index or other variable, provided that in the case of a non-financial variable, the variable is not specific to one part of the contract. Transfer Risk Risk transfer involves the use of an entity that accepts bear the risks. Risk transfer involves the use of an entity that accepts responsibility for supporting economic damage from a hazard. in exchange for a premium. The insurance came from the need of economic security through a transfer position for someone else, the risks that could affect the assets of individuals, families or a particular community. In a new enterprise making process of risk can lead to transfer of risk by the entrepreneur if the entrepreneur seeks to dilute the risks of the investment, but the transfer of risk generates an additional cost in developing the business. Such as the entrepreneur uses a purchasing insurance coverage or issuing debt. Decisions under certainly The decisions under certainty, occurs when the actual result is always the expected result, for example an entrepreneur seeking an investment that has high chances of success. In this scenario the developer simply chooses the action that will give higher returns and profitability, and the return will be definitely achieved. Within the business world, the decisions under certainty are rare, because currently no investor takes a decision with certainty that it will be successful, there will always be some uncertainty and risk. Decisions under uncertanily Knight F. (2002) argues that uncertainty should be taken as radically distinct from the familiar notion of risk, which have never been properly separated. The term risk is related to a quantity susceptible of measurement, the risk appears as measurable uncertainty, which is different from something not measurable, a fact of uncertainty. The definition of uncertainty used here is not derived from ergot perspective of the world presented by Knight and Keynes at the beginning of last century and is understood as a perceptual phenomenon described as the individual and the perceived ability to predict the occurrence of future events from the study of past events. Decisions under uncertainty, in fact despite the use of the word risk in risk decisions are rare in organizational settings. Why, for instance an entrepreneur can know what may happen, but it can hardly know what may happen in a competitive environment such as the launch of a product or a competitors new strategy. The decisions under uncertainty should seek to maximize returns and reduce risks and losses. Decisions under risk According to Knight, F. (2002) states that every action may involve a series of possible outcomes, each of which may occur as a known probability. In other words, the decision under risk occur on facts that are known but not known whether that will happen. The only thing you can know about the decision under risk and probability of occurrence of the event, and the risk is present only if this probability and known. As an example, the launch of a product can have according to the probability 50% market share in a year. The decision for the entrepreneur will be in or not to launch the product in accordance with the probability study. decisions under ambiguity Decisions on an ambiguous action can be assessed by the manager of consequences that will have if a product is launched. That his trial by the entrepreneur will be made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹according to the knowledge market and how the competitors and the market were in the past. The decision on this ambiguity between decisions of uncertainty and risk, because there is no chance to learn the result set. decisions under ignorance The decisions under ignorance represent the opposite of decisions under certainty because there is no information about the consequences of the decision, there are odds and also know what can happen. Are decision situations where we can not calculate the probability for different reasons, or where it makes sense to use probabilities. Conclusion During the process of entrepreneurship, the entrepreneur must deal with the business opportunity, with financial sources, operational and human, in addition to the organization seeking a leadership influence. Besides promoting a culture and an innovative and entrepreneurial goals according tracings. The entrepreneurial culture influences and provides a very distinguished contribution in enterprises, companies and groups that cultivate it, since it is a promoter of innovation, making their players better able to compete in a fast-changing and continuous. In addition, the risk-taking is therefore present in the process of entrepreneurship, because every decision to invest and seek new things requires risk taking. For the entrepreneur there are financial risks, transfer of operational and strategic, and the entrepreneur must be aware of and awareness about the consequences and risks of each goals. Decisions are based on previous knowledge of market and competitors, such decisions aimed at seeking further results and development issues for the company. The entrepreneur can make decision about risk, certainty, uncertainty and ambiguity and ignorance. Besides the main factor in the process of entrepreneurship and risk-taking and decisions within the process of developing the business.

William Shakespeare and His Works Essay -- William Shakespeare biograp

William Shakespeare, the figure to whom the most influential works of literature in history are credited, was born in April of 1564 (the exact date is approximated as April 23rd, also the date given as his death fifty-two years later) in Stratford, England to John and Mary Shakespeare. He grew up in relatively middle-class surroundings, attending grammar school and studying Latin, logic, and literature, from which he graduated to marry a woman by the name of Anne Hathaway. With Hathaway he had three children, two girls and a son, and as a playwright and poet, Shakespeare went on to enjoy moderate success in his time, writing thirty-seven (known) plays and several works of poetry. Of course his plays would be well underappreciated during his time (as with all great artists), but later, such titles as King Lear, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth would only begin a list of some of the most appraised scripts ever written (Armstrong, 1-5). While these plays carry the weight of Shakespeare’s legacy, he was also a dedicated poet. During the years of the black plague in the late 16th century, theaters were closed from 1592 until 1594, and Shakespeare spent his time writing lengthy poetry, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucree, and continued work on his sonnets, a volume of poems which he wrote over a span of about a decade. This book of sonnets has raised some of the most captivating questions in all of literature, as their vagueness and mysterious allusions have puzzled critics for centuries, who attempt to use them to piece together parts of Shakespeare’s life, of which relatively little is known. One of the most frequently investigated questions is that of Shakespeare’s sexuality; the so... ...ne or the other, some fascinating truth about the author himself, as though he intended to leave it there. After all, when one gives the book of sonnets to a loved one as a traditional gift, does one bare in mind that the sonnets praising love and beauty are more than likely written to a man, while those written to a woman are of darkness and remorse? Certainly, at least hopefully, not. Whatever the case may be, the sonnets were written from the heart, with an honest pen and a true heart, something that can be appreciated by any generation. It has been said that Shakespeare can be seen as â€Å"nothing less than the inventor of the human,† (Keevak, 68). What Shakespeare did intend to leave us with was something beautiful that can be appreciated in whatever context we may chose to present it, so long as the humanity that these works contain is preserved.

macbeth :: essays research papers

The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare. This play tells of betrayal, temptations, ambitions, murder, treason and manipulation. The readers feels sympathetic for MacBeth, as he is stuck in the middle of a situation he can’t get out of. However, sympathy is lost when MacBeth commits evil deeds that he is only responsible for. Macbeth is only persuaded to commit treason, but due to his paranoia he kills many more people. The main focus is Macbeth, being the unfortunate victim, from the 3 evil witches to Lady Macbeth. His downfall is caused by other people around him. Macbeth is the unfortunate victim of other people’s greed and for this the reader sympathises. The three withes are a physical presence of evil. They conspire to kill as many people as possible, under their superior, Hecate. Using their evil gift to see into the future, they can tell that by using Macbeth as a tool for destruction they can fill him with evil. To get Macbeth to do their evil biddings, they first influence him by planting a seed of evil into his mind. By giving Macbeth that prophecy, they ensure that their plans will work. Macbeth is a good and loyal kinsman who would never harm his King. Were it not for outside forces, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, a high position title in itself. Macbeth does not even want to kill King Duncan. He says â€Å"chance may crown me without my stir†, which means that if he become king, he would not commit any evil to get there. Fearing the witches’ message means that he will kill the king in the futur e, he says â€Å"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.† Three evil withes foretell that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and even King of Scotland. Macbeth ignored their prophecies, but after he was promoted to Thane of Cawdor for his brave fight in the war, Macbeth wonders if he could become king, and than his ambition takes over. Up until this point, sympathy is lost, as MacBeth takes a turn for the worst, obeying to his wifes commands, and being tempted by the thought of becoming king. Lady Macbeth is an ambitious woman like her counter-part, but there the reader never feels sympathetic for her. She is an evil women, blinded by her greed, she makes MacBeth commit evil deeds, and leads herself and MacBeth to their self destruction.

Major Themes of the Novel Things Fall Apart

Introduction For many writers, the theme of a novel is the driving force of the book during its creation. Even if the author doesn't consciously identify an intended theme, the creative process is directed by at least one controlling idea — a concept or principle or belief or purpose significant to the author. The theme — often several themes — guides the author by controlling where the story goes, what the characters do, what mood is portrayed, what style evolves, and what emotional effects the story will create in the reader.Igbo Society Complexity From Achebe's own statements, we know that one of his themes is the complexity of Igbo society before the arrival of the Europeans. To support this theme, he includes detailed descriptions of the justice codes and the trial process, the social and family rituals, the marriage customs, food production and preparation processes, the process of shared leadership for the community, religious beliefs and practices, and th e opportunities for virtually every man to climb the clan's ladder of success through his own efforts.The book may have been written more simply as a study of Okonkwo's deterioration in character in an increasingly unsympathetic and incompatible environment, but consider what would have been lost had Achebe not emphasized the theme of the complex and dynamic qualities of the Igbo in Umuofia. Clash of Cultures Against Achebe's theme of Igbo cultural complexity is his theme of the clash of cultures.This collision of cultures occurs at the individual and societal levels, and the cultural misunderstanding cuts both ways: Just as the uncompromising Reverend Smith views Africans as â€Å"heathens,† the Igbo initially criticize the Christians and the missionaries as â€Å"foolish. † For Achebe, the Africans' misperceptions of themselves and of Europeans need realignment as much as do the misperceptions of Africans by the West. Writing as an African who had been â€Å"Europea nized,† Achebe wrote  Things Fall Apart  as â€Å"an act of atonement with [his] past, the ritual return and homage of a prodigal on. † By his own act, he encourages other Africans, especially ones with Western educations, to realize that they may misperceive their native culture. Destiny Related to the theme of cultural clash is the issue of how much the flexibility or the rigidity of the characters (and by implication, of the British and Igbo) contribute to their destiny. Because of Okonkwo's inflexible nature, he seems destined for self-destruction, even before the arrival of the European colonizers. The arrival of a new culture only hastens Okonkwo's tragic fate.Two other characters contrast with Okonkwo in this regard: Mr. Brown, the first missionary, and Obierika, Okonkwo's good friend. Whereas Okonkwo is an unyielding man of action, the other two are more open and adaptable men of thought. Mr. Brown wins converts by first respecting the traditions and beliefs of the Igbo and subsequently allowing some accommodation in the conversion process. Like Brown, Obierika is also a reasonable and thinking person. He does not advocate the use of force to counter the colonizers and the opposition.Rather, he has an open mind about changing values and foreign culture: â€Å"Who knows what may happen tomorrow? † he comments about the arrival of foreigners. Obierika's receptive and adaptable nature may be more representative of the spirit of Umuofia than Okonkwo's unquestioning rigidity. For example, consider Umuofia's initial lack of resistance to the establishment of a new religion in its midst. With all its deep roots in tribal heritage, the community hardly takes a stand against the intruders — against new laws as well as new religion.What accounts for this lack of community opposition? Was Igbo society more receptive and adaptable than it appeared to be? The lack of strong initial resistance may also come from the fact that the Igbo society does not foster strong central leadership. This quality encourages individual initiative toward recognition and achievement but also limits timely decision-making and the authority-backed actions needed on short notice to maintain its integrity and welfare.Whatever the reason — perhaps a combination of these reasons — the British culture and its code of behavior, ambitious for its goals of native â€Å"enlightenment† as well as of British self-enrichment, begin to encroach upon the existing Igbo culture and its corresponding code of behavior. A factor that hastens the decline of the traditional Igbo society is their custom of marginalizing some of their people — allowing the existence of an outcast group and keeping women subservient in their household and community involvement, treating them as property, and accepting physical abuse of them somewhat lightly.When representatives of a foreign culture (beginning with Christian missionaries) enter Ig bo territory and accept these marginalized people — including the twins — at their full human value, the Igbo's traditional shared leadership finds itself unable to control its whole population. The lack of a clear, sustaining center of authority in Igbo society may be the quality that decided Achebe to draw his title from the Yeats poem, â€Å"The Second Coming. † The key phrase of the poems reads, â€Å"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. † Underlying the aforementioned cultural themes is a theme of  fate, or destiny.This theme is also played at the individual and societal levels. In the story, readers are frequently reminded about this theme in references to  chi, the individual's personal god as well as his ultimate capability and destiny. Okonkwo, at his best, feels that his  chi  supports his ambition: â€Å"When a man says yes, his chi says yes also† (Chapter 4). At his worst, Okonkwo feels that his chi has let him down: His c hi â€Å"was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. .  . .  Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation† (Chapter 14).At the societal level, the Igbos' lack of a unifying self-image and centralized leadership as well as their weakness in the treatment of some of their own people — both previously discussed — suggest the inevitable fate of becoming victim to colonization by a power eager to exploit its resources. In addition to the three themes discussed in this essay, the thoughtful reader will probably be able to identify other themes in the novel: for example, the universality of human motives and emotions across cultures and time, and the need for balance between individual needs and community needs.

Research Proposal Essay

This research project is entitled ‘Safe pedestrian practices: the perception of children in Sri Lanka’. Road traffic accidents are one of leading causes of death amongst child pedestrians in low-income countries. Despite this, little research has been done into effective interventions to reduce child mortality in these countries. This study aims to provide original and useful data from Colombo, Sri Lanka which will help in the development of new or existing road safety interventions and education, particularly in relation to child knowledge and perception. The method of research involves recruiting school children aged 8-9 years from the Holy Family Convent and St. Peter’s College schools situated on Galle road, Colombo. These schools have been selected as they have similar location, one being a girls school, the other a boys school. The first part of the study involves a draw and write technique where the children will be asked to draw a picture of themselves crossing Galle road, the main road by their school. They will then be given a piece of paper with the instruction ‘tell me what you have drawn and why’. Six children from each class will be then purposively selected to take part in a focus group. Content analysis will be used when analysing this section of the results. Finally I will carry out a two day observation of child pedestrian behaviour on Galle road. Behaviour of the children will be compared using the UK’s Green Cross Code. It is estimated that the research will take approximately four weeks to complete. This includes, recruiting and gaining consent from the participants, carrying out the draw and write activity, completing two focus groups and carrying out the observational study. The estimated cost of this research  £1163. Background Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide with 86% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries despite accounting for only 40% of motor vehicles[i]. RTAs are the overriding cause of child injuries killing approximately 180 000 children under 15 each year. Children are rarely the cause of road traffic accidents but suffer as pedestrians, cyclists and passengers[ii]. Lack of research in low-income countries has meant a slow introduction of effective intervention strategies to reduce the mortality rates. Many factors are accountable for the high RTA rates in low-income countries including impaired driving, lack of enforcement and vehicle type. However the most significant differences found in low-income countries are the wide variation in road vehicles and the high number of vulnerable road users. The mixture of road users including pedestrians, bicycles, handcarts, mopeds, rickshaws, motorcycles, vans, cars, trucks and buses means that schemes to combat this problem have not been required in the same extent in high-income countries and therefore local research is needed[iii]. Child pedestrians account for a large proportion of vulnerable road users. The high number of pedestrian and cyclist casualties in these countries reflects not only their inherent vulnerability but also insufficient attention to their needs in policy-making3. A study in Pakistan observed 250 pedestrians in the top 10 risk areas for pedestrian RTAs in Karachi. They observed walking and crossing the road and walking on the pavement. Only 60% of the pedestrians looked left and right before crossing. 52% crossed the street less than 2 seconds before a vehicle passed the point they had just crossed. 35% caused the traffic to swerve to avoid the observed pedestrian. Of the 250 pedestrians observed walking on the street edge, 82% had a pavement available to them but were not using it[iv]. Of the pedestrians using pavements 28% encountered an encroachment and 84% of these stepped on to the street to avoid it. Among those who were observed stepping on the road from the sidewalk, 66% did not look out for oncoming traffic4. Possible study limitations were that only pedestrian behaviour was studied, not actual accidents and the study sites were the top ten risk sites for RTAs in Karachi so may not be transferable to other situations. The advantage of this data is that it was carried out in a low-income country which means the findings can be drawn on for other settings. Policy changes such as restricting the amount of pavement space being used by stalls or shops and publicity to highlight the danger of such behaviour along with the important of observation when crossing roads may make a large difference to fatality rates. Risk perception has been widely studied as a risk factor for injuries however literature relating to child pedestrian safety is seriously lacking. Zeedyk et al[v] carried out research on children who had been taught a programme of road safety. They carried out two studies, both focussing on the skill of finding a safe place to cross the road. Firstly they tested the effect of the programme in improving knowledge and secondly whether the children transferred their knowledge to change their behaviour in a traffic environment. Initial results encouragingly showed that the interventions were effective in increasing the children’s knowledge of safe and dangerous places to cross roads and that this information was retained for six months. The second study however showed that this knowledge did not influence behaviour and that those children who had received knowledge on safety when crossing roads behaved no differently from those children who had receive no information whatsoever. That is the children were not applying the knowledge they had displayed during pre-testing5. The study’s main limitation is that it does not allow any further information on why the children didn’t apply their knowledge in the real situation, only that they didn’t. Research in Australia[vi] into the parental risk perceptions of childhood pedestrian road safety found that cultural risk factors significantly affected risk perception and safety behaviour. The results showed that Chinese and Arabic speaking parents perceived the road environment to be significantly less risky to their children than parents from the other two language groups. One significant limitation of this study is that assumptions were made that the language spoken by an individual was closely linked to their cultural make-up. Since the main finding was the differences between perceptions from different cultural groups it seems important that this factor is reliable. Despite this, this study reinforces the need for local research from which local interventions can be implemented. As described there is very little research on road safety in low-income countries, particularly regarding the safety of child pedestrians. Intervention strategies to help reduce child pedestrian mortality can only be implemented if the factors underlying the increasing rates are established. It is hoped this study will help to describe the behaviour and perceptions of children in a named area in Sri Lanka regarding safe pedestrian practice. The study will help build on existing knowledge of child pedestrian safety but provide an original and detailed description of the behaviour and perceptions of Sri Lankan children in a defined area. The data produced from this study will identify the knowledge and behaviour of child pedestrians, what they perceive to be safe practices and why they think this. This study anticipates highlighting the importance of child perception in safety behaviours. Child perceptions should be taken into account when considering the design of safety education programmes and road safety interventions. Research Question The background literature shows a clear gap in research into the behaviour, knowledge and perceptions of child pedestrians in low-income countries. The research question for this study is: Child pedestrian fatalities: the accountability of child perceptions in Sri Lanka The aim of this study is to discover the perceptions children in Sri Lanka have regarding road safety and specifically related to their own safety as pedestrians which may influence their risk of being involved in a RTA. The results of this study will enable a greater understanding of how a defined group of children in Colombo, Sri Lanka use the local roads, what they know about road safety, how they perceive it and therefore whether they generally behave in accordance to their knowledge and perceptions. This was discussed above by Zeedyk et al5 who found the knowledge of the children in their study did not affect their behaviour. The objectives of this study are to: – Observe and record the road behaviour of children in the local area – Identify what the children know about pedestrian safety – Discover whether the children know why certain practices are safe – Make comparisons between what the children know about road safety and say they are aware of and how they behave in the real situation Detailed Research Proposal pedestrian injury Children are particularly vulnerable to pedestrian death because they are exposed to traffic threats that exceed their cognitive, developmental, behavioral, physical and sensory abilities. This is exacerbated by the fact that parents overestimate their children’s pedestrian skills. Children are impulsive and have difficulty judging speed, spatial relations, and distance. Auditory and visual acuity, depth perception and proper scanning ability develop gradually and do not fully mature until at least age 10. Method RTA death rates in Sri Lanka totalled 11 per 100 000 population in 1995[vii] with pedestrian accidents accounting for 45% of the total fatal accidents, one of the highest rates in Asia[viii]. The research will be carried out among children in Sri Lanka. The selected site is Galle Road, Colombo which is the main road from Colombo to Galle along the west coast of Sri Lanka and is the location of a number of schools. The assumption will be made that the majority of child pedestrians walking alongside and crossing that particular road are from one of the local schools. The study population will be girls and boys aged 5-15 years old attending schools in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Research shows RTAs predominantly affect those under the age of 15 [ix]. Schools in Sri Lanka are commonly single sex which means children will be selected from 2 schools, St Peter’s College, a boys’ school and Holy Family Convent, a girls’ school. Worldwide, boys are more likely to be affected by RTAs than girls so studying boys and girls may highlight important differences which could account for such a difference between them[x] [xi]. I was unable to find any research indicating which children are most at risk of RTAs only that those under 15 are an increased risk compared to the rest of the population. Research from Canada suggests children aged 6-9 years are most at risk and in a survey on children’s road safety practice several countries including the UK, New Zealand and the US identified those under 10 as most at risk[xii]. Research such as this in low income countries is scarce. Consequently I have decided to select the age groups 7-8 and 9-10 years as my sample. The methods being used in this study have been deemed inappropriate for children under 6 to carry out. Two classes of children, aged 7-8 and 9-10 from each of the schools mentioned year group will be studied, giving a total of 4 classes. Variations in ages might allow for difference in safety knowledge due to age to be identified. For example if the younger children perceive a certain dangerous practice to be safe and the same results are found in the older children this may indicate a problem with safety education or local road dangers rather than naivety due to age.