Explain which inventory systems should be used in each situation Assignment

Explain which inventory systems should be used in each situation - Assignment Example a. For the purposes of supplying my kitchen with fresh food, I would consider the fixed-time period model for my inventory system. This is because fresh food should be of constant supply in my kitchen and ready to use at any given time, hence I would order at certain intervals of time for example every weekend. It is also more convenient due to the different types of fresh food involved. b. Obtaining a daily news paper is definitely more of a one-time purchase, thus i would apply the single-period model for my daily newspaper. This is because I would either receive the evening news paper once in a day or the morning news paper once in a day depending with my preference. c. For the purposes of buying gas for my car i would prefer the fixed-order quantity model since I would like to maintain a given quantity of gas in my car at any given time. This quantity of gas is only eligible for refill when my car almost runs out of the quantity I purchased earlier so as to reduce my level of stocking out. The item in my list with the highest stock out cost is buying gas for my car. This is because I would only want to maintain gas quantity in my car to a certain level with a given quantity so that i would monitor it to a level that the stock out risk is great enough for me to order a

Google Essay Example for Free

Google Essay 1.) An API user is given an account but is not able to view that account through the interface. The reason being: c. APIuserhasâ€Å"APIOnly†access 2.) API allows developers to use applications that: d. InteractdirectlywiththeAdWordsserver 3.) Bud would like to test new logic that uses API without modifying his live campaigns. Which tools would allow him to do this? b. AdWordsAPISandbox 4.) Which of the following allows advertisers to automate AdWords reporting and campaign management? a. UseofanAPIwebservice 5.) What is the benefit of the API? a. Advertisers can make dynamic changes to their AdWords accounts at scale. 6.) If someone wants to make frequent, specific changes to bids based on criteria for more than 100k keywords, what tool is most efficient? b. AdWordsAPI 7.) A user clicks on an ad for sneakers. He isn’t directed to a page with sneakers. He also receives : c. Linktoarelevantpageandremovethepop-up 8.) A good landing page for spring dresses would display? a. Severalcolorsofspringdresses 9.) A benefit of including a keyword within an ad text is that the keyword will: d. Itwillappearboldwithinthead 10.) To differentiate ads from competitors advertisers should: c. Includeprice,promotionsandacall-to-action 11.) How can advertisers determine the most profitable keywords within a company? b. Comparethecostincurredbyeachkeywordwiththeconversiondataforthatkeyword. 12.) You search keywords that should trigger your ad but your ad doesn’t appear. Why is this? a. Yourcampaigns are targeting a location outside where you are physically located. 13.) You want to increase the position of an ad but don’t want to raise the bid. How can you increase ad rank? c. Makechangestoimprovethequalityscoreofthead’skeywords. 14.) A high quality score can: b. Improveanad’sposition 15.) What is the most appropriate action to take if your keywords are below the â€Å"first page bid estimate?† a. Considerincreasingthebidoreditingthekeywordtoimprovequalityscore. 16.) You make edits to an ad and the position decreases. What was the cause? d. Theeditedversionislessrelevanttothekeywordswithintheadgroup. 17.) You have the same keyword in two different ad groups. The one to win within an auction will be the one with: b. Thebestqualityscore 18.) To improve the performance of an ad group on a search network, advertisers should create ad groups by creating: b. Keywordsthatarealsoincludedintheadtext 19.) In an AdWords account, which statistic is viewable for each ad group? c. Averagecostperclick 20.) Which of the following is the recommended action for new mobile ad campaigns? a. Useamobile-optimizedlandingpage 21.) An advertiser selling computer monitors is writing new ad text. Which line of ad text fits AdWords policy? d. 20-70%offLCDmonitors 22.) To achieve the best performance of text ads, which is a best practice? c. Includewordslikefindandsearchintheadtext 23.) What type of keywords tend to perform better with mobile ads? d. Shortgeneralkeywords 24.) A campaign that is targeting desktops is only performing well with text and image ads. The advertisers want to reach mobile devices. They should: b. Createaseparateadgroupformobileadswithintheexistingcampaign. 25.) If the query â€Å"Seattle Plumbers† is entered, Google will use the location term that is part of the query to show ads: a. TargetedtoSeattleregardlessoftheuser’sphysicallocation 26.) You are running a campaign that targets only France. However, you see clicks from users in Switzerland. Why might this happen? a. UsersinSwitzerlandaresearchingonGoogle’sFrenchdomain 27.) What is the quickest way to add a long list of locations to target in an AdWords campaign? d. Usethebulklinkinthecustomtaboflocationsettings 28.) Why would an advertiser use the bundles option when choosing location targeting? b. Toquicklyselectagroupofcountriesorterritoriestotarget 29.) Which tool allows you to test different combinations of website content for the purpose of improving conversion? c. Websiteoptimizer 30.) It is important to identify specific goals of an AdWords campaign so you can: c. Makestrategicchangestotheaccounttoimproveperformance 31.) A florist is advertising for five types of flowers, including red roses. When users type the phrase â€Å"red roses† Google shows the ad. What landing is more likely to result in a sale? a. Apageonthesitethatdisplaysonlyroses. 32.) Which of the following are key elements when optimizing a landing page for AdWords? b. Relevantandoriginalcontentthatclearlyrepresentsthebusiness. 33.) What report helps you identify which pages on your site should be optimized? d. Toplandingpages 34.) A user conducts a â€Å"laptop computers† search and clicks on an ad. Which landing page could be most relevant? d. Categorypagecontainingavarietyoflaptopcomputers. 35.) An advertiser can provide physical address location info about their business through Google places account. Ads that include this type of info are eligible to show on: a. Anynetworksselectedinthecampaign’ssettings 36.) Which feature distinguishes location extension from regional and customized campaign targeting? b. Customizedcampaigntargetingisrequiredinordertoenablelocationextensions. 37.) Business listings in Google places can be:

Evaluating Television Advertisements For Effectiveness

Evaluating Television Advertisements For Effectiveness Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication that is designed to communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes. Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively. Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or persuade voters; by not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular ac tivities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to smoke. The forms that advertising takes and the media in which advertisements appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they wish to deliver. The word advertise originates from the Latin advertere , which means to turn toward or to take note of. Certainly, the visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of advertising are intended to attract attention and produce some response by the viewer. Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape. Newspapers and magazines often have more advertisements than copy; radio and television provide entertainment but are also laden with advertisements; advertisements pop up on Internet sites; and the mail brings a variety of advertisements. Advertising also exists on billboards along the freeway, in subway and train stations, on benches at bus stops, and on the frames around car license plates. In shopping malls, there are prominent logos on designer clothes, moviegoers regularly view advertisements for local restaurants, hair salons, and so on, and live sporting and cultural events often include signage, logos, products, and related information about the event spons ors. The pervasiveness of advertising and its creative elements are designed to cause viewers to take note. Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may achieve this objective in many different ways. An important function of advertising is the identification function, that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other products. Another function of advertising is to communicate information about the product, its attributes, and its location of sale; this is the information function. The third function of advertising is to induce consumers to try new products and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion function. The identification function of advertising includes the ability of advertising to differentiate a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality. One famous example of this is found in the long-running advertising for Ivory Soap. In the late 1800s, a soap maker at Procter and Gamble left his machine running during his lunch period and returned to find a whipped soap that, when made into bars, floated. The company decided to capitalize on this mistake by advertising Ivory Soap with the phrase It Floats. This characteristic of Ivory Soap served to uniquely identify it and differentiate it from other bars of soap. The information function of advertising can also be found in advertising for Ivory Soap. For more than one hundred years, advertisements for Ivory Soap have focused on such product characteristics as purity of ingredients, child care, and soft skin. These characteristics, in turn, were often related to key benefits that could be obtained from using Ivory Soap. Thus, various advertisements emphasized That Ivory Look, which focused on the relationships between product characteristics and the benefits of obtaining a fresh and healthy appearance. The third and most important function of advertising, persuasion, is also evident in the long-running Ivory Soap advertising campaigns. The advertiser, Procter and Gamble, has linked Ivory Soap with obtaining benefits that are important to customers: a fresh and healthy appearance for women, a mild, nonirritating method for bathing babies, and a novelty for children in the tub (since it floats). The benefits of the product suggest reasons to buy and use Ivory Soap and thus provide a basis for persuading consumers. Different benefits are important to different customers. Thus, to realize its full potential as a persuasive tool, advertising must often be tailored to emphasize those benefits that are important and meaningful for a particular type of customer or a particular use of the product. Advertising has a very long history. It existed in ancient times in the form of signs that advertised wares in markets. In Europe and colonial America, criers were often employed by shopkeepers to shout a message throughout a town. Medicine shows, in which there was a combination of entertainment and an effort to sell a product, usually a patent medicine or elixir, presaged modern advertising by creating an entertainment context in which advertising was embedded. Advertising became especially important in the second half of the nineteenth century as retailers began to advertise products and prices that would bring customers to their stores. Advertising for patent medicines also played a prominent role in the development of advertising, and by the end of the nineteenth century, the firms that would become advertising agencies had already begun to form. Though user habits are rapidly changing, television advertising has long been considered the most effective mass-market advertising format. The introduction of digital video recorders such as TiVo, which allows viewers to skip advertisements, as well as the popularity of commercial-free cable channels, have begun to diminish the reach and effectiveness of TV advertising. Television advertisings crowning moment is the Super Bowl, where companies debut their very best television commercials, effectively putting them in competition with all of the other television commercials. With the cost of a single 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl running into the millions, most companies opt instead for running their TV advertising in time slots that best match their advertising budget. Television is the most common and most wide spread advertising medium. Watching TV is the most common leisure activity among the consumers.They spend attentive time watching TV.It will not be an exaggeration to describe television as the giant advertising medium as a report shows that people spend 5 to 6 hours (average) a day watching TV. Showing your ad on TV has several advantages.TV reaches almost every household and it touches more people than any other medium can do.Even the most popular newspaper only covers the metropolitan area.However TV reaches every corner of your city, your state and your country.In fact some of the very popular channels reach the whole world. Reach Larger Audience than Newspaper Newspaper can only accommodate pictures and words.TV reaches much larger audience than newspaper can do and it can do this work within a very short span of time.Another thing that you should keep in mind is that people usually look only for the news and they overlook the ad in newspapers.However if you run your ad in the middle of the favorite TV commercials of the consumers they will surely watch the ad. TV Ads have Visual Appeal You can also go for radio ads,but again radio only captures sound.TV is the only medium that uses words,sounds,picture (both still and movie) and also music to motivate the consumers emotionally.With so many options it successfully captures the viewers complete attention. You can Take Your Audience Anywhere TV ads are so popular because with a camera you can take your audience almost anywhere you wish.You can show them anything. Not only the end result but also your factory,the procedure of making the product,the packaging and so on.It appeals to the viewers sight and hearing at the same time.With the application of color it turns the world of advertisement into a real world and it easily makes people believe in it. TV Ads can Emotionally Motivate the Consumers Television can show many people about your product or service at a time.Every time the consumers see the benefit of using your product or service they will get inspired to buy it.It will remind them of their desire to possess what you offer.It can instantly give your product or service the prominence it needs. Reach Targeted Audience TV ads can reach the target audience most easily.You can reach the housewives between the best commercials or soaps. You can make funny ads for children and reach them during they watch their favorite cartoon programs.You can reach the elderly people during some religious programming and the office goers during news. However remember a few things while making a TV ad.Make it simple so that people can easily remember it.Repeat your ad at regular intervals.Go for a single consistent message. Offer what the audience wants and focus on the consumer needs.You will surely make a successful ad. Being titled theKing of advertising medium television has the power to influence consumer behavior over and again. Despite the many entertainment options we have today, television remains the dominant medium in most U.S. households, according to a study by Ball State University. Americans on average spend over 4 1/2 hours watching TV each day. Advertising your product or business on television can be very effective, but there are also several drawbacks. Before you purchase ad time, you should be aware of the disadvantages of advertising on television. Expense Producing a television commercial and purchasing airtime is costlyit is the most expensive form of advertising there is. TV commercial production is often a complicated process which can involve a lot of manpower, time and equipment. Some ads are simplefor example, just graphics and a voiceover. Other ads involve renting a studio and equipment, hiring a director, writers, actors, light and camera operators and editors. Who you hire to produce your ad will also affect the overall cost. For a less expensive, albeit lower quality ad, use your local cable station, which often has the capability to produce ads. If you have more to spend and want a higher quality ad, hire a professional production company. And assuming youre not an advertising professional, its wise to hire an advertising agency to help you come up with a campaign, which will add further expense. Besides production, there are a number of other factors affecting the final cost of your ad. Once the commercial is completed, you must then purchase airtime on one or more TV stations. According to AllBusiness.com, the key with TV advertising is repetition, so youll want to air the commercial as many times as possible. This is why TV stations offer pricing in bulk. Another cost factor is the size of the market in which you run the commercial. Airtime in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas is more expensive than in Eureka, California or Amarillo, Texas. And cost will also depend upon where the ad will be seen. Local advertising on cable TV is significantly less expensive than ads that run on major networks nationwide. Changes Because of the complex process of making TV commercials, it can be difficult to make changes once the ad is complete. If a sale price or special offer needs changing, it could take days or weeks to make the adjustment at additional cost. Meantime, you may be unable to run your ad if the information is no longer correct. This will cost you valuable time during which youre not reaching your audience, unfortunate especially if youre advertising an event or limited time offer. In comparison, a newspaper or radio ad can be changed almost overnight and will likely cost little or nothing to change. Ad Campaign Creating an effective advertising campaign is not an easy task. You want your ad to be memorable, informative and entertaining enough to keep the viewers attention. If you dont have prior experience writing ads, you should hire an advertising agency. You can present them with the information you want to use in the ad, as well as any creative ideas you may have. The advertising professional will help you shape your information and ideas into what will hopefully be an effective ad campaign. Just remember that even agency-created, high-quality campaigns dont always work. TV-viewing audiences can be fickle and hard to please; sometimes its difficult to tell whether your ad will bring them to your business or make them change the channel. Your best chance of creating an effective ad campaign is to leave it to professionals. Hitting the Target Finding the right viewers is critical to the ads success. If youre selling womens shoes, then buying ad time during Monday Night Football is unwise, as most of the viewing audience is male. Run your ad instead during shows mostly viewed by women. Your advertising agency or a TV stations advertising department can help you decide when and on what channels you should advertise. They have access to Nielsen ratings, which are compiled from surveys that ask TV viewers what they watch. These ratings also provide viewer demographicsinformation such as gender, age and economic class. These statistics make it easier to determine when your ad should air based upon audience makeup; if your ad misses its target audience, it may fail to increase your business. Avoiding Commercials For viewers, television advertising can be an annoyance. Many people use commercial breaks to go to the bathroom, get a snack or flip channels. Add to that all the other entertainment options they have such as video-on-demand, radio, the Internet, Mp3 players and video gamesopportunities abound to miss the ad altogether. All you can do as an advertiser is create the best ad you can, repeat it often and hope viewers watch it and patronize your business. DVR A relatively new technology that is making its way into households across the nation is the DVR or Digital Video Recorder. A more modern version of a VCR, a DVR allows users to digitally record TV shows easilyand automatically, and to record more than one show at a time. Unfortunately for the advertising industry, DVRs allow users to fast-forward through commercials. According to Cnet News, a March 2006 study by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research said about 70 percent of advertisers surveyed believed that DVRs and video-on-demand will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials. It remains to be seen just what sort of effect DVRs will have on television advertising. Evaluating television advertisements for effectiveness is difficult since each viewer is affected by them in a different way. A general formula known by the acronym AIDCA is used by many advertisers to determine whether or not an ad will succeed in influencing viewers. The A in AIDCA stands for Attention, the I is for Interest, the D is for Desire, the C is for Credibility or Conviction, and the final A stands for Action. Each of these steps is believed to be key in creating a quality advertisement.

Electronic Democracy Essay -- Politics Internet Web Elections Essays

Electronic Democracy Today, people go online and instantly communicate with others all over the world. Given this technology, is it possible to revolutionize our current political process and enable online users to cultivate their own political group to affect change? Jon Katz article, The Netizen: Birth of a Digital Nation suggests that young, educated, affluent people make up the new Digital Nation who can and should build a more civil society utilizing online computer technology. On assignment for HotWireds The Netizen Katz was supposed to write about how the media was affected by the Web during the Presidential election of 1996. However, Katz found early on that the Web was not an influence in 1996 politics. Instead, he found an online culture that used chat rooms and web sites to communicate their political positions. Katz began to post his own positions online, receiving innumerable feedback on them. He found his opinions were just that---ideas that other people challenged, changed or agreed with. He gave ideas, but smarter people improved them or showed him why he was incorrect. There was much to be learned on the Internet believed Katz. He discovered the net could be the tool to bring about change in the political arena and even our culture. The net offers individuals the ability and freedom to voice their opinions; yet it is a distinct group of young people who are taking the opportunity to interact with one another creating a new political ideology (217). Katz believes these individuals are utilizing the Stomel 2 Internet to produce their own political entity. These are people who work on the Internet, created the Net, and whose business, social, and cultural lives (217) revolve around it. In essence, a new soc... ... also physically within their communities. It is doubtful this can happen when this group uses words to attempt change rather than action. Stomel 6 Works Cited DeLuca, Tom Jr. Two Faces Of Political Apathy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1995. Katz, Jon. The Netizen: Birth of a Digital Nation. Composing Cyberspace: Identity, Community, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age. Ed. Richard Holeton. Boston: McGraw-Hill Inc. 1998. 214-225. Phillips, Kevin. Wealthy and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich. New York: Broadway Books. 2003. Tatchell, Peter. Direct Action For Democracy. Guardian Unlimited. January 30, 2003. http//politics.guardian.co.uk/apathy/comment/0,12822,885318,00html (3 Oct. 2003). What Influence Does Wealth Have Over Politics? Geocities.com (3 Oct. 2003).

Different Perspectives in Psychology Coexist Rather Than Conflict

This paper approaches the topic from a consideration of psychological research in the fields of sex and gender and language. It does so in general terms and avoids discussion at levels of detail. Therefore where a reference is made to specific research the intention is to do no more than exemplify a general principle. The paper will conclude that different perspectives in psychology do at times co-exist, though complement and conflict are frequent.It will suggest the lack of a decisive answer is a result of the relative immaturity of Psychology as a discipline and a concomitant lack of adequately powerful theories that might serve to unite otherwise disparate perspectives. A consideration of how psychology approaches the study of sex and gender reveals, amongst others, four significant theoretical perspectives that are for the most part quite distinct in terms of their objects of knowledge and consequent methods of analysis.Biological psychology is concerned with explaining the diffe rences between male and female in terms of hormones, genes and brain structure. It is mechanistic, with a strong empirical tradition. Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain differences between sexes in terms of behavioural selection for reproductive fitness. Whilst in large part necessarily theoretical, it embraces empirical methods as a means of testing theories. Social constructionist psychology approaches sex and gender through the study of discourse in various historical, cultural and social contexts and so is hermeneutic.Finally psychoanalytic psychology primarily uses clinical observation and the study of infants to gather evidence of how humans acquire and develop a sense of sex and gender (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 127ff). (6) The immediate impression from the above is that the scope for complement, conflict or co-existence is not clear-cut. Given that they do not share common objects of knowledge, the hope might be for complementary theories that together cont ribute to a broad understanding. Certainly the biological and evolutionary perspectives appear complementary at the theoretical level n that both regard biological sex as the determinant of gender and view differences between sexes as biological features that have been selected for during evolution. However, biological psychology attempts to explain differences in male-female psychology in terms of selected physiological characteristics, for example dimorphism in brain structures (cf. Hofman and Swaab, 1991, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 139). On the other hand the evolutionary psychologist would principally argue in favour of selected behavioural characteristics such as differences between male and female sexual attitudes (cf. Clark and Hatfield, 1989, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 146).There is thus an apparent conflict at the level of analysis. It is therefore ironic that evolutionary psychology must perforce co-exist with biological psychology since, given the understand able constraints on its ability to conduct the sorts of empirical investigations that might be wished for (cf. Herrnstein-Smith, 2000, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 173), it is dependent on a certain amount of corroboration from the biological perspective, amongst others (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 84). (22) Whereas the biological and evolutionary perspectives agree that biological sex lies at the heart of explaining gender, the social constructionist perspective explicitly rejects that view; sometimes for political reasons (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 185; see Spence, 1984 and Spender, 1980). Social constructionism regards both sex and gender as characteristics that are revealed only through discourse and action. They are a consequence of the individual's behaviour and experience in a given cultural, social and historical context (ibid).The depth of the conflict is exemplified by a comparison of evolutionary studies that emphasise cross-cultural stability in part icular sexual preferences (cf. Singh 1995, p. 148; Buss and Schmitt, 1993, p. 148, cited in Holloway et al, 2007) and social constructionist ideas such as Bem's (1994, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 153) Gender Schema Theory. Crucially, for the social constructionist gender is something that is continually re-established throughout the lifetime of the individual (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 153). From the biological and evolutionary perspectives, it is predetermined. 33) Whilst the psychodynamic perspective largely complements the social constructionist, in terms of its interpretive or hermeneutic methodology, its explanations largely focus on the unconscious given that its objects of study entail â€Å"the meaning of the biological differences between men and women and how these become internalised in the child's mind† (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 184).Thus both the social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives conflict with the biological and evolu tionary approaches at the methodological level. Uniquely however (ibid, p. 86) the psychodynamic perspective recognises both biological and cultural contributions to it's theorising. It is not without its share of conflict however. Within the perspective, Freudian notions of the opposite sexed p arent as ‘sexual object of choice' and ‘penis envy' (ibid, p. 161f) quickly came under scrutiny of female and feminist psychologists (cf. Horney, 1926, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 163). There is also conflict with evolutionary explanations of rape as an adaptive strategy (compare Thornhill and Palmer, 2000 and Rose and Rose, 2000 cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 71, p. 172). (26) Turning to a consideration of the study of language and meaning, one finds an equally intriguing mix of potential co-existence, complement and conflict when comparing the three principal perspectives. The evolutionary perspective sets out to explore the origins of language and its implications for the human species; the cognitive perspective adopts an information processing approach to the transmission of meaning; and the social constructionist perspective focuses on â€Å"meaning making† as a dynamic between interlocutors (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 119).It is possible therefore to view the three perspectives as at least co-existent. Their objects of knowledge are different and one might expect their cumulative product to contribute to some sort of unified theory. Indeed, from the evolutionary perspective Deacon (1997, Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 115) suggests that language is a social phenomenon that defies explanation only in psychological, or only in neuro-biological terms. (9) However, the potential for conflict between the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives is revealed in how they view meaning as the object of knowledge.For the former it is something that is constructed internally by the individual prior to transmission, and subsequently rec onstructed by the audience. For the latter it is negotiated as a result of discourse between individuals – meaning emerges as the result of a complex interplay of intentions, interpretations and power-relations. Thus, there is cause for disagreement as to what â€Å"meaning† is and where it comes from (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 102). That this is adequate to justify a claim of conflict seems weak since the types of â€Å"meaning† espoused by the two perspectives are themselves different.Further, at the level of common sense they are mutually sustaining. The very notion of discourse requires at least two participants seeking, though perhaps not achieving, a consensus of meaning. This demands that at some level each participant is cognising about their intended meaning and how the other is construing it. The implication is that the two perspectives ought to complement the other, or at least co-exist. (6) A key social constructionist argument against a pur ist cognitive perspective is that linguistic (and other cognitive) processes cannot be â€Å"transparently reported† (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 11). This argument is one that cognitive researchers have long acknowledged.Commenting on early research into the cognitive modelling of language Boden (1977, pp. 113ff, et passim) notes that a person's understanding of language in a given instance is dependent, not simply on their knowledge of the world around them, but crucially on their understanding of their relationship with their interlocutors. Other researchers emphasise the point (cf. Sperber and Wilson, 1986, cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 99). For their part, social constructionists such as Edwards et al (1992, p. 42, cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 112) recognise the importance of the cognitive perspective and suggest only that theirs is a new perspective that offers different insights. Therefore, unless a researcher is determined to hold to one or the other perspective as a matter of purist dogma, it seems more reasonable given the disparate loci of the respective objects of knowledge and the statements that each perspective favourably acknowledges the other, then the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives are thus far co-existent. (32)Within the evolutionary perspective there is a debate as to whether language evolved as an adaptational advantage and was the foundation for other cognitive abilities (Pinker, 2000 cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 121), or as a consequence of selection for an ability to form and manipulate predictive metarepresentations (Sperber, 2000 cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 121). These are polarised and conflicting views. Pinker's would complement the cognitive perspective with its emphasis on information processing, whilst Sperber would complement the social constructionist.However, Deacon (1997) offers evidence that both capacities evolved in parallel. If he is correct, then there are substant ial grounds for seeking a complementary accommodation between the cognitive and social constructionist paradigms. (6) Even from this scant evaluation, one is struck by the disparate objects of knowledge, types of theory and methodologies. The inevitable conclusion is that psychology is characterised by perspectives that at one or more of these levels conflict, co-exist or complement.One might wish for a parallel to the cosmologist's search for a Unified Theory of Matter; where although theories might diverge cosmology has one over-arching object of study and one comprehensive methodology in computational empiricism. Psychologists do not stand on such substantial bedrock. The questions they pose are often difficult to formulate computationally without reducing the predictive power of any solution, or indeed are abstractions that cannot be treated computationally without trivialising them (see Sundem, 2006 for amusing examples).Whereas the history of physics can be measured in thousan ds of years, psychology as a recognisable discipline has existed for just over a century. A sense of internal conflict muted by convenient co-existence and fortunate complement should not therefore come as a disappointment. It is merely an acknowledgement that psychology is still an emerging and diverse field, and that whatever conflict exists can reasonably be attributed to a lack of sufficiently powerful theories with which to reconcile the different perspectives. This essay focuses on the social perspective of psychology referring Language nd Meaning and Gender and Sex. It deals with the relationship between psychological theory and method in a range of material in both chapters, with particular attention to how social influences shape human development and behaviour. Language and Meaning ‘Language and meaning’, is used to describe a social constructionist approach to language. There are several ways in which the social perspective has promoted understanding in this area. There are primarily two different psychological perspectives on language: cognitive and social.These approaches take evidence from different research bodies, each of which have a different focus As social beings, we continuously interact with other people, thinking about our use of language and how it may best serve us. The social constructionist perspective sees language as a way of creating meaning between individuals as they interact. The social psychological perspective defines the human world as being created through language, making it one of its most powerful and important features. This approach to language sees people using language to take action and achieve objectives.Language is seen as a means by which goals might be achieved. The social psychological approaches to language therefore focuses on understanding language and its meanings as a social process. It sees language as an interactive process between people. It is seen as social because it involves this very i nteraction, and it is through this social interaction that meaning is created. Social psychology argues that there is more to language than the knowledge of syntax, semantics, phonics and coding and other rules of language, even if these are described as being interactive within a cognitive approach.This argument helps define the contrast between social psychological and cognitive approaches to language. In social psychological perspectives, the purpose of language is not to reflect thoughts and emotions and convey them neutrally to someone else. Instead, the motivation for language is defined by the desired action brought about by the use of language. Social psychological approaches to language do not place meaning inherently in the constructions of language such as lexicon, grammar or semantics in the same way as cognitive approaches do.One of the methodological complexities involved in researching language is that we must use language itself as the means by which we research it a s a subject in its own right. This issue is at the centre of the tension that exists between cognitive and social approaches to language. The paradox here is that the necessity of responding in language may predetermine what is said about language. The cognitive perspective assumes that there are separate cognitive processes that language can represent in communication to others, or in dialogue with the self.The accuracy of this depends upon how closely language communicates the cognition behind it. Cognitive psychologists believe that the thinking that underlies language can be studied accurately and in social isolation. However, discursive psychology argues that, when people use language, they do so in a social context, with an audience and for a reason. The social constructionist approach views language as the means for the socially produced meaning. It is the means by which people construct their world, interact with others and set out to achieve their objectives.The cognitive a pproach sees language as the part of the cerebral information processing. It can be argued that meaning is generated by people as they communicate. There is therefore a tension between the social constructionist and cognitive perspectives with respect to meaning and whether it is communicated between people or constructed between them. The social constructionist perspective on language is that it is a tool for social interaction. These different views of language have different implications – the cognitive perspective is that language underpins human thought.The social constructionist approach has no particular implication for the relationship of language to thought as it places language firmly within a socially constructed context. Sex and Gender ‘The psychology of sex and gender’, is used to refer to the social constructionist approach to sex and gender. There are several ways in which the social perspective has promoted understanding this area. With respect to the two terms (sex and gender), there is a distinction between the biological and the social.However, biological sex may also be expressed in behaviour that is influenced by social factors and psychological meanings. Therefore, as labels, sex and gender may only be useful as theoretical constructs. However, gender is usually taken to refer to social constructs that pertain to biological differences. These sex differences can be the result of interactions between biological, psychological and social processes. Social constructionist psychology looks at how sex and gender have been constructed within particular social contexts.It examines these social constructions and their influences. The social constructionist perspective is based upon the theory that the construction of meaning through language and social practices as discussed in the section above has produced patterns of behaviour, cognition and emotions that are gender-differentiated. Social constructionism argues that behavio ur cannot be directly explained solely by biological, reproductive sex. It also argues that the world is constructed to have two biological types (male and female) who have many diverse social and behavioural manifestations.This suggests that the many discourses of masculinity and femininity are socially produced. Social constructionism sees reproductive sex as being the visible difference between the sexes that provides the basis for a range of socially constructed gender differences. According to this perspective, biological sex is not central to explaining gender identity, but is a visible indicator to which a range of socially constructed gender differences are attached. Discourses about masculinity and femininity are therefore used by individuals to create their own gendered positionality.Gender is seen as being constructed throughout life, as behaviour and experience is defined through cultural manifestations of gender. Evolutionary psychologists also acknowledge social influe nces on sexual behaviour. However, they provide no systematic way explaining this in their experimental approach. The strength of the social constructionist approach to gender is its ability to take into account the social and cultural contexts of individuals. Evolutionary psychology however does offer some explanation of the origins of gender difference.The social constructionist perspective argues that sex is not central to explaining gender differences. Evolutionary and social constructionist perspectives have contrasting ideas about the relationship between sex and gender. Psychoanalytic psychology takes a different approach to social constructionism’s emphasis on external influences in determining people’s behaviour. However, both social constructionism and psychoanalysis are based upon the interpretation of meaning.Unlike evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, in common with social constructionist psychology, believe that the researcher’s positionality a nd subjectivity is inevitably involved in research. The onset of puberty is an example of the convergence of biological, psychoanalytic and social constructionist perspectives. The psychoanalytic and social constructionist approaches use methods that consider people’s beliefs and experiences, and focus on the interpretation of meaning by relying on the interpretation of symbolic data.The social constructionist perspective examines the importance of culture in the construction of gender. The psychoanalytic perspective acknowledges both the importance of biological difference and the social and cultural meanings inherent in this difference. The social constructionist and psychodynamic perspectives may be seen as complementary to each other in terms of methodology, as both use approaches are based on a hermeneutic theory to understand the meanings of gender.Conclusion The social constructionist perspective underpins discursive psychological theories of meaning as emerging from c ontext and interaction. Although the social perspective goes some way to addressing the influences of language and gender issues, there are some aspects which are also given a different perspective by other approaches. This can be seen in the sometimes useful linguistics frameworks of syntax, phonics, semantics etc. which is adopted by cognitive psychologists.In some instances the social perspective complements other perspectives. Such an example is psychoanalysis in the area of sex and gender. However, in other instances it more commonly just co-exists, for example in the case of social constructivism and evolutionary psychology. Social constructivism is in clear conflict with the cognitive perspective in the area of language as illustrated and argued above. Cognitive and social constructionist perspectives make conflicting assumptions about communication.

The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick

The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 2008. The Russian Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press is a book exploring the Russian Revolution: 1917 – 1932. I have chosen this book for analysis in order to improve my knowledge of that historic period and get better understanding of the essence, causes and aims of the Revolution.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The second reason for my choice was that I wanted to examine new approaches to the issue and develop my critical thinking as this book provides a new perspective and new aspects of the historical events. It is a sort of reading for those who are critical about history and want to develop personal opinion independent from a generally accepted point of view. In addition, the book is not very long, but rich in content and provides not only general information, but details of that historical per iod. What is more, the book is easy to read. The topic of the book is Russian Revolution, its aims, purposes, causes, consequences and flow. There are different approaches to the time period that can be considered revolutionary. The author of this book defines the following frames: â€Å"The timespan of the Russian Revolution runs from February 1917 to the Great Purge of 1937-8. The different stages – the February and October Revolutions of 1917, the Civil War, the interlude of NEP, Stalin’s â€Å"revolution from above†, its aftermath and the Great Purges – are treated as district episodes in a twenty-year process of revolution† (Fitzpatrick 2008, 4). The book consists of chapters which contain comprehensive and critical analysis of each period supported by various historiographical references. Three major themes of the Russian Revolution are discussed in each chapter. The first theme is the Bolsheviks’ vision of the revolution as a mean of modernization of the society. Fitzpatrick defines the goal of Bolsheviks as â€Å"revolution as a means of escaping backwardness.† (Fitzpatrick 2008, 4). The second major theme is the class theme: revolution as the â€Å"mission of proletariat† to create a new working class. The third team discloses the problem of violence and terror that took place in the country.Advertising Looking for report on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The author provides the information on how Revolution â€Å"dealt with its enemies† (that often were innocent people), what meaning it had for the government and why the government was so afraid of those â€Å"enemies†. The author presents the Revolution as a set of agitations and recurrences. She describes the results of the Revolution as positive to a certain extent. The Stalin’s Revolution extended the direct state over the economy and gre atly improved the economic state of the country. Fitzpatrick states that Russian peasants were more progressive than in the rest of the Western Europe, as a consequence, they formed a new class of workers. The Stalin’s Revolution provided new and productive ways of exploiting peasant agriculture. The state was strong and â€Å"disciplined†. However, the author emphasizes the price of that power: â€Å"The persecution of â€Å"class enemies† in collectivization and the Cultural Revolution had left a complex legacy of bitterness, fear, and suspicion, as well as encouraging such practices as denunciation, purging, and â€Å"self-criticism† (Fitzpatrick 2008, 148). We can consider this book a highly reliable source of information, as its author, Sheila Fitzpatrick, is a renowned specialist in the field of the Soviet History. She made a great contribution to the study of Soviet History, as well as modern Russian history. Among her recent publications are Ever yday Stalinism (2000), Tear of the Mask! Identity and Imposture in Twentieth-Century Russia (2005). Her works primarily focus on the social and cultural history of Russia of the Stalin period. Her biography is rich in awards, among which is a Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her works are not a mere description of events and personalities. She provides her vision of the problem or historical event which is based on archive materials and researches by other Western authors. The book is also very interesting to read as the author has a particular approach to the subject discussed. First of all, the author provides the idea that Russian society was not ready for revolution and that Russian Revolution of 1917 was a â€Å"contradiction† to the idea of Marx’s revolution. The citizens were the rural peasants who were industrial workers and they were more willing for a revolt than Marx expecte d them to be.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another Fitzpatrick’s idea that generally contradicts a commonly accepted point of view that October Revolution contributed strength and discipline to the organization of the state. The author argues this point of view. She states that Provisional Government decided to â€Å"intransigent radicalism on the extreme left of the political spectrum† (Fitzpatrick 2008, 48) and could be seen by people as the only not corrupted part. The capture of power by Bolsheviks was just the first step of the Revolution. The next step was a Civil War that had a great influence on the flow of it and on the establishment of the Soviet power. However, the author does not try to persuade the reader in her point of view, she only presents facts and provides her assumptions. The task of the reader is to develop personal vision of the historical events and it not necessary should coincide with the author’s. The author assumes that: â€Å"For Russians and other former soviet citizens, the collapse of the Soviet Union meant a fundamental reappraisal of the meaning of the Revolution, previously hailed as the foundational event of the â€Å"world’s first social state† and now seen by many as a wrong turning that took Russia off course for seventy-four years† (Fitzpatrick 2008, 4). The author generally accepts this vision and analyzes the most important changes from the historical perspective. As the author used new document that became available after 1991, her vision of the Revolution has changed in some aspects. Outlining some positive sides of it, the author emphasizes the mistakes that were done. She supports her point of view with convincing evidences and analysis of works by other authors. Having read this book, I developed a bit different vision on the Russian Revolution. I can come to a conclusion that people were not ready for it and the actions that government undertook were contradictory to those suggested by Marx as people did not understand the essence of Revolution.Advertising Looking for report on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a result, the idea of revolution â€Å"to put power into hand of the working class† failed and all people got was just another government which tried to build new society subordinate to new rules. However, in general the book does not present different information, it just adds new details and evidences to what have already been studied. It is a good book for those who want a critique vision of the history. Reference List Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 2008. The Russian Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press.