The Ethics of Frankenstein

To say that Victor Frankenstein is an unethical person is an understatement. He totally doesn’t care about ethics. He only noticed that he was doing something very wrong only when he had already done it. If the people around Victor Frankenstein had known about what he was doing, then he would definitely run out of friends and people will hate him so much. Anyone will sure be offended if they discover what Frankenstein was doing. What Victor Frankenstein had done may be offensive to some, but not everyone. Some view it as a foreshadowing of advancements in science, when men can really play God. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a world renowned novel. It is a story about what could humans achieve if science can somewhat keep up with god in his majesty. The fictional project of Victor Frankenstein to infuse life on an inanimate body could have possibly been the inspiration for many scientific breakthroughs of today. These breakthroughs include robotics and cloning. But the novel also tells us of what could be the ethical consequences of such advancements. Victor Frankenstein utilized dead human and animal body parts to create a living organism. In the previous sentence alone, we could already unearth three ethical violations. He has violated the dead, both human and animal rights, and the most controversial of all: he played God. The dead is considered sacred by virtually every culture. It is highly unethical to violate the dead not to mention that there exist many laws about violating the departed. It is commonly regarded that the dead should be left at peace. Frankenstein had dug them from their resting place for the sake of his project of infusing life into an inanimate body. He had treated the dead with no respect. The dead body parts were just scattered all around his place. He even called the dead â€Å"the lifeless thing that lay at my feet† (Shelley 39). He just laid the dead body parts all around like a dirty rag. It is the right of every man to be left at peace, especially the dead. And no one has the right to steal. Victor had definitely stolen the bodies from their resting places. Victor Frankenstein had clearly neglected these basic human rights so it wouldn’t be more of a surprise if he violated animal rights. â€Å"I tortured a living animal to animate the lifeless clay?† (Shelley 36). What Victor Frankenstein had done is much like what big companies do today. They use animals in testing some of their product. They confine the poor animals and deprive them of their freedom. That is because their only sense of freedom is financial freedom. Because just like Victor Frankenstein, they think that as humans they have control other forms of life. It is a clichà © to say that humans always play god. The scientists of today are now performing ethically controversial procedures like human cloning. Mary Shelley had shown in her novel that very human trait of wanting to play god. Victor Frankenstein said himself â€Å"A new species shall bless me as his creator† (Shelley 36). As a matter of fact Victor Frankenstein was so into the pretend god thing that he had said to himself that a new species would recognize him as its creator and source many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to him (Shelley 36). It could also be possible that Mary Shelley wanted to explore the issue of immortality. Many great personalities throughout history had sought immortality. All had miserably failed. It is possible that Victor Frankenstein had recognized this want so he thought that his experiments could open the possibilities for immortality. Just like the genetic engineers of today who are willing to violate some ethical standards just to achieve a clue if immortality is really possible. Scientists like Victor Frankenstein himself are driven to do whatever it takes to find such discovery. This is because they know that immortality is what everyone wants. They know everyone wants to live forever especially the rich who are wiling to spend fortunes just for them to cling unto their material possessions. Even if we disregard the religion element in the topic of humans playing god, we would still find â€Å"playing god† as highly unethical. The scientist of today knows that when they perform cloning in humans, there could be abnormalities, and the clone has to live with those abnormalities. That is exactly what happened in the novel. The creature hated his own appearance and he has no one else to blame but his creator. â€Å"Oh! No mortal could possibly support the horror of that countenance†¦it became a thing such as Dante could not have conceived† (Shelley 40). The creature was of great ugliness â€Å"its unearthly ugliness rendered as almost too horrid for the human eye† (Shelley 77). The creature hated his creator but only because his creator hated him first. This hate-hate relationship just complicated both the lives of the creator and the creature. We can also include here creation ethics. We have all heard of various creation stories, from the bible and from mythologies. In this creation stories the humans were always created by the divine. That is because these stories recognize that humans can’t really answer the question where did we come from? Humans have thought of our origin ever since we began to think. And still up to this era of modern science, the origin of life still remains a mystery. Maybe it is juts beyond human comprehension, that’s why there is the divine. Maybe we can’t really get exact calculations. Maybe it’s even beyond mathematics and logic. The novel just tells us that we can never find any good in us playing god. We must acknowledge the fact that we are not gods, we are not perfect. The author of the novel herself recognized the fact that God is divinely superior to humans. She regarded God as a perfect creature. (Shelley 105) A very interesting ethical was posed by the creature in the novel. What are the ethical issues that may arise if the created is killed by the creator? Can we categorize that as murder? The creature wanting to end his miserable artificial life told Victor Frankenstein â€Å"You would not call it murder if you could precipitate me into one of those ice-rifts, and destroy my frame, the work of your own hands† (Shelley 119). The creature could be ethically correct since the definition of murder is taking away the life of other living being. After that definition of murder, people would follow that up with â€Å"only God can claim a life.† People say that because they believe in a divine plan. They believe that God claims a life because he has his reasons. And since people view God as perfect, His reasons will always be ethically correct. In that sense, God can never be a killer even though He is the one who decides on who is going to get killed. But that scenario is very different in divine proportions when it comes to the case of Victor Frankenstein and genetic engineers. Murder will always be unethical. When we heard of a murder we always feel something deep inside being shaken. It’s like a mix of emotions that are predominantly fear and empathy. But just like God, Victor Frankenstein and genetic engineers may have their own reasons for murdering their creation, however imperfect those reasons are regardless of being ethically right or wrong. Work Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1982.         

Reproductive Health Bill Essay

II. BODY The first time the Reproductive Health Bill was proposed was in 1998. During the present 15th Congress, the RH Bills filed are those authored by House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay, HB 96; Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, HB 101, Akbayan Representatives Kaka Bag-ao & Walden Bello; HB 513, Muntinlupa Representative Rodolfo Biazon, HB 1160, Iloilo Representative Augusto Syjuco, HB 1520, Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan. In the Senate, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago has filed her own version of the RH bill which, she says, will be part of the country’s commitment to international covenants. On January 31, 2011, the House of Representatives Committee on Population and Family Relations voted to consolidate all House versions of the bill, which is entitled An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population Development and for Other Purposes. One of the main concerns of the bill, according to the Explanatory Note, is that population of the Philippines makes it â€Å"the 12th most populous nation in the world today†, that the Filipino women’s fertility rate is â€Å"at the upper bracket of 206 countries.† It states that studies and surveys â€Å"show that the Filipinos are responsive to having smaller-sized families through free choice of family planning methods.† It also refers to studies which â€Å"show that rapid population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth.† And so it aims for improved quality of life through a â€Å"consistent and coherent national population policy.† Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Implicit in this last condition are the right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law, and the right of access to appropriate health-care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant. In line with the above definition of reproductive health, reproductive health care is d efined as the constellation of methods, techniques and services that contribute to reproductive health and well-being through preventing and solving reproductive health problems. It also includes sexual health, the purpose of which is the enhancement of life and personal relations, and not merely counselling and care related to reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases. 7.3. Bearing in mind the above definition, reproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other relevant United Nations consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual. There are 6 bills pertaining to reproductive health and/or population management that have been filed for deliberation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the 15th Congress. The most controversial of these bills is House Bill No. 96 authored by Rep. Edcel Lagman. House Bill No. 96, also known as the proposed â€Å"Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010,† will cover the following areas: †¢midwives of skilled attendance †¢emergency obstetric care †¢access to family planning †¢maternal death review †¢family planning supplies as essential medicines †¢benefits for serious and life-threatening reproductive health conditions †¢mobile health care service †¢mandatory age-appropriate reproductive health and sexuality education †¢responsibility of local family planning office and certificate of compliance †¢capability building of barangay health workers †¢ideal family size †¢employers’ responsibilities †¢multi-media campaign †¢implementing mechanisms †¢reporting requirements †¢prohibited acts †¢penalties The bill is controversial, as it is being opposed by concerned citizens, especially the pro-life, pro-family and pro-God groups, regardless of creed or religion. The Roman Catholic Church expresses its opposition against the bill on many counts, most especially the procurement and distribution of family planning supplies for the whole country, when the available evidence from peer reviewed medical journals supports the hypothesis that when ovulation and fertilization occur in women taking oral contraceptives (OCs) or using intrauterine devices (IUD), post-fertilization effects are operative on occasion to prevent clinically recognized pregnancy. Hormonal contraceptives and/or IUDs directly affect the endometrium. These effects have been presumed to render the endometrium relatively inhospitable to implantation or to the maintenance of the preembryo or embryo prior to clinically recognized pregnancy. These make pills and IUDS abortifacient. Pro-life groups, and many professionals in the medical and nursing fields, believe that physicians and policy makers should understand and respect the beliefs of patients who consider human life to be present and valuable from the moment of fertilization. Patients should be made fully aware of this information so that they can consent to or refuse the use of artificial contraceptives. However, the position of the Catholic Church and the pro-life groups does not mean that they espouse the attitude of â€Å"natalism† at all costs, as if the â€Å"number† of children, in itself, were the unmistakable sign of authentic christian matrimonial life. The sexual act, properly exercised within marriage only, is ordained primarily to the propagation of life. If there are reasonable motives for spacing births, such as serious medical conditions in the mother, or extreme poverty, then the Catholic Church teaches that married couples may take advantage of the natural cycles of the reproductive system and use their marriage precisely those times that are infertile (natural family planning). Other aspects of the bill being contested by concerned citizens include the classification of family planning supplies as essential medicines when their safety/toxicity profile and legal permissibility are questionable. At the same time, more importance should be given to the prevalent diseases, the top ten leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines, namely, infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis. Financial resources allotted by foreign donors to assist the Philippine government programs could actually be better spent towards pursuing health programs targeting communicable diseases than purchasing artificial contraceptives. Very pertinent to the debate about reproduction rights is the right to life. The Philippine Constitution says that the State â€Å"shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. If artificial contraceptives are medically proven to induce abortion as one of their mechanisms of action, then procurement and distribution of such family planning supplies are unconstitutional and illegal. Benefits of the RH Bill Allow couples to make decision to plan for their families The RH Bills gives the couples and the women, specifically, the choice and freedom on the mode of family planning they want to pursue depending on their needs, choice, personal convictions and religious beliefs. But the RH Bill is not just about the family planning Prevents spread of sexually transmitted disease like aids and STDs and eventually control population growth necessary for economic development The liberal minds view the RH Bill as a strategy in fighting overpopulation and the spreading of AID and STD diseases. That’s what they say. They believe that the natural way of family planning is passe in this time of modern age. They want children as early as in their pre-teens to be taught about sex education. Enhance woman’s health as she will be able to determine when to get pregnant The women can determine when they want to get pregnant. Through this will, it will ensure the health of the women, which can be put to risk with pre-existing condition such as diabetes or pregnancies with not much gap or spaced-closed together. They will gain more control over their bodies and health. This will also ensure the children of having a healthy mother to take care of them. Prevents unwanted pregnancy It can be argued, in fact, that in guaranteeing information on and access to â€Å"medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality† natural and modern family planning methods (sec. 2), the bill seeks â€Å"to prevent unwanted, unplanned and mistimed pregnancies† the main cause of induced abortions

Early Ages Essay

The Middle Ages is a catchall phrase often used by historians alluding to the thousands of years between the fall of the Roman Empire and the period of discovery and reawakening. The term Middle Ages was coined during the period that followed it, which was the Renaissance (Roseinwein, 2008). Since people from the Renaissance period thought of themselves as â€Å"advanced and civilized,† they deemed the time between them and the earlier world as the â€Å"Middle Age† (2008). The term derived from the Latin medium, which means middle and aevium, referring to age (2008). The Early Middle Ages, which occurred from 5th – 8th centuries, was dominated by Christianity which eventually became the rationale for uniting Europe culturally and linguistically (Herrin, 2002, p. 609). It was also a period marked by distinctions of social classes- the noble, the peasants and the clergy, with peasants populating more (Kamien, 1998, p. 62). This was the reason by medieval society was often described as a period with lack of food supply, poor agriculture, and poor economic conditions (p. 612). As aforementioned, the Early Middle Ages brought forth the importance of religion, specifically that of the Roman Catholic Church. It was during this time when the Holy Roman Empire was established. . One outstanding work from this period and perhaps had the earliest record was medieval music, particularly the Gregorian chant. The Gregorian chant was the official music of the Roman Catholic Church (Kamien, 1998, p. 65). Although the Gregorian chant was named in honor of Pope Gregory I, it was said that the pope was in fact not its creator (p. 65). Historians accounted the existence of Gregorian account or what they believed was its evolution to psalm singing in Jewish synagogues in the first centuries after Christ (p. 65). However the case may be, Pope Gregory could still be held responsible for the popularity of the Gregorian chant. The Gregorian chant is actually a body of unaccompanied vocal music. It was meant to set the mood for certain religious services (Kamien, 1998, p. 65). Set in Latin, Gregorian chants swept the music of the Early Middle Ages. Gregorian chant is like no other music for has no meter nor regular rhythms (p. 65). However, it is this distinct characteristic that makes the Gregorian chant a somewhat free-flowing disposition. Listening to a Gregorian melody invokes serenity, as if disengaging the listener from any anxieties. It is considered monophonic since it is music for one line and is sung in unison. It is said that there are only few names of Gregorian chant composers. This is because composers did not think of themselves as composers but as conduits of the voice of God. One of the most known contributors of the Gregorian chant was Hildegard (p. 68). A nun, Hildegard composed O Successores (You Successors), a chant intended to give praise to the â€Å"holy confessors who are successors of Christ† (p. 68). In the period that followed the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the predominant sound continued to be unaccompanied vocal music. However, the dawn of the Baroque period saw the musical style embracing the use of musical instruments like the harpsichord, violin and viola (Kamien, 1998, p. 104). Likewise, the melody has become wider instead of the narrow range that accompanied the Gregorian chant. While the Renaissance period still had Mass music, the Baroque period ushered in opera, sonata and concertos (pp. 100-115). Church music, especially the Lutheran service, was called a church cantata (p. 129). Whereas the Middle Ages was limited to the culture of the Church, the succeeding periods created new attitudes- that of showing that people have the capacity to create and shape their world instead of merely serving as conduits. The Gregorian chants, which was passed on by oral traditions, ebbed away slowly until a 1994 release of ‘Chant† by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos. This made Gregorian chant popular again due its similarity with New Age Music- smooth, uniform and non confrontational. The Early Middle Ages may have focused on sublime spirituality but the beauty of it has emanated throughout the centuries. Listen to a church hymn and feel how it has evolved from a simple, monophonic music to the finely crafted yet polyphonic texture of today. References Herrin, J. E. (2002). Early Middle Ages. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 16, pp. 609-612) USA: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Kamien, R. (1998). Music an appreciation 3rd ed. USA: McGraw-Hill. Rosenwein, B. (2008). Middle Ages. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from Microsoft Encarta Web site: http://encarta. msn. com/text_761578474___0/Middle_Ages. html

Business of Events Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business of Events - Essay Example The idea is to raise consciousness among students of University of Bedfordshire through a collective effort that will bring together community groups, local businesses, educators and artists to an event where green innovations are highlighted. To ensure the event’s success, students of Travel and Tourism Management will be assigned to organize the Earth Fair, making sure that event plans are actualized and well-coordinated. The entire event plan will be divided into four categories – event research, event design, event planning, and event coordination. Each category will be handled by a committee which will consist of one committee chair and five members. As a head of the planning committee, I will be assigned to present this paper detailing the plans for the University of Bedfordshire - Earth Fair 2013. The challenge is to attract local groups to participate at the Fair and invite approximately students at the university’s Park Square. With a budget of ?10,000, it is important to ensure effective event promotion, proper coordination with local groups, and efficient management of the events team that will guarantee of the event’s success. As such, this paper presents a carefully designed plan to successfully gather students, community organizations, and local establishments to increase awareness about how to care for the environment. Event Research As an annual global event, Earth Day celebration has evolved from bringing environmental issues on the political arena to increasing public awareness through various green activities (Nelson, 1993). One of the well-known activities during Earth Day include holding an Earth Fair which features innovative works and products that promote environmental sustainability. Its aim is to bring together different sectors, from businesses to government agencies, to showcase their works and innovations in order to help people understand more about environmental conservation. All over the world, Earth D ay organizers showcase different ways and themes of holding and preparing for an environmental fair. For instance, in Plymouth, Michigan, organizers for the Earth Day have conceptualized the â€Å"Green Street Fair† which promotes green products and services on the streets of Downtown Plymouth. Also, for this year, the Piedmont Earth Day Fair organizers are challenging themselves to host a zero-waste environmental event that welcomes more than 10,000 people in the area (Piedmont Environmental Alliance, 2012). Here in the country, Greenpeace UK (2011) has initiated an environmental fair which features children’s’ activities, plant swaps, rainbow face painting, yoga, and performances to create a positive display of green lifestyle. Moreover, the London Green Fair, which is the largest environmental fair in London, has been holding the event at the Regent’s Park where they give away trees to visitors for free to offset the carbon used during the event. It is from the concepts and organization of these events that the planning for the University of Bedfordshire – Earth Day Fair will be based on. The themes and manner of presentation will be guided on the previous management and organization of green fair events. Needs Assessment As an events management tool, needs assessment is conducted to assess the preparation, intention, and responsibilities of organizers in an event project. Basically, it involves answering the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) to develop how the event will be

Rhetorical Situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Rhetorical Situation - Essay Example Finally, genre is the kind of writing; this would involve the specific medium of production. These elements are all important notions as they establish the structure of the rhetorical situation and demonstrate there are underlining parameters in this communication. In the text ‘They Say/ I Say’ authors Graff and Birkenstein discuss the notion of ‘entering the conversation.’ Entering the conversation refers to the process of writing or potentially speaking that engages with a listener. In this way, one enters a conversation not simply by speaking their mind, but by considering the perspective and opinion of the opposing party. As such, the individual’s writing or speaking directly considers these viewpoints and builds off of them in the form of a conversation. This is highly important for a variety of reasons. As a rhetorical strategy ‘entering the conversation’ means that the dialogue being produced is well considered and deeply engaged with another person’s views. This is a way of looking at academic writing from an entirely new perspective. The authors indicate that oftentimes academic writing is written as if there is an ultimate ‘truth,’ or written simply to say ‘smart ’ things (Graff & Birkenstein, p. 3). Instead, entering the conversation recognizes that the greatest possible insights are those that are gleaned from direct conversation and deliberation with another person. Summarizing is recognized as highly important in academic writing. From an overarching perspective, summarizing is important as it is the first step in entering the conversation. In this way summarizing, functions as an indicator that demonstrates the individual recognizes what they are responding to. The authors indicate then that it is necessary to summarize the opposing argument early in the text and then refer to it at strategic points (Graff & Birkenstein, p. 19). While summarizing is important, the text indicates that this summary should get

National Literacy Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

National Literacy Strategy - Essay Example To address suggestions on improving the ways in which children learn to read, the National Literacy Strategy was conceived in 1998, but by 2003 it was evident that more new concepts were needed. Results indicated that areas of need for children learning how to read still existed. Marian Sainsbury, principal researcher at the National Foundation for Educational Research, includes in a Literacy Today article (2004) a survey of 4,671 children, Years 4 and 6 combined, comparing 1998 with 2003, which shows that in 2003 children were significantly less interested in reading and going to the library, more interested in watching TV [SEE chart, next page]. Children surveyed in 2003, "after five years of teaching according to the National Literary Strategy" (par. 11), did show more confidence and independence, but although there had been some improvement in reading skills for the pupils in England, by comparison, their enjoyment of reading was poor. Sainsbury notes that teachers rather than the children often choose the reading material for the "literacy hour" in some schools. This is a practice that might discourage a child's interest in further reading, since the child has no input. Children do prefer reading by themselves silently and at home, and giving them more choices in the school setting might well increase their interest level. In a University of Reading press release (2003... They were invited to discuss the subject further by writing brief papers, expressing their concerns. The published papers are presently available at www.ncll.or.uk. According to the press release, "The authors argue against attempts to analyse and categorise the novel, story or poem, to 'stick labels on it, teach-and-preach it into a coma . . . or kill it off altogether with some kind of test' " (par. 3). The effort to meet curriculum needs in the classroom in early education creates stress, and teachers don't feel they can give pupils more freedom to learn at their own pace because they have to meet certain standards. Some of the issues addressed by the Early Years Curriculum Group (2000) that continue to be relevant in 2006 are listed below. They confirm the need for a more relaxed setting: The current emphasis on literacy and numeracy is having a negative effect on some young children's earliest experiences, particularly in the maintained sector and most particularly in children's reception year (par. 1.2) There is substantial evidence from research in this country, and from overseas, that a later start to more formal aspects of language and literacy learning will lead to quicker gains in competence in reading and writing, and actually to higher standards at age nine or 10 (1.5). Reporter Wendy Berliner, in her Guardian article "War of Words" (2005), outlines the success of a Scottish reading program using synthetic phonics and discusses the pros and cons of the system. In 1998, three hundred Scottish children were taught to read using diverse programs. Of the three programmes followed, synthetic phonics showed the best results after seven years. The proponents of

Rightly or wrongly there is now a presumption that the court will give Essay

Rightly or wrongly there is now a presumption that the court will give effect to a nuptial agreement - Essay Example ment of maintenance, both for the adults and for any children.†4 With divorces becoming more common, pre-nup agreements are now considered as important, where the couple decides (prior marriage) on how they wish to divide their assets, once they annul their partnership or divorce. Even though pre-nups are legally enforceable in many countries worldwide, in UK they are not legally binding on the courts. This article examines the present legal scenario in UK related to pre-nuptial agreements or â€Å"pre-nups† (more commonly referred to as â€Å"ante-nuptial agreements† in UK legal terms), in the context of the Radmacher v Granatino case. It explores to find out whether it is really true that under the present legal scenario, â€Å"the court will give effect to a nuptial agreement (before or after marriage) freely entered and understood, provided it is not unfair in the prevailing circumstances. It is no longer just one of the circumstances of the case.†5 The basis of this consideration arises from the fact that previously pre and post-nups were treated under UK legal system with little regard and a great deal of suspicion. In recent times, many high-profile divorce/annulment of partnership cases have seen outcomes where ‘ancillary relief’ (application for financial support) has been arbitrated/affected by pre-nup or post-nup agreements made in England.6 In the appeal Radmacher v Granatino,7 the judgement passed in March 2010 by UK Supreme Court was significant within UK legal systems, as here it was for the first time that a pre-nup agreement signed in Germany (prior to a marriage in England) was accepted and held binding by the UK Supreme Court. Discussion Background to marriage dissolution legal scenario in UK: Marriage  under UK family law is generally viewed as a contract,8 and to obtain validity for this contract the concerned parties would have to be unrelated within the specified prohibited ambit, must be more tha n 16 years of age, and the contract must be between a male and female who are not already married.9   If  any one of these ‘points of capacity’ was absent then the ‘contract’ was nullified, under various sections of the  Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and the Marriage act 1949.10 Besides these ‘points of capacity,’ other formalities necessary to make a marriage valid, included, that the occasion be venerated, accredited, and registered. Furthermore, the partners must possess  adequate mental capacity to enter into the marriage contract, both, consciously and willingly.  11 Under UK legal system, there are two processes to dissolve a marriage contract.   If in a marriage there is a defect (within the realms of the aforementioned points), it is marked as voidable.  Here the partners can apply for a decree of nullity under the Matrimonial Causes

How have culture and ethnicity been politicised in South Africa Essay

How have culture and ethnicity been politicised in South Africa - Essay Example The nation attained internal self-independence in 1994 following a successful fight against Apartheid. Since the end of the apartheid movement in 1994, South African politics has been majorly dominated by the ruling party; African National Congress (ANC). The ANC has been winning all the previous elections with 60 plus percentage. The lowest percentage of those coming in the last general election where ANC garnered 63% of the votes while the strongest opposition party known as the Democratic Alliance attained 18% of the votes. South Africa is among the most advanced states in Africa and the world over. However, the electorate that has been handling political matters has majorly been hinged on the race, the culture and the ethnic line from which the individual originates. For starters, the blacks majorly dominate ANC; the ruling party. The officials in charge of the party are blacks. The blacks also control the different wings of the party majorly the ANC Youth League as well as the ANC Women’s League. The South African situation contrasts the nations where the ruling party tends to embrace all the races within the nation. In the United States, for example, president Barrack Obama, serving final term in office, is regarded as of African American origin. The Democratic Alliance, the major political party in South Africa, is mostly associated with citizens of white origin. Politics is said to be hinged on races because out of all the elections that have been carried out in South Africa, the blacks who form the highest population of voters, have not accorded the Democratic Alliance much support. In as much as the ANC has always promised them radical change in terms of development and failed to honor most of the pledges, the blacks have normally rallied behind the ANC with the Democratic Alliance receiving support from the coloured people of various origins. Observers and stakeholders in various sectors have

Management of food quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management of food quality - Essay Example The integrated approach to food safety as adopted by the European Union aims at ensuring that the high levels of food quality are assured and that they are coherently done through measures that are farm-to-table like. This entails adequate monitoring and ensuring efficient functionality of its internal market. To be able to implement this approach, the governing body of the EU has had to develop effective health measures and legislations. Consequently, effective food safety control systems have had to be assured and evaluated to ensure their compliance with the set standards (TRIENEKENS & ZUURBIER, 2008). The safety of the food system is also ensured by independently carrying out a risk assessment different from the risk management. Keeping the quality and safety of food throughout the food chain requires both operating procedures to ensure the wholesomeness of food and monitoring procedures to ensure operations are carried out as intended. The food safety system is usually based on the principle that protection needs to be assured during the course of the food chain if the health of customers is to be sheltered. Primarily, quality management systems are designed to ensure compliance with third party and retailer standards (VOS & WENDLER, 2006). Food safety management systems principally control the specific food safety hazards associated with the product and ensure compliance with food safety legislation. Finally, the quality and safety of food depends on the efforts of everybody involved in the complex chain of agriculture production, processing, transport, food production and consumption. As the EU and the World Health Organization (WHO) put it succinctly - food safety is a shared responsibility from farm to fork. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established in the year 2002. It is an independent body that works in close cooperation with various scientific agencies and institutions in EU

Isolation in Hardys poems Nobody Comes and The Darkling Thrush Essay Example for Free

Isolation in Hardys poems Nobody Comes and The Darkling Thrush Essay In the poems â€Å"The Darkling Thrush† [‘TDT’] and â€Å"Nobody Comes† [‘NC’], Hardy presents two similar images of isolation. In both poems, the personae are isolated from human company, whilst Hardy explores this using imagery of ghosts and the supernatural in both also. However, individually there are differences in tone; although NC ends upon as dire a note as it begins, Hardy engineers an optimistic outlook in TDT and suggests that the persona’s isolation may not Hardy ensures that the persona of ‘TDT’ is isolated from any other human presence or, until the poem’s third stanza, any living organism. Whilst leaning against â€Å"a coppice gate†, he notes that â€Å"all mankind had sought their household fires†. Although this is an indication of the low temperature, it is noticeable that the rest of humanity are seeking light in an otherwise dark environment; reciprocally, the persona is deprived of both warmth and living company. To further this point, Hardy personifies non-human entities, such as frost and winter – â€Å"Winter’s dregs†, for example. In this way, Hardy makes the reader personal not with living creatures but with inanimate entities, isolating the animate persona even more. Indeed, Hardy makes such a division more striking by picturing the persona’s surroundings as very extreme. Surrounded by deathly imagery, the persona imagines the landscape as â€Å"the Century’s corpse/ His crypt the canopy,/ The wind his death lament†. Even Hardy’s animate entities seem ghostly; â€Å"Frost was spectre-gray† and â€Å"mankind haunted nigh†. Such is the state of decay that even â€Å"the ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken† – the regenerative power of life has itself died, leaving the persona as the sole animate existence. A similar loneliness can be seen in ‘NC’, especially towards the end of the poem. In the aftermath of the car passing, the persona observes, â€Å"mute by the gate†, that he â€Å"stand[s] again alone.† The sudden silence and soft, finite ‘t’ sound of â€Å"mute† – in contrast to the onomatopoeic â€Å"whangs† – amplifies the persona’s loneliness; as does the empty assonance in the repeated ‘a’ sound, in â€Å"alone† and â€Å"again†. Equally, the present tense verb â€Å"stands† and â€Å"again† emphasizes that this is an ongoing and repeated state of isolation. However, the persona in ‘Nobody Comes’ is not simply isolated in terms of being physically alone or the sole living creature – he is also isolated from modernity. Hardy again uses ‘supernatural’ imagery to explore this. The persona notes that â€Å"The telegraph wire intones like a spectral lyre/ Swept by a spectral hand†. Rather than see the telegraph wire as a means of communication, the persona rejects it in presenting an image of disassociation; the vagueness of the verb â€Å"intones† summons an image of faceless voices. He also creates negative supernatural connotations; there is an innate ghostliness about the archaic lyre – juxtaposed to contrast with the innate modernity of the telegraph wire – which is reinforced by the wraithlike â€Å"spectral†. Hardy repeats this for emphasis in â€Å"spectral hand†. In this phrase, he also creates an incongruity between the concrete verb â€Å"swept† and noun â€Å"hand† and the abstract concept of â€Å"ghostliness† – the ‘hand’ does not exist. Its invisible presence and visible effects are unnerving, making the modern telegraph wire an unpleasant image. The persona’s rejection of modernity can be seen also in the depiction of â€Å"a car com[ing] up†. Having shone its aggressive lamps at â€Å"full glare† – which Hardy emphasizes by placing at the end of the line –the persona states that â€Å"it has nothing to do with me†. This maxim, in being so blunt, is very powerful. It operates to present a rift between the persona and the modern world and, given the unusually colloquial verb â€Å"whangs†, it indicates that the car is viewed as a callous representation of modern life from which the persona wishes to isolate himself. It leaves â€Å"leaving a blacker air†, which may indicate either a corruption of nature (in terms of polluting the otherwise fresh air) or a darkening in the persona’s emotions. Indeed, the poem concludes with the same negativity, with the word â€Å"nobody† in both the title and the last line. The persona is left â€Å"again alone† and isolated, prompting a large amount of sympathy from the reader. By contrast, ‘TDT’ concludes with a hopeful note. At the appearance of the thrush, in the third stanza, the reader notes that the bird is similarly isolated and surrounded by death. In truth, the reader’s initial reaction to the â€Å"aged frail, gaunt and small† thrush is to question whether the creature will survive the bleak conditions. There is a sense of desperation present â€Å"fling[ing its] soul/ Upon the growing gloom.† However, the persona notices â€Å"some blessed Hope† in the bird’s â€Å"happy good-night air†. Although â€Å"unaware† of why this may be – such â€Å"joy illimited† is unintelligible to the persona – this leads the poem to end in an optimistic fashion. Although both the persona and the thrush remain isolated from any other company (the persona fails to deeply associate with the bird) and the anxiety about the future lingers, Hardy does much to suggest that such deep rooted â€Å"fervourlessness† may change in TDT’s persona, as opposed to the ongoing isolation present in NC.

The Power Asymmetry In Qualitative Research Interviews English Language Essay

The Power Asymmetry In Qualitative Research Interviews English Language Essay The books in The Sage Qualitative Research Kit have been written with the needs of many different types of readers in mind. As such, the Kit and the individual books will be of use to a wide variety of users: Practitioners of various research, University teachers and Undergraduate and graduate students. Each book of the Kit has been written by a distinguished author with extensive experience in their field and in the practice with methods they write about. Doing interviews addresses the theoretical, epistemological, ethical and practical issues of interviewing people about specific issues or their life story. There are two other books about interviewing, they approach the subject in a much more detailed and focuses way for the specific method. Interviews are one of the major approaches in collecting data in qualitative research. There are variety ways of how to do interviews and what to do after the interview has been done. Doing interviews comes with specific needs of increasing the interview quality in general and its validity in particular and finally of reporting what was said and how it was analyzed. 1. Introduction to interview research Three interview sequences Conversation is a basic mode of human interaction. Through conversations we get to know other people, get to learn about their experiences, feelings and hopes and the world they live in. In an interview it is the same, except the researcher asks and listens to the people. The research interview is an interview where knowledge is constructed in the interaction between in the interviewer and the interviewee. Trough various sequences the writer is explaining that there are three forms of interviewing. A rather simple form of straightforward questioning contrast with the reciprocity of everyday conversations. The interviewer is in a power position and sets the stage by determining the topic of the interchange; it is the interviewer who asks and the interviewee who answers. The qualitative interview is a key venue for exploring the ways in which subjects experience and understand their world. Interview research in history and in the social sciences The term interview is of recent origin; it came into use in the seventeenth century. An interview is literally an inter-view. An interchange of views between two persons conversing about a theme of common interest. Systematic literature on research interviewing is a new phenomenon of the last few decades. Qualitative interviews have, previously been extensively employed in the social sciences. With education and health sciences, the interview has become a common research method in the last few decades. Quality methods, ranging form participant observation over interview to discourse analysis, have since the 1980s become key methods of social research. Technical, epistemological and cultural reasons may be suggested for the growing use of qualitative research interviews. The availability of small portable tape records in the 1950s made the exact recording of interviews easy. In the 1980s, computer programs facilitated the qualitative analyses of transcribed interviews. Interviews have also become part of the common culture. Methodological and ethical issues The interview is a conversation that has a structure and a purpose determined by the one part, the interviewer. The qualitative research interview is a construction site for knowledge. A semi-structures life-world interview will be in focus of the book. It is defined as an interview with the purpose of obtaining descriptions of the life world of the interviewee with respect to interpreting the meaning of the describes phenomena. To have an interview a good preparation will be needed. The interview is a powerful method of producing knowledge of the human situation. 2. Epistemological issues of interviewing Mode of understanding in a qualitative research interview A semi -structured life-world interview attempts to understand themes of the lived daily world for the subjects own perspectives. It comes close to an everyday conversation but as a professional interview it has a purpose and it involves a specific approach and technique. The interview is a uniquely sensitive and powerful method for capturing the experiences and lived meanings of the subjects everyday world and it allow the subject tot convoy their situation from their own perspective and in their own words. An interview seeks to understand the meaning of central themes of the subjects lived world. It is necessary to listen to the explicit description and to the meaning expressed, as well as to what is said between the lines. In qualitative interviews, precision in description and stringency in meaning interpretation correspond to exactness in quantitative. The qualitative interviewer encourage the subject tot describe as precisely as possible what they experience and feel. The qualitative interview attempts to obtain descriptions that are as comprehensive and presupposition less as possible of important themes of the interviewees life world. The interviewer should be curious, sensitive to what is said, as well as to what is not said, and critical. The focus of the interview is on particular themes: it is neither strictly structures with standard questions, nor entirely non-directive. The task of the interviewer is to clarify, as far as possible, whether the ambiguities and contradictory statements are due to a failure of communication in the interview situation. Power asymmetry in qualitative research interviews The research interview is a specific professional conversation with a clear power asymmetry between the researcher and the subject: The interview entails an asymmetrical power relation; The interview is a one-way dialogue; The interview is an instrumental dialogue; The interview may be a manipulative dialogue; The interviewer had a monopoly of interpretation; Counter-control, subjects may hold information; Exceptions. Research interviews between a philosophical dialogue and a therapeutic interview The qualitative research interview has affinities to philosophical dialogues as well as to therapeutic interviews, but follows neither the relentless intellectual reasoning of the former nor the close personal interaction of the latter. Professional interviews, such as a therapeutic interview, a job interview or a legal interrogation, are characterized by a focus on the dynamics of interaction between interviewer and interviewee, a methodological awareness of question forms and a critical attention to what is said. The therapeutic sequence indicates the possibilities for research interviewers to learn from the techniques developed within the therapeutic profession, while also demonstrating differences between therapeutic and research interviews. The interviewer as a miner or as a traveler Two contrasting metaphors of the interviewer, as a miner or as a traveler, may illustrate the different epistemological conceptions of interviewing as a process of knowledge collection or as a process of knowledge construction, respectively. In a miner metaphor, knowledge is understood as buried metal and the interviewer is a miner who unearths the valuable metal. The knowledge is waiting in the subjects interior to be uncovered, uncontaminated by the miner. An alternative traveler metaphor understands the interviewer as a traveler on a journey to a distant country that leads to a table to be told upon returning home. The interview traveler walks along with the local inhabitants, asks questions and encourages them tot tell their own stories of their lived world. Epistemological conceptions of interview knowledge The elimination of the hum factor in research, key aspects of the mode of understanding in qualitative research interviews appear as methodological sources of error, to a philosophy of sciences. In a postmodern approach the qualitative research interview appears as a construction site of knowledge. The knowledge generated by interviews is in line with key features of a postmodern conception of knowledge, such as the conversational, the narrative, the linguistic, the contextual and interrelational nature of knowledge. With a decline of modern universal system of knowledge, the local, manifold and changing language contexts come into prominence. In a postmodern epistemology the certainty of our knowledge is less a matter of interaction with a non-human reality than a matter of conversation between persons. 3. Ethical issues of interviewing Interviewing as a moral inquiry An interview inquiry is a moral enterprise. Moral issues concern the means as well as the ends of interviews. The human interaction in the interview affects the interviewees and the knowledge produces by an interview inquiry affects our understanding of the human condition. Consequently, interview research is saturated with moral and ethical issues. Ethical issues throughout an interview inquiry Ethical issues go through the entire process of an interview investigation, and potential ethical concerns should be taken into consideration form the very start of an investigation and up to the final report. Ethical guidelines Professional ethical codes serve as contexts for reflection on the specific ethical decisions throughout an interview inquiry. Figure 1 outlines issues raised by these ethical guidelines in the form of questions, which interviewers may ask them before embarking on an interview journey. Figure 1. Informed consent entails informing the research about the overall purpose of the investigation and the main feature of the design, as well as of possible risks and benefits from participation in the research project. This raises the issue of how informed consent can be handled in exploratory interview studies, where the investigators themselves will have little advance knowledge of how the interview will proceed. The interviewees should always be informed about the purpose and the procedure of the interview. Confidentiality in research implies that private data identifying the subject will not be reported, otherwise the subject need to agree on the release of identifiable information. In extreme cases, protecting confidentiality can raise serious legal problems. The consequences of an interview study need to be addressed with respect to possible harm to the subjects as well as to the expected benefits of participating in the study. The ethical principle of beneficence means that the risk of harm to a subject should be the least possible. The researcher as a person is critical for the quality of the scientific knowledge and for the soundness of ethical decisions in an interview inquiry. Moral research behavior involves more than ethical knowledge and cognitive choices. The integrity of the researcher, his or her knowledge, experience, honesty and fairness, is the decisive factor. 4. Planning an interview study Seven stages of an interview inquiry No standard procedures or rules exits for conducting a research interview or an entire interview investigation. There are standard choices of methods at the different stages of an interview investigation. The quality of an interview study to a large extent rests on the craftsmanship of the researcher. The term unstandardized pertains to the interview situation, but an entire interview investigation had often tended to be a rather standardized affair, going through five emotional phases of hardships. Anti-positivist enthusiasm phase; The interview-quoting phase; The working phase of silence; The aggressive phase of silence; The final phase of exhaustion. These descriptions are based upon observation of colleagues and students undertaking interview projects. The seven stage of an interview inquiry are: Thematizing Designing Interviewing Transcribing Analyzing Verifying Reporting Through these stages an interview study will be developed and ends with the reporting. The emotional dynamics of an interview study are related tot these seven stages. Thematizing an interview study Thematizing refers to the formulation of research questions and a theoretical clarification of the theme investigated. The key questions when planning an interview investigation concern the why, what and how of the interview. Thematizing an interview study involves clarifying the purpose of the study, the why question. Interviews can have explorative or hypothesis-testing purposes. An exploratory interview is usually open with little pre-planned structure. Interviews that test hypotheses tend to be more structured. Interviews can also being used to inductively develop an empirically grounded theory, or as background material for further practical and theoretical studies. The thematic understanding of the topic if the study, the what, will further provides a ground for the how of the study: the many decisions on method that must be made on the way. The thematic focus of a project influences what aspects of subject matter the questions centre upon, and which aspects remain in the background. Familiarly with the local situation may also sensitize tot local ethic-political issues of the community, which need to be taken into account when interviewing and reporting the interviews. Designing an interview study Designing an interview study involves planning the procedures and techniques, the how of the study. The temporal dimension of an interview investigation should be kept in mind from the first thematizing to the final reporting stage, taking into account the interdependence of the seven stages. Overview, interdependence, push forward, spiraling backwards, keep the end point in sight, getting wiser and work-journal are all key factors of an interview inquiry. The number of subjects to interview necessary depends on the purpose of a study. In common interviews, the amount of interviews trends to be around 15. This number may be due to a combination of the time and resources available for the investigation and a law of diminishing returns. The method may be understood in a broad sense, like the way to the goal. A method is a set of rules, which can be used in a mechanical way to realize a given aim. Within such a formal rule conception of method, the qualitative research interview, where knowledge is produced trough the personal interaction between interviewer and interviewee, is clearly not a scientific method. Interviewing may be regarded less as a method following explicit rules than pragmatically as a craft, where the quality of knowledge produced by the interview rests upon the subject matter knowledge and the craftsmanship of the interviewer. Learning to interview is to arrive at a transparency of the techniques and tools. 5. Conducting an interview Setting the interview stage The setting of the interview stage should encourage the interviewees to describe their points of view on the topic. The first minutes of an interview are decisive. The interview should be introduced by a briefing in which the interviewer is defines the situation for the subject, briefly tells about the purpose of the interview, the use of a tape recorder and ask if the subjects has any questions before starting the interview. The initial briefing should be followed up by a debriefing after the interview. Scripting the interview An interview guide is a script that structures the course of the interview more or less tightly. The guide may merely contain some topics to be covered or it can be a detailed sequence of carefully worded questions. Interviews differ in their openness of purpose; the interviewer can explain the purpose and pose direct questions from the start, or can adopt a roundabout approach, with indirect questions, and reveal the purpose only when the interview is over. Thematically the questions relate to the what of an interview, to the theoretical conceptions of the research topic, and to the subsequent analysis of the interview. Dynamically the questions pertain tot the how of an interview; they should promote a positive interaction, keep the flow of the conversation going, and stimulate the subjects to talk about their experiences and feelings. The interviewer should also try to keep in mind the later analysis, verification and reporting to the interviews. Interviewers who know what they are asking about and why they are asking, will attempt to clarify the meanings relevant to the project during the interview. Active listing, the interviews ability to listen actively to what the interviewee says, is as important as the specific mastery of questioning techniques. That is why researcher questions need to translated to interviewer questions, figure 2 Figure 2 6. Interview variations Interview subjects Different issues will raise by different populations when the focus is on cross-cultural interviews, interviews with men, women and with children. In a cross-cultural interview it is difficult to become aware of the multitude of cultural factors that affect the relationship between interviewer and interviewee. In a foreign culture an interviewers needs time to establish a familiarity with the new culture and learn some of the many verbal and non-verbal factors where interviewer in a foreign culture may go amiss. Also with children the approach for an interview needs to be different. Interview forms A variety of research forms, useful for different purpose, exist. With the broad variety of interview forms and subjects it becomes understandable that there are no general standard procedures and rules for research interview. There is no correct or ideal interview form. Qualitative interviews do not only focus on the interviewees own perspectives and meanings. Obtaining valid factual information may be crucial in many interviews. In other situates, when interviewing for the oral history of a community, the focus will be less on the storytellers own perspective upon the events recounted, than on his or her stories as venues to reliable information about a collective past. Some experiments may serve interviewers as a reminder to be extremely careful in wording their questions when interviewing for factual information. Confrontational interviews though we did not seek to impose our ideas on those with whom we talked, †¦we did attempt to uncover assumptions, to make explicit what the person we were talking to might have left implicit (Bellah et al., 1985, p 304) In addition to a prevalent empathetic and consensual interview form, the more active confrontational and agonistic styles of interviewing may also produce valuable knowledge. 7. Interview quality Interview qualifications The interviewer is the key research instrument of an interview inquiry. A good interviewer knows the topic of the interview, masters conversational skills and is proficient in language, with an ear for his or her subjects linguistic style. The interviewer must continually make on-the-spot decisions about what to ask and how; which aspects of subjects answer to follow up, and which not, which answers to comment and interpret, and which not. The interviewer should have a sense for good stories and be able to assist the subjects in the unfolding of their narratives. Leading questions It is a well-documented finding that a slight rewording of a question in a questionnaire or in the interrogation of eyewitness may influence the answer. Politicians are well experienced in warding off leading questions form reporters; but if leading questions are inadvertently posed to subjects who are easily suggestible, such as small children, the validity of their answers may be jeopardized. In contrast to common opinion, the qualitative research interview is particularly well suited for employing leading questions to repeatedly check the reliability of the interviewees answers, as well as to verify the interviewers interpretations. The task in an interview is not to avoid leading research questions, but to recognize the primacy of the question and attempt to make the orienting questions explicit, thereby providing the reader with the possibility of evaluating their influence on the research findings and of assessing the validity of the findings. There are no unequivocal quality criteria for research interviews. A good interview rests upon the craftsmanship of the researcher, which goes beyond a mastery of questioning techniques to encompass knowledge of the research topic, sensitivity to the social relation of interviewer ad subject, and an awareness of epistemological and ethical aspects of research interviewing. 8. Transcribing interviews Oral and written language Transcription is an interpretative process, where the differences between oral speech and written texts give rise to a series of practical and principal issues. A transcript is a translation from one narrative mode, oral discourse, into another narrative mode, written discourse. The quality of interview transcriptions had always been a neglected issue. Transcribing interviews Transcribing the interviews from an oral to a written mode structures the interview conversations in a form amenable to closer analysis, and is in itself an initial analysis. The reliability and validity of transcriptions are generally neglected. If these two issues are addressed, the interpretative and constructive nature of transcription will appear. Computer tools for interview analysis Once the interviews have been transcribed, they become available for structuring and analysis by a variety of computer programs. The computer programs allow for such operations as writing memo, writing reflections on the interviews for late analysis, coding, searching for key words, doing words counts, and making graphic displays. No valid transcription of an oral account exists, but a variety of forms of transcribing, which will be valid for different uses of the transcripts. 9. Analyzing interviews Integrating interview analysis in an interview inquiry The question How shall I find a method to analyze the 1000 pages of interview transcripts I have collected? is a question which is too late en the work will be too much. The method of analysis should not only be given thought in advance of the interviewing, but may also, to varying degrees, be built into the interview situation itself. Modes of analysis No standard method exists, to arrive at essential meanings and deeper implications of what is said in an interview. The techniques of analysis are tools, useful for some purpose, relevant for some types of interviews, and suited for some researchers. But it depends on each interview itself. Interview analyses focusing on meaning Meaning and language are interwoven; in the practice of interview analysis the focus on meaning versus linguistic form does imply rather different techniques. Coding and categorizing were early approaches to the analysis of texts in the social sciences, which make it easy to transcribe the interview. Coding involves attaching one or more keywords to a text segment in order to permit later identification of a statement, whereas categorization entails a more systematic conceptualization of a statement, opening for quantification. Interpretation of texts is established by a hermeneutical circle, where the meaning of a text is established through a process in which the meanings of the separate passages are determined by the global meaning of the text as it is anticipated. Re-reading of the single passages may again change the first anticipated global meaning of the text, which again alters the meaning of the single passages. Interview analyses focusing on language The medium, or the material, with which interviewers work is language. The interview process occurs through speech, and the interview products are presented in words. During the last few decades social science researchers have started to use linguistic tools. Linguistic analysis, narrative analysis, conversation analysis, discourse analysis and deconstruction. Interview analysis as bricolage Many analyses of interviews are conducted without following any specific analytic method. The researchers may then freely change between different techniques and approaches. Bricolage refers to mixed technical discourses where the interpreter moves freely between different analytic techniques. In contrast to systematic analytic modes such as categorization and conversation analysis, bricolage implies a free interplay of techniques during the analysis. 10. Validation and generalization of interview knowledge Objectivity of interview knowledge. Issues of reliably and validity go beyond technical or conceptual concerns and raise epistemological questions of objectivity of knowledge and the nature of interview research. Interview analyses can be objective in the sense of intersubjective agreement, such as when a high degree of intersubjective reliability is documented by coding interview in quantifiable categories. Objective may also mean reflecting the nature of the object researched, letting the object speak, being adequate to the object investigated expressing, the real nature of the studied. Contrary to common opinion, knowledge produced in interviews need not be subjective, but may, be an objective method with respect to key meanings of objectivity. Reliability and validity of interview knowledge Reliability pertains to the consistency and trustworthiness of research findings; it is often treated in relation to the issue of whether a finding is reproducible at other times and by other researcher. Validity refers in ordinary language to the truth, the correctness and the strength of a statement. A valid argument is sound, well grounded, justifiable, strong and convincing. Validity as quality of craftsmanship Validation rests on the quality of the researchers craftsmanship throughout an investigation, continually checking, questioning and theoretically interpreting the findings. Validations do not belong to a separate stage of an investigation, but permeates the entire research process. Validity is ascertained by examining the sources of invalidity. The stronger the falsification attempts a knowledge proposition has survived, the stronger and more valid is the knowledge. Communicative and pragmatic validity When a modern belief in knowledge as a mirror of reality recedes to a social construction of social reality, communicative and pragmatic forms of validation come to the foreground. Communicative validity involves testing the validity of knowledge claims in a conversation. A Communicative validation of interview findings raises specific questions about the how, why and who of communication. Pragmatic validation relates to the users responses to an interpretation, and in a strong for it concerns the issue of whether interventions based on the researchers knowledge may instigate actual changes in behavior. Pragmatic validation is verification in the literal sense, to make true; justification is replaced by application. Analytical generalization rests upon rich contextual descriptions. It includes the researchers argumentation for the transferability of the interview findings to other subjects and situations, as well as the readers generalizations form a report. 11. Reporting interview knowledge Contrasting audiences for interview reports. When writing a report for an interview study it may be useful to be aware of different requirements within local social science communities. In common interview reports the link between the original conversations and the conclusions reported may be thin or missing. The interested reader will not find any, or only come across some vague scattered descriptions of how the interview knowledge was produced. Working towards the final report from the start of an interview study may contribute to a readable report of methodologically well-substantiated, interesting findings. Presenting interview findings with a quote, three guidelines for editing are suggested: The quotes should be contextualized; Interview quotes should be rendered in a readable style; Interview quotes should preferably be loyal to the habitual language of an interviewee. For communicative validation and analytical generalization, readers need rich contextual information about the interview findings in order to validate and generalize the results. 12. Enhancing interview quality Learning the craft of interviewing A book about interviewing involves a paradox of presenting explicit and general guidelines for a craft, which consist of practical skills and personal know-how that often remains tacit and depends on given situation. It can not be predicted which an interview journey goes. If people research interviewing by themselves, they will discovered the theory about interviewing and transcription themselves and not through a book. Starting to learn interviewing by listening to tapes will sensitize novice interviewers to the oral medium of the interview craft. Learning interviewing by transcribing interviews promotes a discovery learning where , through their own practice, newcomers tot the trade discovery techniques and dilemmas is transferring live conversations to written texts. There are three options to learn about interviewing: Learn interviewing by witness others interviewing; Learn interviewing by practicing interviewing; Learn interviewing in a community of interview researchers. The road to mastery of interviewing through a transcribing task, an interview practicum, or ideally a research apprenticeship, may appear as too cumbersome and time-consuming to some students. But it is most important to be well prepared. The adequate knowledge of the nature of interview conversations is suggested by: A pragmatic approach involves a move from philosophical legitimation to the practical effects of knowledge. Rather than seeking universal knowledge, the emphasis is on situated knowledge. What matters is not arriving at context-independent general knowledge, but producing well-described situated knowledge from the interviews. Interview knowledge is not collected, but produced between interviewer and interviewee, and the meanings constructed in their interaction are again restructured throughout the later stages of an interview inquiry. In order to reach a professional level comparable to quantitative analysis today, qualitative social research needs to move beyond a linguistic illiteracy towards a professional mastery of the linguistic medium of the interview craft. We live in a conversational world. The relevance of conversations in social science goes beyond the use of interview conversations as an additional empirical method. It concludes conversations among researchers, and the public, about the truth and value of the knowledge produced in interview conversations about a conversational world. Conclusion Doing interviews by Stein Kvale is a book which has two kinds of different input. There is the theoretical background and the practica

Measurement Of Advertising Effectiveness Across Different Media Media Essay

Measurement Of Advertising Effectiveness Across Different Media Media Essay Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine advertising effectiveness of four media. These media include both traditional media like television, radio and print and a new medium like the internet. Design/ Methodology/ Approach An online questionnaire was floated asking the respondents to evaluate the four media on eight different parameters namely, informativeness, emotions, attitude, action, attention, entertainment, irritation and deceptiveness. The results were analysed by comparison of the means using the One Way Anova and Tukey b Test, was applied to see the difference between the effectiveness of different media on the basis of the eight parameters listed above. This was followed by Terpstra Jonckheere Test to confirm our order of alternatives. Findings The study determined that different media have significant differences in their effectiveness when evaluated on the above mentioned eight parameters. According to the study, the consumers perceive television as the most effective advertising medium followed by print, internet and radio. Research Limitations/ implications Only four media were considered for the study and it measured the effectiveness of different kinds of advertisements in general. Also, the respondents belonged to the same age group. Future research can be done with more media and can be extended for a particular product and for a particular brand. Practical Implications The study can be used to determine the most effective media for advertising a particular product. Also the advertising requirements differ with the life cycle of the product. The same can be evaluated with the help of this study. Originality/ Value There have been past studies to evaluate the advertising effectiveness of different media but none of them has been particular to Indian context. Key Words advertising effectiveness, comparison between different advertising media, traditional media compared to web Paper Type Survey based research paper INTRODUCTION Media, from long, has been used by advertisers to build brands; be it television, radio, print, internet or outdoor advertising. With increasing competition and the rat race between the various sellers, it has increasingly become important for the advertisers to differentiate themselves from others, and the efficient advertising mix has a very important role to play in the effectiveness of this differentiating behaviour. Often marketers face themselves with the problem of deciding on how much to spend on advertising on the various types of media. This decision rests on the measure of effectiveness of each of these forms, which is often a tough task. For the same product, the effect of a particular media may be far different from the others. Also, the effects of these media may vary largely across the various product categories as well. Hence to reach to the optimum advertising mix its necessary for the marketers to evaluate the perceived value of each of these media on its consumers. How do viewers perceive the TV over other types of media? Is the modern media like internet more effective compared to the traditional media like TV and print? To answer these questions, the study focuses on the view, opinions and perceptions of people who are exposed to the various media. Here, in this paper, we intend to measure the perceived value of the various forms of media in the mind of consumers, and quantify this to reach to an advertising value for each of the media across a particular product category. This perception of viewers has a large role to play on the advertisers selection of various media for advertising, and allocation of the advertising budget to these media. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Advertising on the four media which are taken into consideration for the purpose of this study namely, television, radio, print and internet have their own advantages and disadvantages. While television, radio and print are the traditional methods of advertising and have a long history behind them, internet has emerged as an advertising medium in the near past. Over the years, internet has emerged as a competitor to the traditional media and has created a niche for itself. It is however not clear from the previous studies that consumers who watch all four kinds of advertisements consider all of them equally effective or not. Also, there is a dearth of research when it comes to measuring the advertising effectiveness of the four media vis-a-vis each other in the Indian context. This study aims to fill this gap that exists. ADVERTISING ON DIFFERENT MEDIA Advertising on Television Television advertising started in United States in the year 1941. Television advertising started in India in the eighties and from then there is no looking back for this medium of advertising. Television is a commonly used medium for advertising campaigns due to its popularity and the capability to reach audiences of all ages (Edell Keller, 1989). According to the New York Times, television is to stay in India. It has seen a phenomenal growth in the past and will continue to grow. There are been a 20 percent increase in the number of homes with televisions. It has increased from 88 million in 2000 to 105 million in the year 2009. There has been a 21 percent increase in the advertising spending on Indian television from the year 1995 to 2005. Spending on television advertising reached $1.6 billion in the year 2005. Television has several advantages over other medium. The reach of television is much wider than that of other advertising media like print and it does so in a shorter duration of time. Also, television has multiple communication appeal as it uses both hearing and vision. Â  By appealing to both senses a TV advertiser can use these to reinforce each other. Television as an advertising medium has its own set of disadvantages. The cost of advertising is much higher for television as compared to other forms of media considered here. Also, if the advertisement is not intrusive enough it may fail to capture the attention of the audience. In addition to this the number of advertisements which fight for the coveted time slots on television may add to the clutter and may not help in reinforcing the belief of the customer. Advertising on Radio Advertising on radio started in the early 1920s, when the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers who offered programs in order to sell more radios to consumers. These days radio is no longer considered to be an attractive means of advertising. Radio, an old- fashioned medium existing in the shadow of high tech boom of internet advertising and cable TV, is not considered lucrative anymore (Joachim Jean C., 1999). Though radio ads have decreased in popularity but still it is widely used as an advertising medium because of the benefits it provides. The key advantage of radio advertising is its cost effectiveness as compared to other media like television. The advantages of radio advertising are low production costs and selectivity in reaching segments of audiences homogeneous in demographics or lifestyles (McDonald, 1998; Roberts Berger, 1989). Also, radio has a wider reach in terms of the number of audience covered vis a vis television or internet. Radio advertisement has the disadvantage of being ephemeral, since the consumer can only hear the ad, it becomes very necessary to have an ad which is highly attention grabbing. Also, due to smaller coveted slots, cluttering of ads may happen. Apart from this, the decrease in the popularity of the medium has made radio advertising less sought after. Print advertising is one of the oldest modes of advertising. With the advent of radio, television and internet, print advertising has lost its lustre. Due to the advantage that print medium has on the cost front, it is still the most sought after advertising medium for small, local businesses. Print medium has a very wide reach and it proves to be very cost effective. The advertisement can reach different segments in a wide geographic region. The people can refer to the ads multiple times and therefore it has the desired permanence. The biggest limitation of print is that the ad has to compete for the attention of the reader. In the limited space that the medium provides, the ads may just get lost in the clutter. In addition to this, more and more people are now switching to online versions of magazines and newspapers. So the traditional print medium is losing its charm .Advertising on the Internet Advertising on the internet started in the year 1994 when Wired magazine came up with its commercial web magazine which was the first of its kind. With this online magazine started the era of of advertising on the Internet. Since then, advertising on the Internet has increased rapidly, mainly due to an astronomical growth in Web traffic. But with this increase in the web traffic clutter over the internet has increased manifolds. The internet has many advantages over the traditional forms of media, the most prominent of them being the cost. The cost incurred is a fraction of the cost which will be paid for a similar ad on television. Another advantage of Internet advertising is that it provides a medium to buy the product as well. No other media offers this flexibility. As with other advertising media clutter is an issue, as competition for Web users becomes more intense. Also, the frequency of pop up ads can cause irritation in the consumer. Apart from this the rate of usage of internet is really an issue especially in developing countries like India and this makes internet advertising less popular. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS Advertising Effectiveness as defined by Ducoffe is a subjective evaluation of the relative worth or utility of advertising to consumers. Ducoffe, in his study, suggested media mix has an important role to play in advertising effectiveness. In his research, the respondents were asked to rank different media in terms of their role in advertising. Consumers ranked television the top labelling it the most valuable source, followed by print media, direct mail and radio; web was placed at bottom. As per previous studies, consumers consider newspapers to be most effective in informativeness, reliability and credibility whereas television and radio rate lower on these attributes. Comparision of Traditional Media with Web With internet emerging as an effective media of advertising, a synergy in advertising through various media forms can be achieved by integrating internet with other media to achieve companys objectives. Leong et al [1998], in his study, suggested that though internet is different from other media, it can be used to complement other media. Many researchers [Negroponte-1995] are of the view that TV viewing would become obsolete in certain time with computer activities replacing it in a large way. But at the same time, there are many that do not support the replacement view [Coffey and Stripp-1997]. They do agree with TV popularity decreasing to some extent but expect it to still remain a popular activity. As per Kanso and Nelson [2004], various media can be integrated to serve the purpose, thereby enticing customers to the product/ brand. A similar study by Chang and Thorson [2004] show the combined effect of advertising on various media viz. traditional and web is far superior compared to repeated advertising on individual mediums. As per the survey carried out till date, there does not seem any paper which provides a complete comprehensive comparative analysis of different forms of media. Gap in extant literature The study by Ducoffe presents the results of a survey focussing on the perceived value of web advertising vis-Ã  -vis other media. To understand what makes advertising effective, Ducoffe identified the dimensions of advertising which include informativeness, irritation, deceptiveness and entertainment. But this study was limited to comparing traditional media and web advertising and also excluded parameters like degree of information dissemination and emotional effects. Though Leong et al did provide few parameters like attention, emotions, precipitating action and attitude to find out the advertising value of a particular media, but the study was limited to comparing the internet advertising to traditional media. Also, most of the researches carried out so far miss on the point that the respondents chosen should be exposed to these various media so that their responses reflect the true effectiveness of media. We intend to choose those exposed to all the various media forms as our respondent base. This effectiveness varies across the various product categories, their phase in the product life cycle, the demographics of the target group, and hence cannot be generalized. Hence, we intend to carry this research so as to keep these extraneous variables constant and can later be easily replicated across all the categories. THEORETICAL BASES DERIVATION OF FOR THE HYPOTHESIS Figure 1: Application Model The hypothesis has been derived separately for each of the eight parameters, discussed above, and is described below stating all bases for the derivation of each. Informativeness According to the information gathered about informativeness of the various media, internet ads are the most informative, followed by print, television and radio.[Leong, 1998] This fact seems to be correct as the information available about a product/service is very expansive on the internet, due to links provided that help the user gain unending information. This is closely followed by print ads that contain extensive information printed about the product, due to the availability of space. Television and radio provide lesser information, due to the expensive per second rates. Television is more informative than radio due to the visual aid available. Hypothesis 1 The level of informativeness of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with internet ads being the most informative, followed by print media, television and radio in this order. Attention This section shows how engaging and interactive the media is. Again, television and radio score high on this factor, due to their audio-visual and audio aid respectively. This is followed by print and internet. Print, due to its direct impact in a newspaper or a magazine ranks next in this regard followed by internet ads which might not be that engaging for the user. Hypothesis 2 The level of attention of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with television ads being the most attention seeking, radio, print media, and internet in this order. Emotions According to Nielson, the internet is a more rational medium, while the television is an emotional medium. Thus, television rates high on the emotional factor, followed by radio and print, with internet being the least emotional, due to least interactiveness of the medium and it being the most informative. Hypothesis 3 The level of emotions of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with television ads being the most emotional, followed by radio, print media and internet in this order. Precipitating Action Persuasion is an action that drives a user towards purchasing the product. Internet purchasing is the most popular and is significantly higher than telemarketing. Internet is followed by print in precipitating action. Print media seems to influence people towards buying a product due to the informative nature of the medium. Radio is the least persuasive in this regard as radio just provides a recall for the product. Hypothesis 4 The level of precipitating action of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with internet ads having the most precipitating action, followed by print media, television and radio in this order. Attitude Attitude defines the degree to which advertisements are able to change the beliefs/attitudes of people towards the product or the brand. This would affect the final buying decision of the product or service. The order for this factor ranges from television, print, internet and radio from most effective to least effective in changing attitude. Hypothesis 5 The level of attitude of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with television ads being the most attitudes changing, followed by print media, internet and radio in this order. Entertainment According to the information gathered about entertainment, television ads come out to be the most effective, followed by radio, print and internet. [Larkin] Television tops the list due to the audio visual effects present. This is followed by radio. The print media shows the entertainment factor through its creative designs and catchy print messages. The internet is considered to be a rational medium providing clear information without the frills. Hypothesis 6 The level of entertainment of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with television ads being the most entertaining, followed by radio, print and internet in this order. Irritation Advertising effectiveness depends on the users receptiveness towards an ad, and on their attitude towards advertising. Non relevant ads on TV, in newspapers and on the radio are perceived as inevitable by consumers; on the Internet, they are considered to be a nuisance. Television and radio ads are considered irritating due to the disturbance they cause during normal TV or radio screening. Print media ads are considered least irritating as they do not hinder normal operation of a newspaper or a magazine. Hypothesis 7 The level of irritation of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with internet ads being the most irritating, followed by television, radio and print media in this order. Deceptiveness Another important factor to calculate effectiveness of a medium is to measure the credibility of the medium. According to our research about the subject [Larkin], television ads seem to be to the most deceiving because of the lower airing time, thus the effect could be deceptive and important facts about the product are left out. This is followed by radio and print, with internet being the least deceptive due to the depth of information present on the internet. Hypothesis 8 The level of deceptiveness of advertisements varies significantly across the various forms of media, with television ads being the most deceiving, followed by radio, print media, and internet in this order. Overall Perception The overall perception of advertising media effectiveness has been taken to get an overall picture of the effectiveness. Hypothesis 9 On general/overall perception of the customer, television is the most effective, followed by print media, radio and internet in this order. METHODOLOGY Scale Development The scale items were adopted from Ducoffe [1996] and Leong et al [1998]. A total of 17 statements were used for the proposed scale. A 5-interval scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree was used to measure the response to each item. The respondents were given special instructions to not get biased towards a particular advertisement, brand or a product, rather evaluate each media as a whole. The internal reliability score was measured using Cronbachs alpha. The coefficient alpha reliability indicates that the items in each scale are significantly high above 0.7, except for Deceptiveness and Irritation. Though the value of alpha is not significantly low, this lower value is approximately equal to 0.6 which is close to the acceptable value. The instrument thus used was a 17-item scale, with eight underlying factors viz. informativeness, attention, emotion, precipitating action, attitude, entertainment, irritation and deceptiveness. The results were analysed by comparison of the means using the One Way Anova and Tukey b Test, was applied to see the difference between the effectiveness of different media on the basis of the eight parameters listed above. This was followed by Terpstra Jonckheere Test to confirm our order of alternatives. The scale items are listed below- Table 1: Scale Items Respondents Our survey was taken by 106 respondents in the age group of 18-30 years. Considering the kind of research we were conducting, only those people who had been exposed to all the four media viz. TV, Radio, Print and Internet were chosen to take our survey. Respondents were also asked to rank various media in terms of effectiveness with 1 assigned to the most effective medium and 4 to the least. RESULTS Result 1: Informativeness The level of informativeness varies significantly across different media, with respondents rating radio as the least informative. Though respondents consider internet most informative, followed by print and television, the tests reveal that the difference between this three different media is not significant enough to be considered. This is consistent with our hypothesis. Result 2: Attention The level of attention varies significantly across various media with respondents rating radio to have the least level of attention. Though respondents consider television the most attention catching, followed by print and internet, the tests reveal that the difference is not significant in the case of internet and print media, thus might not be considered. This result is slightly different than our hypothesis, according to which internet had the least level of attention. The reason for such a difference could be the difference in times from when the article was written and when the survey was taken. Table 2 : Reactions to Advertising on Various Media Measurement Model Means Scale Relia-bility Signi-ficance Level TV Radio Print Internet Informativeness 3.512 3.031 3.742 3.746 0.698 0.000 Ads provide relevant product information. 3.717 3.160 4.123 3.840 Ads are sources of up-to-date product info. 4.038 3.425 3.934 4.105 Ads supply complete product information. 2.783 2.509 3.170 3.330 Attention 4.344 2.986 3.642 3.524 0.768 0.000 Ads are attractive/eye-catching. 4.434 2.698 3.745 3.651 Ads are effective in producing engaging messages 4.255 3.274 3.538 3.396 Emotions 3.778 2.835 2.901 2.651 0.543 0.000 Ads give details about the product, but do not stimulate emotions* (Negative Question) 2.264 3.047 3.189 3.359 I am touched by ads. 3.821 2.717 2.991 2.660 Precipitating Action 3.953 2.698 3.755 3.255 0.737 0.000 I have thought of buying an advertised product after watching the ad. 3.953 2.698 3.755 3.255 Attitude 4.118 3.340 3.717 3.481 0.737 0.000 Ads help people change their attitude towards the brand/company. 4.170 3.349 3.821 3.547 Ads help people change their beliefs related to the product. 4.066 3.330 3.613 3.415 Entertainment 4.335 3.151 3.340 3.288 0.762 0.000 Ads are enjoyable 4.245 3.255 3.330 3.179 Ads are exciting 4.425 3.047 3.349 3.396 Irritation 2.871 2.988 2.522 3.006 0.573 0.000 Ads insult peoples intelligence 2.755 2.623 2.472 2.566 Ads are annoying 3.076 3.528 2.585 3.585 Ads are confusing 2.783 2.811 2.509 2.868 Deceptiveness 3.698 3.590 3.349 3.590 0.561 0.010 Ads lie 3.660 3.406 3.330 3.613 Important facts about the products are left out of the ads 3.736 3.774 3.368 3.566 Mean responses to the item, n=106 (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) * Significant at 5% level of significance ** Cronbachs Alpha Reliability Test was used Table 3 : Terpstra Jonckheere Test for ordered Alternatives HYPOTHESIS TESTING PARAMETERS HYPOTHESIS Rank of different Media [from highest to lowest] T-J Statistic* Sig. 1 Informativeness Internet >Print >TV >Radio 7.269 0.000 2 Entertainment TV >Radio >Print >Internet 7.254 0.000 3 Irritation Internet >TV >Radio >Print 4.043 0.000 4 Deceptiveness TV >Radio >Print >Internet 1.768 0.077 5 Attention TV >Radio >Print >Internet 4.495 0.000 6 Emotions TV >Radio >Print >Internet 8.340 0.000 7 Precipitating Action Internet >Print >TV >Radio 3.161 0.002 8 Attitude TV >Print >Internet >Radio 7.536 0.000 FINDINGS TESTING PARAMETERS FINDINGS Rank of different Media [from highest to lowest] T-J Statistic* Sig. 1 Informativeness Internet >Print >TV >Radio 7.269 0.000 2 Entertainment TV >Print >Internet >Radio 8.963 0.000 3 Irritation Internet >Radio >TV >Print 4.889 0.000 4 Deceptiveness TV >Internet >Radio >Print 3.049 0.000 5 Attention TV >Print >Internet >Radio 10.386 0.000 6 Emotions TV >Print >Radio >Internet 8.595 0.000 7 Precipitating Action TV >Print >Internet >Radio 9.697 0.000 8 Attitude TV >Print >Internet >Radio 7.536 0.000 * Significant at 5% level of significance After having performed Tukey-Bs test to check which particular medium differs significantly from others, : Terpstra Jonckheere Test for ordered Alternatives was performed tovalidate the prescribed order of mediums as suggested by the hypothesis and key findings. These results were in conformance with those obtained by the Tukey B test. Result 3: Emotions The level of emotion varies significantly across the different media, with respondents rating television to have the greatest level of emotion. This was followed by radio and print in the same order, although the tests revealed that this difference is not significant enough to be considered. Internet was considered to have the least emotion. Our hypothesis is quite similar to the result, with only difference between radio and print. This could be due to the latest trend of social messages in print advertisements. Result 4: Precipitating Action The level of precipitating action varies significantly across the different media with respondents rating radio to have the least level of precipitating action followed by internet. Though respondents consider television to have the most precipitating action, followed by print media, the tests reveal that this difference is not significant enough to be considered. This result is significantly different than our hypothesis according to which internet has the most precipitating action, followed by print, television and radio. This could be due to the increasing popularity of telemarketing in the current times. Result 5: Attitude The level of attitude varies significantly across the different media with respondents rating radio to have the least level of attitude and television to have the most. Though respondents consider internet and print to follow television, the tests reveal that this difference between internet and print is not significant enough to be considered. This is similar to our hypothesis. Result 6: Entertainment The level of entertainment varies significantly across the different media, with respondents rating television as the most entertaining. This was followed by internet and print, although the tests reveal that this difference is not significant enough to be considered. Radio was found to be least entertaining The only difference in the result from the hypothesis is the position of radio which according to the hypothesis is the second most entertaining after television. This change could be attributed again to the changing times, where radio advertising has taken a back seat in comparison to the print and internet media. Result 7: Irritation The level of irritation varies significantly across the different media, with respondents rating print as the least irritating. Though respondents consider internet most irritating, followed by radio and television, the tests reveal that this difference is not significant enough to be considered. The hypothesis also yields the same result. Results 8: Deceptiveness The level of deceptiveness varies significantly across various media, with respondents rating print as the least deceptive, but the tests reveal that the difference in print, internet and radio are not significant enough to be considered. Though respondents consider television most deceptive, followed by internet and radio, the tests reveal that this difference is not significant enough to be considered. The hypothesis is same for the most deceptive media, but according to the hypothesis, internet is least deceptive. Result 9: Overall Perception Table 4 :Mean rankings of various media Media Mean Rankings Television 1.3208 Print 2.4906 Internet 2.8113 Radio <