Cognitive Dissonance Essays (525 words) - Cognition, Attitude Change

Cognitive Dissonance According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (beliefs, expectations, or opinions of a particular individual). When inconsistency does exist between these beliefs or attitudes, psychological tension (dissonance) occurs and must be resolved through some action. This tension most often results when an individual must choose between two incompatible beliefs or actions and is heightened when alternatives are equally attractive to the individual. This tension state has drive-like properties. If dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant drive state, the individual is motivated to reduce it. However, it is not an easy state to reduce. Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, by acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behavior. In theory, cognitive dissonance suggests that actions have a causal relationship upon cognitions. My personal example of cognitive dissonance is the purchase of a 1966 Mustang I made over the summer. This car was my dream car; it was all original, in good shape, and had all of the features I could ever want. I didn't have much money but I was so excited that I took out my first loan to buy this beautiful car. However, when it came time for school in the fall, I discovered that it was not the ideal vehicle to drive over the mountains. It was an older car, it didn't have seatbelts, and was very sluggish traveling over the mountain pass. I was extremely frustrated. Dissonance existed between my belief that I had bought a dream car and that a dream car should have seatbelts and have enough power to make it over a mountain pass. To eliminate this dissonance, I decided to store the car at my parents house and only drive the car infrequently. I decided that it didn't really matter that it couldn't drive over the pass; It was still a nice car and didn't want to put a whole bunch of mileage on it anyway. Since then, I have also purchased another car that does have seatbelts and can drive 75mph over the pass. In doing so, I have changed both my behavior and my beliefs. I have changed my belief that it is important for a dream car to have seatbelts and drive over a mountain. It is now not as important that it has those qualities. I have settled with the excuse that it is still a nice car, and I don't want to put many miles on it. In purchasing a new car with these features (that is not what I believe to be a dream car), I have also changed my beliefs. I no longer think those qualities constitute the ideal car. I have also changed my behavior by buying a new car. I could not change my belief that the mustang was a dream car and tag a ?for sale? sign in the window. I still believed this was my dream car, and the behavior of getting rid of the car would be a lot harder than changing my beliefs. It was a lot easier to reduce the importance of the dissonant belief. I have stopped driving the car and have begun to drive a new car as a result. Psychology Essays

DNA Fingerprinting essays

DNA Fingerprinting essays The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) composition of a human determines hair color, eye color, skin color, and any other physical or behavioral traits exhibited. DNA has a specific pattern that is called a DNA fingerprint. The chance that two people would have the same DNA fingerprint is one in thirty billion (except in cases of identical twins) (Mosby 1998). Since it is incredibly rare that two people do have an identical DNA pattern, there are many uses for the DNA Fingerprint. This paper will give a brief summary of what DNA fingerprinting is. It will tell its uses for today as well as how it will be used in the future. It will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using DNA fingerprints. An abstract look at characteristics passed down by the parent and how inherited characteristics are linked to DNA fingerprints. Finally, an experiment with Drosophilia Melonogaster will be discussed. Every human cell (except gametes) contains a set of 23 chromosomes. Inside the chromosome is a coiled mass of genetic material called DNA. The structure of DNA looks like a twisted ladder with rungs. The four nitrogen bases that make up DNA are adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine (A, T, G, C) which are the rungs of the ladder. The pattern in which these fragments align on the ladder (A-G and T-C) is called a DNA fingerprint. Alec Jefferys and colleagues at Lister Institute discovered this concept in 1985 (Levy 1996). There are only slight variations in the DNA pattern of each individual that is why we all essentially have arms, legs, heads and abdomens (Levy 1996). There are two different methods or techniques for testing DNA. One technique used is called Southern Blotting (named after Ed Southern). In order for scientists to use this method, they must first separate the DNA from the cells of the body. Then scientists use restriction enzymes to cut the DNA into different sizes. Gel electrophoresis is used to separate t...

Research Project Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Project Reflection Paper - Essay Example If one was suspected of having been an associate of witchcraft, torments were started until the victim gave up and confessed of having participated in the witch-hunts. Secondly, we learn of the staged s of witchcraft decline: the accusatory and convictions decrease stage and the conclusion of the matter. The impact of political, intellectual, social and economic factors are also looked and expounded holistically, and the way they did contribute to witchcraft decline. Therefore, the witchcraft decline is looked like a process cultivated by many factors, all brought together and brewing up the declining heat (Bever, pg. 276). On conducting the research, I faced several research limitations, especially with reference to the availability of scholarly materials. Some of the materials that I grasped to conduct were sometimes not so reliable. Reliable resources were quite limited, and it did call for me to conduct a thorough search on the primary sources in the university databases. Additionally, very few scholars have conducted research on the same topic. It was quite hard to find a consistent and reliable relationship between the research I conducted and the one that conducted by previous researchers. The research did call for analyzing primary resources on works done around 15th to 17th century. Sometimes the different scholarly articles could communicate different information at a similar topic. The bias prevalence was hence was quite a concern. Another bias is the language used in the primary sources. Having been written around 15th to 17th century, the language used was quite hard and did call for one t o take quite a lot of time analyzing the content. Many interesting topics emerged during the process of my research conduction. I would like to conduct further research on them, should a chance erupt. First, I would conduct a thorough research on Matthew Hopkins, a witch hunter in England. His career did flourish in an environment

Cultural Differences Can Be Difficult To Manage, Even if Anticipated Essay

Cultural Differences Can Be Difficult To Manage, Even if Anticipated - Essay Example Resource management, specifically, human resource (HR) management, can encompass a multitude of different tasks, depending on the needs of the company. International human resource management (IHRM) is usually a little more complex than resource management, as it deals with many different issues from taxation, government, culture, money, workplace values to customs and other such problems specifically geared to happen more within the framework of an international business climate than a domestic business climate. This means that a myriad of cultures, as they relate to international human resource management, are bound to either clash or conjoin. ... As P. Dowling states, "Once-safe markets are now fierce battlegrounds where firms aggressively fight for market share against foreignand domestic competitors." (Dowling,et al 1999.) In summary, according to the book, IHRM, (International Human Resource Management by Dowling, et al 1999), with current 21st century trends in place, a continued globalization effort in regard to the international marketplace is expected to keep growing to accommodate the diverse international marketplace. The Evolving Global Marketplace The 21st century international globalization effort is forcing IHR management to observe, familiarize themselves with, and provide custom solutions for similar upcoming issues for their own market sector. As this process matures over the next few decades, these companies will face many similar issues that other cross culture businesses have faced within their own corporate market. What used to be called 'communication and assertiveness' within the static bounded corporation has to now adjust to, and create clear communication across integrated supply chains, and a multinational work force, all of which can be working simultaneously on the same project. Successfully managing IHRM will give companies a strategic advantage. Companies who do not master this dynamic new facet of the global marketplace can, and will likely suffer equally dismal failure. For example, the world watched in awe, and then in disdain just a few years ago as the US space agency NASA attempted to land an explorato ry probe on the surface of mars. The multibillion dollar spacecraft crashed to the surface on Dec 3, 1999, and although NASA was slow to release details, information finally

Crimes Against Information Systems Analysis Essay

Crimes Against Information Systems Analysis - Essay Example Cyber-terrorism is the new crime preference to inflict havoc on the masses of society. Watson (2002) defines cyber-terrorism as "the use of cyber tools to shut down critical national infrastructures (such as energy, transportation, or government operations) for the purpose of coercing or intimidating a government or civilian population." (p.8) Over the years, the level of cyber-terrorism has evolved. Years ago, hackers attained satisfaction by simply breaking into a system (Wilmot, 2004). However, Littleton (1995) still regards hackers as dangerous and further implies imminent danger by questioning the ability of a hacker to become a cyber-terrorist. Wilmot (2004) contends that hackers' abilities to "crack passwords or find a back door route through a security firewall" shows that hackers can easily use a simple act to corrupt data in high technology. (p. 287). Though hackers implement a more simplistic form of cyber-terrorism, and their trespassing is not as harmful as modern day cr ackers-those who seek to disable networks or systems-both hackers and crackers pose danger to the world that holds critical information. However, the sophistication of cyber-terrorists' methods correlates with the degree of their motives. An intent Motives and Methods of Cyber-Terrorists An intent of cyber-terrorist includes causing a devastating amount of damage, while remaining elusive. To illustrate the elusiveness of a cyber-terrorist, Littleton (1995) uses two examples from the late 1980's. The identification, trial, and conviction of Robert T. Morris transpired only because he spoke of his creation, the 1988 Internet Worm, to several people. Rather, the author of the famous Michelangelo virus remains unidentified and escaped consequences altogether. The low risk of being captured coupled with the benefit of easily gaining access to restricted areas makes the crime of cyber-terrorism more appealing to criminals. Motives of cyber-terrorists range from mischief to malice. Today's juveniles have joined the cyber-terrorist realm by defacing Web sites. However, Watson (2002) regards the less serious crimes as highly consequential. When a site is defaced, its information is altered. Misleading information ultimately deceives viewers of the site and result in decrease of confidence and capital for owners of the site. Both hackers and crackers gain access to exclusive information by deciphering protective codes (Wilmot, 2004), which Littleton (1995) claims is not hard to do. A mischievous hacker seeks to only occupy an area considered off limits. On the other hand, a malicious cracker not only breaks codes to enter off-limits areas, but he or she seeks to vandalize or defile the area by causing immediate damage or planting viruses which slowly infiltrate and destroy systems that operate as critical infrastructures (Morris; Wilmot, 2004). Impact of Cyber-Terrorism According to Wilmot (2004), citizens cannot function without the critical infrastructures of their communities. One part of the critical infrastructure extremely vulnerable to cyber-terrorism is the public safety system. Branches of the public safety

Importance Of Search Engine Marketing Marketing Essay

Importance Of Search Engine Marketing Marketing Essay The Internet has induced a significant change in the way the public make and acquire information, which leads to shift their pattern in terms of search and purchase (Ghose Yang 2009). Search engines give consumers means to connect with related information which is available in the Internet environment (Rangaswamy et al. 2009). From the perspective of firms, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) enables them to put advertising on search engines to target consumers (Boughton 2005). In the tourism industry, many companies may have difficulty being visible on search engine return pages (SERPs) due to massive results about a particular keyword which consumers are searching for. In this paper, it will be dealt with two options of SEM which a small tourism business marketer can consider to expand their business: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (also called as Paid Placement). Furthermore, advantages and disadvantages of two options will be analyses in terms of several aspects, and a single method will be chosen by reflecting upon the purpose of a small tourism company. Furthermore, some recommendation that the selected option can have in order to overcome its limitation will be mentioned. Importance of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organisational) (2009) declared at the Search Engine Strategies Conference that expenditure on SEM will continuously increase in 2009 in spite of repercussion of the global financial crisis, and also expected that total spending on SEM will reach $26.1 billion in 2013. The reason for large investment of companies on SEM is that as contrasted with the slow increment in the number of viewership of TV, approximately 10-20% growth in online search volume is achieved every year (Hoffman Novak 2000). Hotchkiss et al. (2004) announce that the searching population relies extremely on search engine for online searches, which reminds online dealers of the importance of developing marketing strategies that enhances their firms visibility in the search results presented to potential customers. Furthermore, Weideman and Chambers (2005) reported that it is significant for marketers to have their websites placed on the first SERPs, or not less than on the first three pages of search results. According to iProspect (2006), 62% of search engine users click on results within first SERPs, and 90% of online searcher incline to click on results within the first three pages of SERPs. Accordingly, it is obviously seen that effective SEM development is a greatly important issue for all companies to place their website link on at least the first three result pages in order to expose itself to their prospect customers in the Internet environment. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click Broadly, SEM is defined as a form of Internet marketing whereby firms and organizations attempt to obtain high visibility on SERPs via paid or non-paid methods (Moran Hunt 2005). There are two major forms of SEM: (1) Search engine optimisation (SEO), and (2) Paid search marketing or Pay Per Click (Chaffey et al. 2009). SEO is used to reach the highest ranking in terms of a company or its product in the natural or organic listings regarding a particular combination of keywords which searchers type (Chaffey et al. 2009). The performance of SEO can be improved by reforming firms websites codes such as the title tag, meta-tags, heading tags and so forth (Chaffey et al. 2009). Pay Per Click means that firms pay search engine such as Google and Yahoo to be placed in the sponsored section (in case of Google, called sponsored link) of search result pages about keywords consumers enter (Hansell 2001). According to SEMPO (2007), approximately 87% of the amount spent on Pay Per Click and SEO captured only about 11% in 2007. The reason of this distinctive investment between two options is that Pay Per Click is regarded as the best method of enhancing visibility in the search result page (Sen 2005). The reason why companies focus on improving their visibility on SERPs is that high visibility will lead to more access to a firms website, which could result in more profits for the firm (Sen 2005). However, the expenditure of firms on SEO is predicted to increase as implementing SEO is generally cheaper than Pay Per Click (Hallerman 2008). Furthermore, iProspect study represented (2004) that Google users clicked on an organic listing (72.3%) over two times more than on a sponsored link (27.7%). In this regard, investing on only implementing Pay Per Click seems somewhat not a efficient strategy. In order to maximise the performance of SEM which firms implement, it will be best to use both of types. However, most marketers may have a limited budget to spend on SEM implementing. Accordingly, they have to choose the best option in consideration of their firms current position, reputation, and financial status. The value of search to tourism business Search engines have become a vital tool for online travel planners. They frequently initiate making their trip plan by utilizing search engines to search for and select useful information (Pan Fesenmaier 2006). If travel information seekers hold a friendly website in their bookmark or have decided a particular website to visit, they might go sprightly to the website. However, if online travel planners do not have sufficient information for travel websites, they generally select a search engine, type keywords, and perform the search. Afterwards, they are exposed to the results of their keywords entered (Hwang et al. 2006). Furthermore, Travel Industry Association reports (2005) that the first place which consumers visit to make a travel plan is increasingly search engine websites. As a tremendous online travel planners use search engine to find travel websites, tourism companies have to recognise the importance of effective SEM development. This is because visibility of a website on the Internet is related with the number of visitors. For example, travel companies make every effort to ensure that tourism-related information become visible so that potential visitors can access it (Werthner Klein 1999). Moreover, Kim and Fesenmaier (2008) announce that consumers first impression on, as well as consequently the general estimation of, a destination marketing organizations website can influenced considerably by the use of search engine. Accordingly, it is more likely that search engines affects positive attitudes toward tourism business. Therefore, tourism marketers have to consider the way in which their websites are searched by search engines more easily and more frequently to maximize its advantaged involved. Challenges of Search Engine in tourism business Although search engine has positive effects on tourism business, they have faced challenges. Research has shown that numerous tourism firms websites are increasingly invisible to prospective searchers (Xiang Pan 2009). According to Wober (2006), many tourism businesses were pushed back on the search results for travel related keywords consumers entered. This will lead consumers to spend considerable amount of time on relevant information finding they intend. Besides, this also makes consumers to have difficulty accessing directly a particular tourism business via search engine (Xiang Pan 2009). It might be easily presumed that it is more difficult for small and medium-size tourism firms to be visible on the screen of users than big firms due to their low reputation. Xiang et al. found (2008) that search results in Google are dominated by a small number of big tourism enterprises, which results in the visibility decrease of innumerable small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. Accordingly, tourism marketers, especially those who are engaged in small and medium-sized tourism enterprises, have to make effective SEM strategies to make their websites to become more visible than their competitors. Assumption of a small tourism company In this paper, it will be assumed that a small tourism company launched its business six months ago. It has low brand value, and most consumers do not know its existence in the tourism industry. Furthermore, it has tight budgets, thereby having a trouble in hiring salespeople. Analysis of strength and weakness of SEO and Pay Per Click In this part, two kinds of options regarding SEM, SEO and Pay Per Click will be addressed as an option. In 2007, SEMPO (2007) conducted a survey of purpose of SEM use to advertisers. According to respondents, three main purposes of using SEM is (1) to sell products, services or content directly online (approximately 58%), (2) to raise brand awareness of their products or services (about 63%), and (3) to drive traffic to their websites (nearly 43%). From the results of this survey, several criteria in terms of a choice between SEO and Pay can be selected. Furthermore, SEMPO (2007) conducted another survey for same interviewees, which could be a somewhat persuasive evidence to select criteria. It questioned them about metrics considered to measure the success of SEM. About 76% of marketers paid attention to both increased traffic volume and conversion rate. In addition, approximately 70% of marketers tracked click-thru rate and 67% of them measured return on investment as a metric for success of SME. Marketers need to consider online searchers preference and relevance of results about query. From the response to the survey, four criteria in terms of a choice between SEO and Pay Per Click can be led; (1) conversion rate, (2) click rate and visibility, (3) ROI (Return on Investment), (4) preference and traffic (5) relevance. Conversion rate Conversion rate means the percentage of clicks on Pay Per Click or SEO link that generate a sale for firms websites (Neethling 2007). If conversion rate is 20%, two out of ten clicks do not create any profit for those websites. Ghose and Yang (2008) found that the conversion rate of Pay Per Click is approximately two times more than that of SEO, respectively 5.4% and 2.76%. In this regard, if a firm implement Pay Per Click, it can make a profit twice more than SEO. Click rate and visibility As mentioned in 3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click, SEO has higher click rate than Pay Per Click while SEOs visibility is lower than Pay Per Click. ROI (Return on Investment) ROI will be an important measure for accountants of all companies because it indicates the effectiveness of an investment. iProspect (2005) conducted a survey with 636 qualified search marketers and 224 qualified search agencies in terms of ROI of SEO and Pay Per Click. In this survey, respondents revealed that SEO (35%) generates approximately three times higher than paid search (11%). The more interesting figure is that even more search marketers (42%) who utilise both SEO and paid search felt that SEO produces a higher ROI than Pay Per Click. Preference Several research present that many online search users have a preference for results from SEO over Pay Per Click. According to a survey conducted by Hotchkiss et al. with 425 respondents, who extremely selected links providing trusted and unbiased information source information (2004), over 77% of participants selected organic links rather than the sponsored link. Furthermore, Hotchkiss (2004) found that even 20% of users who have inefficient experience in online search have confusion about the definition of sponsored link on the search result page. In addition, this research also represented that if sponsored listings were located on the right side of the result page on screen, then many online searchers did not pay attention to or did not perceive the sponsored listings partially. Moreover, in a survey conducted by Jansen and Resnick (2006), 56 participants revealed a bias against sponsored link. In this test, 82% of participants viewed the organic listings first as contrasted with 6% for sponsored link. Additionally, over 73% of the searchers viewed sponsored links just once during the six search times. Accordingly, it can be also anticipated that SEO can acquire more traffic than PPC. Relevance Online searchers found that organic search results are more relevant than sponsored link results in terms of their keywords. According to iProspect (2004), across the four main search engines, Google, Yahoo, Msn, and AOL, 60.5% of respondents found that organic results were more relevant about same query. In particular, about 72% of Google users felt that organic results were more suitable for their keywords. Option choice Although both SEO and Pay Per Click have its distinctive advantages, it will be insisted that SEO is a better option for a small tourism company. In consideration of selecting SEO, sever criteria such as Return on Investment, preference, click rate, traffic rate, and result relevance are considered. First of all, Return on Investment is the most important criterion to select for a small tourism business since it has inefficient budget to implement. Although conversion rate of Pay Per Click is higher than SEO, the firm needs to make a profit as much as possible with limited budget. On the basis of ROI from Table 1, if it utilises SEO rather than Pay Per click for its SEM, it can obtain more effective financial outcome. Next, the preference of search engine users is also critical criterion. Although visibility of Pay Per Click is higher than SEO, if searchers ignore sponsored link, it does not give any effect on a small tourism company. This preference of SEO can lead to higher click rate and traffic rate, which will assist the firm to increase its brand awareness and reputation. For a small tourism business, enhancing brand awareness will be also extremely important as much as earning profits for its long-term outcome. Lastly, a small tourism company needs to always appear on SERPs for query in terms of its company. Since the firm launched recently, if online users search for its company, it is highly likelihood that massive results could show up including totally different results. Accordingly, in order for the users to find its company easily, SEO is a better method than Pay Per Click. Recommendation Though it is insisted that SEO is a better method for a small business tourism company, obviously, its low visibility is a challenge. Furthermore, the performance of SEO depends on search engine algorithm. Accordingly, the position of search result about a small business company could be different, and even it could not appear on SERPs. In order for the firm to be more exposed on SERPs, it needs to use social networking service (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter. The firm can add its link to SNS, which will lead to higher position on SERPs. This is because external link from other sites has an impact on ranking. Furthermore, it will also increase the firms brand awareness. Conclusion It will be expected that much more companies utilise search engine marketing since consumers increasingly depends on the Internet to search for product or service information. Although there are several sorts of search engine marketing methods, firms with small budgets may have difficult to employ all methods. Accordingly, they need to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of its method, and also consider their financial condition and purpose. Though search engine optimisation and Pay Per Click will have an positive impact on most firms, it will be suggested that a small tourism company utilizes search engine optimisation due to its higher Return on Investment, preference, click rate, traffic rate, and result relevance. However, search engine optimisation also has challenge. Accordingly, firms need to use social networking service to maximize the effect of search engine optimisation. Furthermore, they have to make high quality contents within their website in order to attract onli ne searchers.

Health Outcomes Essay -- Health, World Health Organization

Introduction: Health outcomes refer to the changes in the health status of individuals or the population. The outcomes are attributed to multiple or planned interventions, whether or not the intention of the intervention was to alter the health status. These interventions include health services and programs including health promotion programs, government policies, laws and regulations, and consequent programs. Intervention may also include unintended or intended health outcomes of government policies in areas besides health. Health outcomes are evaluated by health indicators (World Health Organization, 1998). Health indicators are a single measure, represented quantitatively, that encapsulates an important aspect of health, such as the amount people suffering from a chronic disease. It also captures a variety of health determinants such as income, or the important aspects of the health care system, such as the proportion of patients who revisit the hospital for additional care following previous treatment (World Health Organization, 1998). These indicators can be used to describe a public health concern at a specific point in time. It can indicate periodic changes over time at the population or individual health level, describe differences in the population health, and examine the extent at which program objectives are being met. These indicators can possibly encompass illness or disease measurements which are commonly used in measuring health outcomes, such as health expectancy, life skills, and quality of life, and behaviors or actions taken by individuals related to health (Rigby & Koh ler, 2002). Child health outcomes tend to be influenced by the parents, the home environment, intact families, maternal and non-maternal qua... ...t. In addition to the programs aimed at crisis intervention and suicide prevention, the MYCS offers transitional living arrangements for children and families in times of crisis. In addition they have facilities to assist with food and basic hygiene products in times of need. The Montgomery County Juvenile Court runs the Nicholas Residential Treatment Facility. This facility is a non-secure 24-bed unit which houses males, who have been adjudicated delinquent, and aims to rehabilitate these young men to become productive, responsible citizens. This mission is pursued with comprehensive treatment strategies, including family therapy and social-skill building. While staying at the Nicholas Residential Treatment Facility, youths will participate in educational, work, and recreational programs aimed at ensuring their swift and successful reintroduction to society.