ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Berger’s Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective is a book about sociology as a scientific methodology and a perspective through which the world can be explored. The author’s major thesis is that sociology is not limited to statistics, to which many people often reduce the importance of this science, and it is not even limited to being a particular scientific discipline that is part of social sciences, but it is a worldview in a way. Sociologists approach various “situation[s]…in which people orient their actions toward one another” (Berger 1963:27), i.e. social situations, from the perspective of these interactions and build a system of methods to analyze social processes. By explaining the humanistic perspective proposed by him, the author convincingly demonstrates that sociology, in fact, is more than its methods, such as surveying, or its theories. There are many sociological theories, but they all are part of the fundamental vision of all processes as the effects of human interactions. Berger (1963) often refers to his own experience of being a sociologist, and this adds reliability to his arguments. Also, despite beginning the book in a light and humorous manner, the author further turns to complicated scientific notions and perspectives, which shows his expertise and makes the book’s major thesis more persuasive. Apart from referring to reputable theories and sources, other persuasion tools used in the book include emotional appeal and humor. These tools can build a more favorable attitude in readers toward the book’s content, which makes the reader more likely to appreciate the author’s arguments and agree with them. For example, when explaining the concept of the norm and conformity with it, the author provides an example of a group of twenty cannibals who argue with one non-cannibal about cannibalism, and it is claimed that the one non-cannibal is likely to agree with the others in the end. Many theoretical perspectives are reflected in the book, but the most important one is the eponymous humanistic perspective. This perspective primarily suggests sociology’s “ongoing communication with other disciplines that are vitally concerned with exploring the human condition” (Berger 1963:168). The author explains the perspective through comparing humans to puppets in a puppet theater: unlike puppets, humans are capable of “looking up and perceiving the machinery by which [they] have been moved” (Berger 1963:176). This vision of sociology as a discipline that helps people move toward freedom is what makes this science humanistic. A major and obvious bias of the book is the fact that the author is a sociologist himsel
Outline the differences between the AFL-CIO’s organizing committee (AWOC) and Chavez’s work in Oxnard and then with the FWA, which GANZ believes explains why AWOC won a strike but couldn’t succeed at organizing a union. In his work, Chavez was oriented to the long-term goals when AWOC stressed the short-term goals and immediate results. The basic elements of the strategies used by Chavez and AWOC were similar and included such points as the role of experience, social networks, and tactical repertoires. However, the differences are more significant. The strategic differences and important aspects accentuated by Chavez are the focus on identity, accountability, deliberation, and resources. According to Ganz, these elements form the strategic capacity (Ganz, 2009). Throughout this strike, the NFWA does not employ conventional strike strategy and tactics. Comment on any piece of their strategy or specific tactic that you found interesting One of the most effective components of Chavez’s strategy is his focus on the effective cooperation between different levels of the organization instead of concentration on the strict hierarchy in an organization. This approach is necessary to see the complete situation, and it influences the decision-making process when the result depends on the vision of the workers. Thus, the highly centralized structure was changed with a flexible organization to be open to effective discussions. The principle of deliberation in Chavez’s strategy is correlated with this specific feature of the organization. The principle of deliberation affects the development of the strategy at all stages. Chavez calls his leadership team to discuss NFWA’s options since their strategy did not plan on a strike for years. They of course decided to support the strikers and then agree that they would risk a strike if the workers agreed to 3 conditions. What were these conditions, and what else did the leadership team want to see to believe that they could manage a strike? What do you think of the leadership team’s decision making process? The actions of the leadership team depended on the realization of requests for increasing the workers’ wages as a result of the Schenley contract. The question of job security was also discussed. The decision-making process was based on the diversity of the organization’s leadership team in which the opinions of every one were important. The focus was made on the exchange of information and increase of motivation. Do you have the necessary resources to strike, to build a union, a basic strategic question? Chavez was not inclined to receive financial or governmental support because of his worries about the freedom of his further actions. Thus, receiving any kind of support, Chavez can become obliged to play according to the rules of a sponsor or authority. In this situation, Chavez is not re
Introduction Happiness at the workplace is an essential topic for the UAE and should be researched more cohesively. The government of the UAE is already working on strategies that will allow enhancing productivity and engagement of individuals. However, a need to present a plan for improving the worker’s well-being and apply an innovation tool to support this proposal remains valid. Unarguably, evidence-based solutions from the field of psychology and personal development can help understand the approaches to happiness enhancement. This report aims to offer radical solutions for government entities in the UAE that improve the happiness of personnel and analyze those offers using SWOT. Challenges, Solutions, and SWOT Analysis While the UAE government declares its efforts towards improving workforce happiness, it is vital to understand the issues that may obstruct the successful implementation of these strategies. Firstly, the economic problems affecting both companies and states can hinder firms from investing in initiatives and projects that do not directly contribute to their bottom line. This is true for the governmental agencies, as well as the happiness enhancement initiatives, which require proper funding. Another challenge is the participation of managers in the project that targets workforce management and ensuring their commitment to the purpose. It is evident that without adequate support from the executive personnel, the strategies will not be carried out properly since they will be responsible for the implementation and control of the proposed solutions. Finally, an essential element is the development of a viable strategy that can be used across the country in different governmental entities. To ensure success, the initiators should understand that in some cases, the plan will be reviewed and altered to suit the needs of a particular agency. However, the significant issues that can be witnessed in all entities are a sense of pleasure at work, the director’s interest in meeting the requirements of personnel, and commitmen
Introduction Starch is a form of carbohydrate that is present in plant tissues, particularly cereals, tubers, and legumes (Vamadevan & Bertoft 2015). The biological role of starch is to act as a food reserve in plants in the form of crystalline granules. Starch is a polysaccharide, which is a sugar made of repeating units of disaccharides. The building blocks of starch are D-glucose molecules. Starch comprises a blend of two polymers, which have the glucose monosaccharides arranged in different configurations. The first polymer is amylose, a straight-chain compound that consists of approximately 500 glucose molecules joined together by alpha 1,4 glycosidic linkages (Sun et al. 2015). The other polysaccharide is amylopectin, which is a branched sugar polymer made up of repeating units of glucose joined together by alpha 1,4 and alpha 1,6 glycosidic bonds. The branching occurs after every eight to ten glucose units and consists of alpha 1,6 linkages at the branching points. These two compounds have different physical properties, which affect the overall characteristics of starch. For example, amylose has a low water holding capacity as opposed to amylopectin. Another notable difference is the digestibility of the two polymers. Amylose is partially digestible while amylopectin is entirely digestible. Even though native starch has a relatively simple chemical composition, the structure, and functionality of starch exhibit extensive variations between as well as within plant species. It is even possible to have such variations in starch obtained from the same plant (Wang & Copeland 2015). This variability is apparent in the morphology of starch granules regarding size and shape, the amount of amylose, the structure of amylopectin concerning the length of chains, and the position of branching. Another notable difference is the arrangement of amylose and amylopectin into crystalline and shapeless regions within starch granules. The addition of water to starch leads to the formation of a suspension that is referred to as sol. During cooking, starch undergoes various processes one of which is gelatinization. Gelatinization occurs when starch granules are heated to a liquid in moist surroundings. This process destabilizes the bonds holding the starch together, which leads to swelling. Other changes that occur include an increase in vol
Introduction Countrywide the election of Democratic Party President, Barrack Obama and a Democratic Senate appeared to suggest that the party was widely popular and had many voters. However, this was not the case in Texas State which Americans in that state voted for Republican delegation to Congress and its presidential candidate. In Texas State, concerns about elections and voting have been coloured by political changes in past elections. Texas State has been found to displace similar voting and non-voting pattern as other States. For example, the 2008 campaign provided enough illustration of the voting pattern. For many years, Republican Party in Texas has remained popular and has experienced many fights among governorship candidates both within the party and from other parties, and this has been contributed by and the increasing growing Latino population, which is a prominent factor ( Anthony, 1998). In 2002, Republican Party won the majority of seats in the two houses. While the 2004 election in Texas State served as the completion of a cycle to the party ascendancy in Texas politics. Presidential votes were guaranteed to go to former president Bush because the Republican Party held a 21-11 seat advantage over Democratic Party. The Republican Party only lost only two out of the six districts, but in the 2006 elections, the party maintained its congressional delegation. In the 2008 election, the national Republican Party lost its grip in the national election but gain some ground in the congressional delegation (gain a seat) in Texas State. Cultural and Regional Support Texas population and culture is increasingly diverse due to new immigrant from neighbouring countries such as the Mexican, and Asia continent, and the natural growth of the local population. Most elections have put much emphasis on the Latinos population. These people are believed to grow at an alarming rate, and they are expected to grow fast shortly. In the state of Texas, the population size of both Hispanics and Latinos is made up of one-third of the total population in the state. While that of Mexican descent is approximately one-quarter of the total population. In the previous elections, Latinos and Mexican Americans have supported Republican Party candidates in Texas. Also, Hispanics votes have been an important factor in the Republican Party success in Texas. The reason why Mexican Americans and Latinos have supported Republican Party is that many Activists believe other parties particular Democratic Party in the past neglected Latinos and Mexican Americans’ population. The impact of this has continued to hurt Democratic Party at the polls. But despite overall party dominance, some regions have strong Democratic power. Such regions include Austin, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Demographic Support In Texas State, Republican Party is associated with older people. More than two-thirds of voters believed to have voted for the party in the last elections were over 48 years old and only 10 per cent of voters were in the bottom two age brackets. Additionally, 22 per cent of supporters are under the age of 30 years, 80
Retail landscape has undergone continuous change from the growth of railroads and big cities to modern department stores to shopping malls and now to e-tailing. The changes that have set in have transformed the way consumer expectations have transformed, evolving retailing strategy. Retailers, therefore, had to continually adapt to the changing situation in order to survive. The latest trend in retailing is digital retail that has and will transform the way shopping was done before. In 2011, research firm Forrester forecasted a growth of 15 to 20 per cent for digital retailing globally (Rigby 66). Three new expectations that customers have already started exhibiting and will intensify in future are instant gratification, customization, and borrowing (Thau par. 6). Shopping experience in future will change with the advent of the constant up-gradation and development of technology. Future shopping experience will change and so will the retail space. This essay discusses the change in shopping experience in the physical and the digital space and how it would enhance customer satisfaction. I believe in 2025 the gap between the physical and digital retail space will be narrowed with the aid of virtual reality applications and help in enhancing customer retail experience. The physical retail space will change radically in future. Converging customer needs have pushed both physical and digital retailers to innovate their strategy to enhance customer satisfaction. For instance, Amazon is planning to incorporate physical pop-up shops
Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate whether early alertness on misinformation reduces chances of creating false memories in humans, and whether there was any relationship between DRM false memories and misinformation. As noticed from the study, initial perceptions on certain issues or events created after receiving the first information always affects human memory. As evident from the findings of this study, there is a relatively positive correlation between early alertness about the occurrence of misinformation and chances of creating false memories about certain events in human beings. Children filled with misconstrued information about certain aspects of their childhood will eventually build false memories due to receiving misleading information earlier. Alerting or warning people about incoming information increases their alertness, and thus, reduces chances of building false memories. The DRM technique of identifying false memories in humans is practicable in human cognitive psychology. Understanding the Mind The impact of misleading information on people’s perception of certain life events, issues, or experiences is still unknown. How people communicate and interpret information during conversation is imperative in determining the final perception of the content delivered (Blair, Lenton, & Hastie, 2002). Evidence from numerous prior studies indicates that people can develop false memories about certain events they witnessed if they deliberately received wrong information regarding the events (Roediger & McDermott, 1995; Hyman & Billings, 1998). Scientific investigations indicate that informing people earlier on possibilities of receiving misleading information often reduces the chances of creating false memories. Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm of cognitive psychology assumes that false memories happen when people provide wrong words that are absent in a list used in false memory assessments (Blair, Lenton & Hastie, 2002). More precisely, the DRM false memories scientific paradigm assumes that misconstrued information regarding certain events results in the occurrence of misconceptions (false memories) due to fake memories created in the human brain. In the same year, in an attempt to establish facts underlying false childhood memories, Roediger and McDermott (1995) investigated the patterns of remembering false events and recalling events that never happened. The study used a word list related to the word ‘ sleep’ and employed two experiments to investigate the rates of false recall and false recognition in human memories (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). The research discovered that approximately 40% of the study participants made false recall and almost 55% of the participants port
The story of “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” talks about several people who came to the new land as illegal immigrants for a search of a better life. The concept of family is predominant throughout and from the beginning of the story. It proves that the closest ties people have are with their family and sometimes, there is no one else in the world who will offer a helping hand, especially in own detriment. From the very beginning the story illustrates the respect and obligations that individuals within a family have towards each other. When Mr. Russell shows the kindness of his heart and makes sure that the immigrant family is safe, he dies but his dream lives on through his wife. Her commitment to his wishes and the respect for him obligates Mrs. Russell to take the family in and offer help. Also, the motherly feelings that she felt towards the family that was not even her own, proves that she was of kind heart and understood the hardships that others were going through. The key feature of the story is that everything is seen through the eyes of the girl and she describes things as they are. She is not yet able to understand the special ties between the family members. Later on, the reader learns that the family history is a rather harsh one. The narration changes from the past to the present and tells a story of how the relationship between a “gangster” and his wife developed, as well as his son and daughter. When the father is ignoring the phone call and sees a man and his son on TV, it is apparent that the scene represents the loss and the difficulty that it has brought upon the parent. The father meets many challenges and also, has to deal with own insecurities. As a result, this affects his position within the family and in the relationship with his daughter. Form one perspective the family life is shown through the eyes of a little girl. As she cannot yet comprehend many concepts, she can only observe and comment on what she sees. She is unable to understand the deepest emotions people go through at first. When the family is reunited, the seemingly joyful moment and future life become marred by the relationships within the family and their past. It is possible to assume that the father has seen a lot in his life and this has greatly affected his relationship within the family. He probably had high hopes for his son and after the tragedy, could not let go of the pain. The daughter becomes the other half of the family that has been separated by the harsh condition of life. Slowly, it becomes obvious that the narrator grows up and her feelings towards her family and father become clearer. She has a special relationship with her father and she can now understand the difficult time her mother goes through. The fact that the family was separated by the loss of the brother and the change in life settings represent different characters and their feelings. The story shows the audience a different side of the family. The strain and inability to cope sometimes take over but in the end, people hold on to
The story There are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz focuses on Western Chicago that has become veritable minefields resting on volatile issues like race, human values, responsibilities of the community. The subject is the urban underclass. There is a rampant crime; society is tearing at the seams relying on welfare, drug peddling, gang warfare, and above all unemployment. Manufacturing units have nearly all shut down. The author highlights the situation through the lives of two brothers who are in their pre-teens LaFayette and his younger brother Pharaoh. They struggle to survive keeping their identity and not becoming just another statistical figure of tragedy. They live in Henry Horner Homes – an apartment complex for poor Blacks. Their family comprises of their mother Lajoie, their drug-abusing alcoholic father, elder siblings who are jailbirds and prostitutes and younger triplets whose burial insurance has already been purchased. It is a ghetto replete with the stench of rubbish piled up for fifteen years, dead animals, and rotting aborted fetuses. Narrative review Henry Horner Homes is the home to the characters in the story. It is a public housing project for the low-income group in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The narration starts from the summer of 1987 and runs through till the end of September 1989. The setting is the poverty-ridden streets of Chicago and a realistic peep into the lives of the two brothers Lafeyette and Pharaoh. With jobs gone following the shutting down of industry, the city has become a hell hole of despair. There are no banks or libraries but only drugs and crime. The infant mortality rate is worse than in some of the developing world. This is another America. Nine-year-old pharaoh and twelve-year-old Lafeyette are visiting the rail tracks for the first time on a warm weekend afternoon early in June. They see the downtown sordid area where they live and also note fluttering butterflies and dancing blooms growing along the rails. They are accompanied by their cousin Porkchop and friend James Howard. Armed with crowbars they are out to hunt snakes and knick-knacks from a stack. They recall the death of another friend – a victim of an accidental shooting. To them, it is nothing uncommon for trespassers to be shot. The home of the children is a dark hole with broken mailboxes and no exterior lights. The people carry their flashlights. Shooting is common and Lafeyette being the eldest train the children to hold their heads down. In the melee, Lafeyette loses precious dollars he had got for his birthday. The constant figure in their lives is LaJoe their mother – warm and generous despite the toll the neighborhood has taken on her children. The scene here is of an extended