The Clearling Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Clearling - Assignment Example She dragged her basket over to the spring, then knelt and scooped up some of the clear cool water to drink. Refreshed, she lay back on the grass and closed her eyes, not caring about the further stains her clothes would suffer. She had been hunting in the forest all afternoon for berries, so that her mother could make her famous berry pie for their â€Å"special† guest, who was coming to dinner tonight. Kallan did not want to think of that â€Å"special† guest, her stomach tightened every time she did. Her parents had been looking for an eligible suitor ever since she had turned 16 last spring and Mr. Goodwyn was the result. He was rich, owned a manor house on ten acres of land and he was well connected at court. â€Å"The perfect husband!† Her mother had labelled him. â€Å"A proper gentleman.† Her father had announced happily. But, Kallan did not like him, never mind love him! And aren’t you supposed to love the person you are to wed? She thought to herself miserably. Lately, she had found herself spending more and more time in the forest, trying to avoid Mr. Goodwyn’s frequent visits. But, there was no avoiding him tonight; for, it was tonight that he was to make his formal proposal to her father, asking him for her hand in marriage. A silent tear rolled down her cheek and she made no attempt to wipe it away, instead she listened to the singing of the birds around her. Then, faintly she heard something else, sweet distant music accompanied by the tinkling of bells. As she listened, it came closer until it was all round her. Blinking she sat up and gasped in amazement. The sun had set and faint stars were beginning to shine, and in the faint light she saw that in the once empty clearing, now stood at least a dozen silvery white horses, their brightly coloured harnesses jingling with tiny gold bells. But, what was more astonishing were the people, if people they were, who were now dismounting from the beautiful horses. They were tall and slender, and moved so gracefully that they seemed to flow over the ground. One of the figures was playing a harp, the source of the sweet music she had heard. Stooping the figure set the harp on the ground and turned to Kallan. â€Å"Now, child, do not stare so. Have you never heard of The Fair Folk?† The speaker was the loveliest female Kallan had ever seen, she was tall and willowy with a fountain of coppery curls falling in waves down her back and around her angular ageless face. â€Å"W-well, yes†¦but,† Kallan stammered in a half whisper. She had heard tales of The Fair Folk, but she had thought that that is all they were, tales. The woman smiled gently down at her. â€Å"Come join us my dear, we are stopping for our evening meal.† She held out her hand and Kallan scrambled to her feet and took it â€Å"I am Taylliana, Elf Queen of Fernin.† Kallan gasped and tried to curtsy but the queen stopped her saying, â€Å"None of that child, it is not necessary. What is your name?† â€Å"Kallan My Lady.† â€Å"Well met Kallan.† the queen said â€Å"Now come join us.† She led Kallan to where a brightly coloured silk covering had been placed on the grass. Kallan sat down dazedly and politely accepted a glass of what smelt like berry juice from the queen. She could not believe what she was experiencing, it all seemed so unreal. â€Å"This is Kallan.† The queen announced to the rest of the elves as they sat down and began passing bowls of fresh

Criminology Report- The August 2011 Public Disorder-an analysis of the Essay

Criminology Report- The August 2011 Public Disorder-an analysis of the data on those bright before the courts - Essay Example The data presented in the filing fails to command authenticity and as the bulletin reports, the use of it should be under the understanding of its potential flows and is only viewed as approximations. The most observable features of the data as presented is the rounded off figures which therefore confirms the approximate nature of the data. The data presented covers factual records on court hearing data, data on ethnicity as well as age and gender and data on case classifications on area among others. Moreover, the distribution of the court proceedings between the court systems across the country is in record within the data presented. Nevertheless, it would be pointed out that the data presented fails to authoritatively quantify the number of offenders involved in each act of offence as was committed during the time. It is however acknowledged that the data presented was collected/retrieved from the administrative records as official statistics. This implies that though with the pos sible shortcomings pointed out in the discussion, the data can be used for research purposes as secondary data by the virtue of being official statistics. The report shows that the public violence involved many people who had disparities in age, gender and motives (Dodd, 2011). The report notes that on the basis of age, the public disorder involved 27% juveniles (aged between 10 and 17 years), 26% were aged 18-18 years while only an approximate of 5% of the offenders were above 40 years by age. In comparison with the age distribution of offenders previously convicted in similar offences in 2010, great disparities were observed from the 2011 statistics, majorly being on the numbers of offenders. Amongst 3103 defendants who faced initial trials in London magistrate courts, 27% were juveniles while the remaining 73% were adults. It is however to be noted that this was only 72% of the total accused persons because others

The Clearling Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Clearling - Assignment Example She dragged her basket over to the spring, then knelt and scooped up some of the clear cool water to drink. Refreshed, she lay back on the grass and closed her eyes, not caring about the further stains her clothes would suffer. She had been hunting in the forest all afternoon for berries, so that her mother could make her famous berry pie for their â€Å"special† guest, who was coming to dinner tonight. Kallan did not want to think of that â€Å"special† guest, her stomach tightened every time she did. Her parents had been looking for an eligible suitor ever since she had turned 16 last spring and Mr. Goodwyn was the result. He was rich, owned a manor house on ten acres of land and he was well connected at court. â€Å"The perfect husband!† Her mother had labelled him. â€Å"A proper gentleman.† Her father had announced happily. But, Kallan did not like him, never mind love him! And aren’t you supposed to love the person you are to wed? She thought to herself miserably. Lately, she had found herself spending more and more time in the forest, trying to avoid Mr. Goodwyn’s frequent visits. But, there was no avoiding him tonight; for, it was tonight that he was to make his formal proposal to her father, asking him for her hand in marriage. A silent tear rolled down her cheek and she made no attempt to wipe it away, instead she listened to the singing of the birds around her. Then, faintly she heard something else, sweet distant music accompanied by the tinkling of bells. As she listened, it came closer until it was all round her. Blinking she sat up and gasped in amazement. The sun had set and faint stars were beginning to shine, and in the faint light she saw that in the once empty clearing, now stood at least a dozen silvery white horses, their brightly coloured harnesses jingling with tiny gold bells. But, what was more astonishing were the people, if people they were, who were now dismounting from the beautiful horses. They were tall and slender, and moved so gracefully that they seemed to flow over the ground. One of the figures was playing a harp, the source of the sweet music she had heard. Stooping the figure set the harp on the ground and turned to Kallan. â€Å"Now, child, do not stare so. Have you never heard of The Fair Folk?† The speaker was the loveliest female Kallan had ever seen, she was tall and willowy with a fountain of coppery curls falling in waves down her back and around her angular ageless face. â€Å"W-well, yes†¦but,† Kallan stammered in a half whisper. She had heard tales of The Fair Folk, but she had thought that that is all they were, tales. The woman smiled gently down at her. â€Å"Come join us my dear, we are stopping for our evening meal.† She held out her hand and Kallan scrambled to her feet and took it â€Å"I am Taylliana, Elf Queen of Fernin.† Kallan gasped and tried to curtsy but the queen stopped her saying, â€Å"None of that child, it is not necessary. What is your name?† â€Å"Kallan My Lady.† â€Å"Well met Kallan.† the queen said â€Å"Now come join us.† She led Kallan to where a brightly coloured silk covering had been placed on the grass. Kallan sat down dazedly and politely accepted a glass of what smelt like berry juice from the queen. She could not believe what she was experiencing, it all seemed so unreal. â€Å"This is Kallan.† The queen announced to the rest of the elves as they sat down and began passing bowls of fresh

The Healthcare Facility and Staff †You Decide Essay Example for Free

The Healthcare Facility and Staff – You Decide Essay I. Identification The dilemma is that Mrs. Margie Whitson a patient at Golden Oaks Rehabilitation Center is going through some very hard times after just loosing her son William about a week ago. She has also had to deal with loosing her husband in the past 5 years leading up to this. She is also reflecting back to when she lost her first son to a motor vehicle accident. Margie is having a very difficult time taking this all in and now feels all alone and wants the one and only thing keeping her alive removed. Margie suffered a heart attack 2 years ago that almost took her life and she had to have an electronic pacemaker implanted. The pacemaker is what is keeping her alive by keeping her heart rhythm at a 100% pace. Without the pacemaker she would not be able to live. Now that all of her family is gone she is requesting that her pacemaker be removed so that she can pass and go on to be with her family because she now feels like she has nothing to live for anymore. She has talked to the Rehabilitation Center Administrator Cindy Mackin and has told her what she wants to happen and has requested her to call Dr. Vijay who was the Cardiologist Surgeon who placed the pacemaker in her to remove it. Morals are principles of right and wrong in behavior, expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior, conforming to a standard of right behavior, sanctioned by or operative on one’s conscience or ethical judgment, and capable of right and wrong action. (Merriam-Webster) According to our book the moral principles of ethics that are involved in removing Margie’s pacemaker are: †¢Beneficence- is the principle of doing good, demonstrating kindness, showing compassion, and helping others. †¢Nonmaleficence- is an ethical principle that requires caregivers to avoid causing patients harm. †¢Justice- is the obligation to be fair in the distribution of benefits and risks. †¢Autonomy- is recognizing the right of a person to make one’s own decisions. (Legal Aspects of Healthcare) The morals that are in conflict with this issue is nonmaleficence because the doctors, nurses, social worker, and ethics committee main priority is to make sure that nonmaleficence is not being implemented by any means. Other morals that are in conflict would be justice and autonomy because the committee has to take in consideration the patient’s right to make her own decision about wanting to live or not but they also have to take into consideration the benefits and risks of the patient that could come along with going through the patient’s request of removing her pacemaker. II. Information The ethics committee goals consist of: †¢Promote the rights of patients. †¢Promote shared decision making between patients and their clinicians. †¢Assist the patent and family, as appropriate, in coming to a consensus regarding the options that best meet the patient’s goal for care. †¢Promote fair policies and procedures that maximize the likelihood of achieving good, patient-centered outcomes. (Legal Aspects of Healthcare) It is clear that this dilemma consists of Margie wanting her doctor to assist with taking her life by removing her pacemaker. She has been through so much with the loss of her immediate family members that she wants to pass away as well to be with them because she feels like there is nothing else to live for. There are many theories of ethics that play apart in this dilemma. One of the theories is the Normative Ethics where all attempts are made in determining what moral standards should be put into place to ensure that human behavior and conduct are morally right. Another theory that can be can be applied is the Consequential Ethical Theory that focuses on the morally right action that will lead to the maximum balance of good or evil. The Utilitarian ethics believes that the moral worth of an action is only determined by its contribution to happiness as summed by all people. The last theory would be the Deontologic ethics that is focuses on the duties to others, which consists of telling the truth to all patients. III. Communication The ethics committee then sits down together and communicates with each other about the dilemma while going over the morals values and theories that apply to this particular dilemma to ensure that all of the rights steps and decisions are taken before they come to a conclusion on what to do for Margie. This step in communication is very critical to make sure that the committee review the dilemma properly, resolve any ethical dilemmas, resolve any conflicts, and to figure out if any additional support is needed. The committee does not necessarily come up with final decisions but they provide the needed advice to guide doctors, nurses, etc. towards making the right decisions. The ethics committee members all agree that there is indeed a dilemma with Margie wanting the aid of a doctor to take her life by removing her pacemaker, which is the only thing that is keeping her living. After meeting with all of the members of the ethics committee we are all on the same accord and have been informed with all the information about the case. The Cardiologist Dr. Rana Vijay, the Social Worker Jane Robison, the Rehabilitation Center Administrator Cindy Mackin and the Ethics Committee Chairman David Jamison have all come together and presented all information and facts that they know about this issue to all the members of the committee to ensure that no one was left out about any details of this dilemma. All members concur with my understanding and all other parties that had information about Margie’s dilemma. IV. Choice After speaking with the Cardiologist Dr. Rana Vijay, he informs the committee that removing Margie’s pacemaker would violate Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, and Justice. He stated that he would be going against helping others if followed through with Margie’s request, he would also be going against avoiding or causing harm to patients, and lastly he would be disregarding the benefits and risks of Margie by performing the requested actions. The Social Worker Jane Robison also expressed that doing this would not be good for Margie or his profession due to the ethics standards they have to withhold for all patients. She believes that with time she will have a change of heart and will appreciate her life being spared. The Rehabilitation Center Administrator Cindy Mackin agrees with everyone else in not assisting Margie with taking her life due to the sad circumstances that she has been faced with in the past few years. After all the members have reviewed the suggestions and recommendations from everyone involved everyone on the ethics committee have agreed that Margie’s request to have her pacemaker removed will be denied due to all ethical standards and the fact simply that it is just not right to let someone take their own life or assist with taking someone’s life. One of the most important things is to never cause harm to any patient, which taking a patients life goes above and beyond of causing harm to a patient. References Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration/George D. Pozgar.-11th ed.p.cm Moral. Retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral

An Introduction To Rational Choice Theory Philosophy Essay

An Introduction To Rational Choice Theory Philosophy Essay Public administrative agencies have very distinctive styles of decision making often depending upon the type of leadership or organizational structure. The literature suggests the decision making process in the public administrative sphere involves more complexity, dynamism, intervention, and interruption than those in their private counterparts (Rainey, p. 160). Public administrators are primarily held accountable by the people they serve in their communities; therefore, utilizing the most logical, efficient style of decision making is sought out by public agencies. Decision-making issues are closely related to power issues, because power determines who gets to decide (Rainey, p.160). Bureaucracies have commonly used the Rational Choice Theory in their decision making processes. For the purposes of this assignment, the Rational Choice Theory has been chosen for examination. Through examining the four components of the Rational-Choice Theory Model, theorists have concluded that this style of decision making is not rational. This model has proved to be problematic because it is not realistic, too time consuming, too costly, and too strict. Theorists such as Herbert Simon opposed this style of decision making claiming that it leads to bounded rationality which ultimately leads to satisficing. Bounded Rationality and Satisfying are two public administrative terms that will be explained later on. Conducting an analysis of Rational-Choice Theory, one mainly encounters criticisms of the model in literature. In this article Stephan clarifies rationality by providing an explanation of the embedded assumptions in Rational-Choice Theory. The embedded assumptions of rationality are the central theme of this article. Quackenbushs central argument is that much of the criticism of rational choice theory is based on a basic misunderstanding of the assumption of instrumental rationality-which is, after all, the rationality of rational choice theory (Quackenbush, p. 2). In this article, the author has discusses the role of assumption in theory as well as the assumption of rationality in rational choice theory. The author utilizes empirical research from several theorists to explain how the debate and the criticisms have evolved with Rational-Choice Theory. Quackenbush strengthens his argument with a discussion regarding three applications of rational choice theory in international relations and demonstrates ways that rational choice theorists themselves have potentially added to confusion about the assumption of rationality (Quackenbush, p.2). Quackenbush presents research from political science theorists such as Donald Green and Ian Shapiro, and Walt Friedman regarding rational choice theory but makes it abundantly clear that this model has been debated in other areas of social sciences. Green and Shapiros research of rational choice was conducted in the realm of American politics. Green and Shapiro concluded their research with evidence illustrating the rational choice model had not advanced the empirical study of politics as it had initially promised. Walt conducted a review of several formal rational choice works in an attempt to demonstrate that they have yielded trivial results, have not been empirically tested, and that empirical tests, when used, have been constructed poorly (Quackenbush, p. 2). Quackenbush attempted to clarify the role of assumptions in rational choice theory. The empirical works of Green and Shapiro assisted Walt in proving that rational choice is not simply one theory but an approach to theory. An assessment of Quackenbushs article, generally stated, may be the fact that rational choice theory theorizes that individuals use rationality to make choices and that individual theories are more of a concern than the rational choice model itself. In exploratory rational choices record, Green and Shapiro paying attention entirely upon the extent to which theorists present empirical evidence about the outside of an event: that is evidence. Evidence, on this view, consists in a fit between the presumptions of rational choice theory and observed institutional or behavioral outcomes in any particular case. In what follows we will refer to empirical evidence of this sort as mortal external. However, we argue that rational choice is also conciliation by its failure to provide kind of empirical evidence, namely internal or interpretive evidence about the beliefs of the agents whose actions comprise the phenomena to be explained. Our distinction between external and internal evidence maps on to the well-known distinction between a behavioral and ultimately positivist conception of political science and a hermeneutic or interpretive one. Internals explanations do not claim access to private psychological states; they are internal only in the sense of being internal to the world of meanings inhabited by the actor. Monk-Hampsher and Hindmoors research does, however, assume the devils advocate role towards the end of the article demonstrating how the rational choice theory is valuable in circumstances in which interpretive evidence cannot be relied. Scholarly Themes The idea of this article is based on the concept that the rational choice theory misses the interpretive evidence and the research to find out the reality that the empirical research does play any role in the credibility of the rational choice theory. Green and Shapiro demonstrate that the largely achievements of rational choice theory are in fact profoundly suspect and that fundamental rethinking is needed if rational choice theorists are to supply to the indulgent of politics. Green and Shapiro show that empirical tests of rational choice theories are disfigured by a series of mechanical defects. These defects flow from the characteristic rational choice impulse to defend universal theories of politics. An individual assessment of Hindmoors book review may lead to the belief that Hindmoor seems to disagree with Green and Shapiros thoughts that rational choice theory has been heavily criticized because it is misunderstood. Hindmoor explains that Green and Shapiro theorize that the problem lies with rational choice theorists and rational choice models, not with actual rational choice theory. Hindmoor may find Green and Shapiros research to be contradictory but acknowledges the importance of their work which it has been powerfully stated in the literature generating significant controversy. The theme of this book is based on the factors of reliability, validity and empirical evidence of the Rational Choice Theory. In this article the major concerns are the study of the collective action, the behavior and attitude of political parties politicians and phenomenon of voting cycles and the Prisoners problems. It has also been evaluated in this article that if rational choice theories are to contribute to the understanding of the politics then deep suspect and the fundamental rethinking is required. This article is a scholarly work dedicated to examining the primary features of rational choice theory with respect to Lakatos research program and Laudans research tradition. The analysis in this article expose that the thin rationality assumption, the axiomatic method and the diminution to the micro level are the only features shared by all rational choice models. On these grounds, it is argued that rational choice theory cannot be exemplified as a research program. This is due to the fact that the thin rationality proposition cannot be understood as a hard core in Lakatos terms. It is argued that Laudans conception of a research tradition better differentiate rational choice theory. Rational choice theory or rational actor theory (RCT) is a common draw near in different fields of social logical research. Broadly speaking, RCT can be differentiating as the maturity of models based on the hypothesis of rational actors. In this article, the nature of RCT is evaluated in more detail. Green and Shapiro suggest that they believe RCT should become a more coherent research program with a hard core if Lakatos terms are used. An assessment of Herne and Setelas article reveals their motivation for conducting this research lies within the context of the actual role of rational choice theory in the political arena. Herne and Setela disagree with Green and Shapiros strategies and convey that the development of rational actor theory would only be hindered if it were based upon a particular definition of rationality. Scholarly Themes The article theme is based on Post hoc theory development and domain restrictions.post hoc theory development is not necessarily harmful, if conceptual clarity and testability are preserved. But on contrary, post hoc theory development can lead to innovative model building. Beside this the domain restriction is also not a goof strategy because it kills the innovative theory building by restricting the domain of application. Librarians at the Bounds of Rationality: How Bounded Rationality Can Help Us Help Others, by Samantha Schmehl Hines Hines, S. S. (2009). Librarians at the Bounds of Rationality: How Bounded Rationality Can Help Us Help Others.  Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian,  28(3), 80-86. doi:10.1080/01639260903088927 Social Science theorist, Hebert Simon, claimed that Rational Choice Decision Making resulted in bounded rationality, a theory that explains how the rationality of decision making is limited based on the amount of information one may have. Simons theory is the topic in Samantha Schmehl Hiness article, Librarians at the Bounds of Rationality: How Bounded Rationality Can Help Us Help Others. Central Argument In this article, Hiness is clearly an advocate of bounded rationality describing it as a helpful concept used to identify and predict behavior with decision making. Hiness central argument focuses on how and why bounded rationality is beneficial in predicting human behavior. Summary of Work Hines uses the criticisms of Rational Choice Theory to build her argument that bounded rationality is a better mode of decision making. Bounded rationality is a perception used in the social sciences to help classify and predict how individuals make decisions. An offshoot of rational choice theory, bounded prudence accounts for the fact that completely rational decisions are not feasible in practice and states that individuals use heuristics, or rules based on past experiences and information, to make decisions. Bounded rationality can explain how our users create heuristic shortcuts to simplify the decision-making practice and deal with the multitude of choices and information available. This concept article will describe bounded rationality, apply bounded rationality to aspects of library service, and discuss the possible use of the concept as an assessment tool for our services. Hines uses librarians and their daily operations in an attempt to prove that Simons theory is helpful in two different realms of study: Social Sciences and Human Behavior. Hines explains that daily practices such as collection development and reference review are implicated in the decision making processes of our daily lives. Collection development and reviews of reference books, articles, journals etc are two elements of bounded rationality that draw attention to the resources individuals have at their clearance for making rational decisions. Hines argues that becoming aware of this progression will benefit the decision making process. Scholarly Themes The theme of this article is based on the idea that the individuals rationality is limited because of the available information, cognitive limitation of their minds and the limited time for decision making. So they use the techniques based on their experiences in past. Rational Decision Making in Business Organizations, by Herbert A. Simon Simon, H. A. (1979). Rational Decision Making in Business Organizations.  The American Economic Review,  69(4), 493-513. Retrieved April 8, 2010 Herbert Simon, a theorist who has analyzed Rational Choice Theory in multiple areas of study, seeks to examine the theory from an economical perspective in the article, Rational Decision Making in Business Organizations. Central Argument The central theme of this article is focused on the concern of the important colonial territory known as decision theory. Simon discusses the normative and descriptive aspects and its applications to business organizations linking his theories back to the core of the political economy. Summary of Work Simon states economics has focused on one aspect of mans decision making and that one focus had traditionally been his reason. Furthermore, Simon explains mans reason had typically been studied while making decisions in times of scarcity. Simon steps out of the traditional realm in his research viewing decision theory as not being limited to the domains of political science, psychology, and sociology. He explains that the classical model of rational choice calls for all the knowledge of alternatives that are open to choice. Simon explains, in compliance with most of his research on Rational Choice theory, the possession of complete knowledge is not rational or feasible. Simon uses the works of theorists such as Henry Schultz to provide examples in explaining the more refined aspects of studies conducted within the physical sciences. From a government policy making perspective, Simon reveals the eloquence of the body of descriptive theory (i.e. descriptive statistics) and how quantitative research has been beneficial to normative economics. Although Simon is clearly an advocate of his many of his colleagues equilibrium theories, he offers an explanation that some of the more refined parts of this study may not be completely beneficial in the real world. Simon says in his article that when we find the discrepancies between theory and data, we try to patch rather then to rebuild from the foundations. He argues that we have large quantity of descriptive data from field as well as laboratory. A number of theories have been formed to account for this data. But these theories are not coherent. In one way or other, these incorporate the notions of the bounded rationality. Bounded rationality means the need to search for decisions alternatives, the replacement of optimization by targets and satisficing goals and the mechanism of learning and adaptation. Scholarly Themes The theme of this article is one with something can not be defeated with nothing. You cannot neat a measure or a candidate by pointing his/her defects or inefficiencies. An alternative must has to be offered. Do Sunk Costs Matter, by R. Preston Mcafee and Hugo M. Mialon, and Sue H. Mialon Mcafee, R. P., Mialon, H. M., Mialon, S. H. (2007). Do Sunk Costs Matter?  Economic Inquiry,  48(2), 323-336. Retrieved April 8, 2010 Central Argument Authors R. Preston Mcafee, Hugo M. Mialon, and Sue H. Mialon present research examining how people make decisions specifically in the realm of sunk costs in the article Do Sunk Costs Matter; therefore, their research focuses on economics. Summary of Work In the summary to of this article the authors identify sunk costs as costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. That sunk costs are not related to rational decision-making is often accessible as one of the basic principles of economics. When people are influenced by sunk costs in their decision-making, they are said to be commend the sunk cost fallacy. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we argue that, in a broad range of situations, it is rational for people to condition behavior on sunk costs, because of informational content, reputational concerns, or financial and time constriction. Once all the elements of the decision-making environment are taken into account, reacting to sunk costs can often be unstated as rational behavior. Another argument presented in this article is the idea that decisions based on future prospects, past decisions, scarce resources and infinite time, and reaction to past decisions and the sunk costs they have entailed, is often rational behavior. Scholarly Themes The theme of the article is when people engage in this type of behavior it is not rational and they commit a sunk cost fallacy. Sunk cost is the basic theme of this article in which the authors have discussed that the people might rationally invest more if they have invested more in the past, because it might convince that high past investments would lead towards the closer success. The reaction of people has been discusses for investments in regard to the sunk cost. Simons Revenge: or Incommensurability and Satisficing, by Michael Byron Byron, M. (2005). Simons revenge: or, incommensurability and satisficing.  Analysis,  65(4), 311-315. Retrieved April 9, 2010 Central Argument Michael Byrons article, Simons Revenge: or Incommensurability and Satisficing, is another analysis of the Rational Choice Theory based on Herbert Simons criticisms of the theory. Byron provides a discussion focused on Simons solution to the Rational Choice Model of Decision Making. The central theme of Byrons article is about Simons coined term, Satisficing, and its potential in serving as an alternative model to Rational Choice Theory. Summary of Work Byron explains that Simon thought for large-scale decisions, the deluge of relevant information and uncertainties overload the cognitive capacity of managers to process it. Managers strive for rationality; therefore, they tend to be rational. However, Byron uses Simons argument to strengthen his research by explaining cognitive limits, uncertainties, and time limits cause decisions to be made under conditions of bounded rationality. They do not maximize in accordance with rationality assumptions instead they satisfice. To paraphrase Bryons argument, satisficing is a term meaning what we do when we make the best of what we can. This is the reality of decision making. Satisfice is the combination of two words: satisfy and suffice. Byron explains Simons alternative model of satisficing does not require maximization such as Rational Choice Model. Simon saw maximizing had failed; therefore, his revenge, or model of satisficing, was designed to garner success outcomes descriptively. Byron argues Simon designed this alternative model by making it cognitive demands nominal, simplified its value function, and completely eliminated the probabilities of the model. Scholarly Themes The idea of this article is Satisficing. Managers try to be rational but due to limitations they have to be bound rational in their decision making to provide satisficing decision and alternatives. A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action, by Elinor Ostrom Elinor Ostrom.   (1998). A behavioral approach to the rational choice theory of collective action presidential address, American Political Science Association, 1997.  The American Political Science Review,  92(1),  1-22.   Retrieved April 9, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:  26931044). Elinor Ostroms article, A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action, is presented in Chapter 16 of Michael Dean McGinniss book entitled Polycentric Games and Institutions: Readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Central Argument Ostroms research regarding the Rational Choice Theory and decision making is based on her argument that the theory is effective if expanded into a behavioral model of collective action when making decisions in times of social dilemma. This is the central argument of her research. Summary of Work Ostrom explains that Rational Choice Theory assumes that humans are self-interested, maximizers. Her research argues that Rational Choice has been successful in predicting marginal behavior in competitive decision making but when it comes to using this theory to predict decisions that are made during social dilemmas it has proved to be ineffective. Extensive empirical evidence and theoretical events causing change in multiple disciplines motivate a need to develop the range of rational choice models to be used as an establishment for the study of social dilemmas and cooperative action. After an introduction to the problem of triumph over social dilemmas through collective action, the leftovers of this article is divided into six sections which include theoretical predictions of currently accepted rational choice theory related to social dilemmas, challenges to the sole reliance, empirical findings that begin to show how individuals achieve results that are better than rational, the possibility of developing second-generation models of rationality, an initial theoretical scenario, implications of placing reciprocity, reputation, and trust at the core of an empirically tested, behavioral theory of collective action. The implications of developing second-generation models of empirically grounded, bloodedly rational, and moral decision making are substantial. New research questions will open up. We need to expand the type of research methods regularly used in political science. We need to increase the level of understanding among those engaged in formal theory, experimental research, and field research across the social and biological sciences. Scholarly Theme The main themes of the article are rational choice models, empirical evidences and theoretical development. The mentioned themes can be used to expand the variety of the rational choice models so that the study of the social dilemma and collective action can be carried out. To vote or not to vote: the merits and limits of rational choice theory, by Andre Blais Blais, Andre. To vote or not to vote: the merits and limits of rational choice theory. 2000. USA: University of Pittsburg Press. Central Argument Voter turnout and our reasons for voting have been exhaustively examined in the literature; however, Blais expresses his dissatisfaction of what has been presented in the literature about voting. The central theme of Blaiss research is whether or not the decision to vote or abstain from voting evolves from a rational choice perspective. Summary of Work Blais strengthens his argument by pointing out that rational choice authors have admitted a problem with exist voting and rational choice perspective because voting is a paradox of irrational response. Blais concludes his argument, after two solid years dedicated to this topic, with the view that the Rational Choice Theory does make a real contribution to understanding of why people vote but the contribution is quite limited. Blais uses Green and Shapiros infamous critique of the Rational Choice Theory to compare his verdict of the actual role Rational Choice plays in ones decision to vote. Green and Shapiros research blatantly stated the Rational Choice Model had failed to contribute any advancement of the empirical study of politics. Blaiss verdict is not as harsh and contrary to his colleagues findings. Blais uses a strong example to prove his point stating that motivations that make people vote, such as civic duty, are far from Rational Choice that claims people are self-interested. In Blais comparative analysis of his verdict to Green and Sahapiros, he stresses that political science offers many reasons to not vote. The fact that people still make the decision to vote is irrational. After Blaiss research, he candidly reveals that he cannot make sense of why people vote without taking the Rational Choice Model into consideration. Since most citizens vote despite even when it is not in their best perso nal interests to do so is a fascination that only Rational Choice Theory can explain. Scholarly Themes In the book, the author is focusing on the reasons for the choice for casting the vote. Voting and rational choice theory are interlinked and only this theory can explain it. CONCLUSION The 10 articles examined for the purposes of conducting a miniature literature review of Rational Choice Theory clearly indicates that this theory is of the most powerful in the field of social sciences, especially political science. An immovable effort was made to garner research that presented different perspectives about the effectiveness and feasibility of Rational Choice Theory. Rational Choice Theory has been criticized for being unrealistic. In decision making, Rational Choice is thought to be too time consuming, too costly, and too strict. The literature has criticized the theory for not taking human intuitive behavior into consideration. Furthermore, many theorists and researchers are not satisfied with Rational Choice Theory because it neglects empirical research. On the other hand, many theorists believe in Rational Choice Theory to explain things such as voting phenomenon. People vote inspire of the fact it may not be in their personal best interests. Some theorists believe only Rational Choice Theory can explain and predict this type of behavior. Other theorists believe the theory can be strengthened through incorporation of behavioral models. Overall, Rational Choice Theory has been approached with skepticism by theorists. The theorys validity and reliability has been questioned because of its lackadaisical approach to include empirical research. This argument seems to be the central theme of a vast majority of the research on Rational Choice Models. Theorists wonder what Rational Choice should do when empirical anomalies arise. Although there are many critiques for Rational Choice Theory, but still it is helpful in many fields such as to understand the rational of voting, in business organization etc.

The Storms of Villette Essay -- Storms of Villette Essays

The Storms of Villette      Ã‚   In Charlotte Brontà «'s novel, Villette, Brontà « strategically uses the brutality and magnitude of   thunder storms to propel her narrator, Lucy Snowe, into unchartered social territories of friendship and love. In her most devious act, the fate of Lucy and M. Paul is clouded at the end of the novel by an ominous and malicious storm. By examining Brontà «'s manipulation of two earlier storms which echo the scope and foreboding of this last storm -- the storm Lucy encounters during her sickness after visiting confession and the storm which detains her at Madame Walravens' abode -- the reader is provided with a way in which to understand the vague and despairing ending.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A long vacation from school precedes the first storm and it is during this vacation, where Lucy is left predominately alone, that the reader feels the full depth and emptiness of Lucy's solitude. She says, "But all this was nothing; I too felt those autumn suns and saw those harvest moons, and I almost wished to be covered in with earth and turf, deep out of their influence; for I could not live in their light, nor make them comrades, nor yield them affection" (230). After a resulting fit of delirium and depression, Lucy attends confession at a Catholic church solely in order to receive kind words from another human being. It is at this low, after her leaving the church, that the first storm takes shape. Caught without shelter, Lucy falls victim to the storm's brute force. She remembers that she "...bent [her] head to meet it, but it beat [her] back" (236). However, though appearing destructive, this overpowering force serves to deliver he r into the hands of Dr. John and his mother, Mrs. Bretton, Lucy's godmother fro... .... We have seen 'what good' can come from a destructive tempest for Lucy and in such fashion, we can only assume that this good will come again. Lucy will be further united to her dear M. Paul and to herself. Brontà « has outlined this as the form to be followed and as readers, we must optimistically obey.    Sources Cited and Consulted:    Books:    Allott, Miriam. Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre and Villette. MacMilan, London; 1973    Brontà «, Charlotte. Villette. London: Penguin, 1985.    Nestor, Pauline. Critical Studies of Jane Eyre. St. Martin's Press, NY; 1992.    Websites:    Cody, David and Everett, Glenn et al. The Victorian Web. Brown University; 1993 http://65.107.211.206/victov.html    Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Litrix Reading Room; 1999. http://www.litrix.com/janeeyre/janee001.htm#1   

Managing Organizational Change Essay -- Business Management

In this dynamic business environment, change is inevitable. Changes can be planned, or unintentional: depending on the driving forces behind. The major forces for change can be derived from the nature of the workforce, technology, economic shocks, competition, social trends, and world politics (Robbins & Judge, 2011). In this post the author will explain the Kotter’s eight –step approaches to managing organizational change and discuss how his company handles the planned changes in term of organization reconstruction. When changes are inevitable, the leaders usually design some adequate steps to make the change go smooth, effective and permanently. Kurt Lewin argued that successful change in organizations should follow three steps: unfreezing the status quo, movement to a desired end state, and refreezing the new change to make it permanent (Robbins & Judge, 2011, cited in Lewin, 1951). John Kotter further expanded the Lewin’s model to include an eight-step plan for implementing change. The eight stages are: 1) establishing a sense of urgency 2) creating a guiding coalition 3) developing a vision and strategy 4) communicating the change vision 5) empowering broad-based action 6) generating short-term wins 7) consolidating gains and producing more change and 8) institutionalizing new approaches in the culture (Kotter, 1996). Kotter asserted that many changes failed because some steps were ignored, such as missing the creation of a sense of urgency, vision, or coalition. Using Kotter approach es, let’s analyze a recent change happened in Science Application International Corporation (SAIC), the company the author is working for. SAIC provides scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions pr... ...ld improve the change process. The author believes that if the SAIC reconstruction is implemented successfully, the company will be more productive, efficient, agile and competitive. Works Cited Havenstein, W. (July 22, 2010). [Memo From the CEO: Organizational Changes]. Havenstein, W. (October 11, 2010). Message from the CEO. SAIC internal email. Kotter, J. P. (1996). Transforming organizations. Executive Excellence, 13(9), 1. Kotter, J. P. (2007). Leading change: Why transformational efforts fail? Harvard Business Review, 85, 96-103. Lewin, K. (1951). Field Theory in Social Science. New York: Harper & Row. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Schuler, R. S. (1980). Definition and conceptualzation of stress in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 189.