Strategies for Urban Studies Essay Writing

Strategies for Urban Studies Essay Writing When students hear the words urban studies, they think about issues affecting urban centers and their development. Admittedly, the development of urban centers and issues affecting urban settlements is part of the elements that characterize urban studies. The discipline concerns exploration of why people move or live in cities, the physical environmental features that influence their behavior, the history of suburb development from an architectural point of view, intractable issues that result from urban development, and possible solutions to the problems. Urban studies is an important area of study, but one that would not pickle the curiosity of every student. Consequently, lecturers assign students urban studies essays as they seek to not only assess their knowledge of the subject before and after exposure to content but also trigger their curiosity on the subject. Moreover, the essay writing assignments help in improving your writing skills and analytical abilities. When professors ask you to write an urban studies essay, they are simply asking you to ponder on: your understanding of the urban studies field of study; your ability to select and explore appropriate urban studies topics; your ability to relate theoretical concepts to issues in urban development; your ability to explore concepts in urban studies and draw conclusions. When writing your urban studies essay, keep in mind the above elements to guide you in writing essays that meet your instructor’s expectations and help you to gain effective writing skills. This urban studies essay writing guide provides tips that will help you in your writing process, from preparation to the writing aspects, to the post writing part of essay crafting. Pre-Writing Tips: Let’s Get It Started! Writing an essay is a process. Thus, it is time to alter your expectations if you think you can come up with a well-written essay after spending one or two hours on your computer. Writing high-quality essays in urban studies involves several steps. Prewriting tips denote the things you should engage in before writing down the first draft of your essay. The pre-writing steps that will be helpful in the writing process are as listed below. Topic selection. Selecting a topic for your essay is the most important aspect of prewriting. Conduct preliminary research before settling for an essay topic and select topics you are familiar with and interested in. Brainstorming. This involves recollecting your memory on issues associated with urban development and other areas of urban studies and associating thoughts, ideas, and knowledge on the subject with the essay task. At this point, you do not sort the ideas. Rather, write down any ideas that come up to help you in structuring concepts and making inquiries regarding issues pertaining to topics in urban studies. Researching. Conducting research comes after brainstorming, and it involves investigating information relating to ideas you came up with during the brainstorming phase, as well as summarizing, and interpreting the searched information. The research should be purposeful and should focus on the theme of your chosen field of study. Note taking. Focus your efforts and research approach on the essay’s subject matter and take sufficient notes when reading through the researched articles. Taking notes lays down the important elements of your topics and saves you considerable time when writing the essay. Making an outline. Now that you have a general idea of what to write about, the topic of your essay, and the materials you need to incorporate in your essay, you should make an outline of what content should be added in the introduction, the body part of the essay, and the conclusion. Importantly, create an outline that helps develop various themes of the essay. Outlining helps you in thought and idea organization in a logical manner. Outlining ideas forms the structured part of the prewriting process. Working On Your Urban Studies Essay Topic: Tips from Our Top Freelance Academic Writers Chances are the topic for your urban studies essay has been selected and handed to you by your professor. In such a case, part of the essay writing process has been eliminated for you, which indicates that you can jump to the next steps. However, you need to analyze the general outline of the given topic to understand whether the topic requires you to analyze, apply, or evaluate a certain aspect of urban planning and urban studies. If you feel the topic is too narrow or too broad, discuss it with your supervisor to come up with a manageable topic. On numerous occasions, professors provide you with an opportunity to select a topic within the urban studies scope of study for your essay. Although the idea of beginning the writing process with topic selection may appear intimidating, it provides you with the required flexibility to select an urban studies topic that interests and challenges you. Follow the step below to understand the process of topic selection. Define your essay’s purpose. Before settling on a topic, think about the objective of your essay. Does your essay aim at analyzing, informing, persuading, evaluating, or applying concepts into daily practice? In this case, ask yourself if your purpose is to persuade people to adopt certain practices to mitigate risks associated with urban development, or explain to the reader the history of city development from an architectural perspective, or to educate them on the interactions they have with their physical environment. Brainstorm on topics of interest. Write down some topics in the urban studies field of study that interest you after defining the purpose of your essay. In case you face problems coming up with suitable topics, think about your surroundings and things that interest you and are in line with subjects in urban studies. Do not evaluate the topics you come up with yet. Evaluate each potential topic. Evaluation of the topics you come up with occurs at this stage. Consider each topic individually and evaluate which of them fits your purpose, the scope, availability of sources, and your interest in the topic and ability to tackle it. Base the topic selection on the number of ideas you have and availability of literature. The examples below provide you with an overview of urban studies essay topics: Affordable Housing for Low-Income Families; Sustainable Development Practices Suitable in Reducing Urbanization Problems; History of Sustainable Urban Development in Canada; Economic Forces that Influence the Development of Cities; Methods Used in Measuring Characteristics of Urban Centers. The Main Terms that Define Urban Studies Essays Urban studies essays can be written for analysis, application, or evaluation of urban practices and architectural elements that characterize the growth of urban centers. Analysis. In urban studies, the term denotes the actual definition that entails breaking down a concept into smaller parts to see how it works. During essays analysis, you need to think about each part of the topic and how it contributes to the success of the whole concept. In analyzing urban planning, for instance, analysis involves thinking about all factors that constitute the development of urban centers, from the engineering part to social aspects, political elements, and architectural dynamics. In such case, ensure the essay provides statements that can be explained step-by-step. An analysis of urban studies essay should answer the why and how questions rather than what, which is common in the summary-based essays. Application. Whether the essay is purely based on application or analysis, the instructor will always look for your ability to apply concepts of your field of study into your essay. In this regard, you need to take your urban studies knowledge and apply it in practice, which is within the topic that you are going to explore in your writing. Therefore, you need to understand terms, concepts, and their definitions, and theories and how they can be used in practice. Evaluation. Evaluation type of essays requires you to participate in the writing and research process completely. Ensure you provide the wider context of the chosen urban studies topic and assess the ability of specific elements that define the topic to apply in different situations. Include arguments and counter-arguments and state facts and evidence that influenced your categorization of concepts as either positive or negative for the essay. Persuasion. Some essay topics will require you to persuade the general population, engineers, or architects to adopt sustainable practices for urban development. To write such as paper, you need to structure the essay in such a way that you use and provide evidence and arguments that convince the reader to agree with your point of view on urban sustainability. For a persuasive essay, ask yourself the following questions: Do I have the right type of information needed to convince the readers about sustainable urban practices? What type of statistics, evidence, and facts do I need to present to my audience? Responses to the noted questions will help in determining the keywords you need to use in the essay and during the search process. Appropriate Structure for an Urban Studies Essay A proper outline of the urban studies essay should have at least three main parts: an introduction, main body, and a conclusion. The outline should appear as indicated below: Introduction. The introduction should take about 10% of the essay, and it should explain how you interpret the essay title, issues that the essay will explore, the main focus of the essay, and an outline of other parts of the essay. The thesis statement and the purpose statement should also be written towards the last sentences of the introduction. Essay body. The main body of the essay should take up 80% of the essay. It is the main part of the essay, and it contains numerous paragraphs depending on the number of ideas you intend to explore concerning the essay themes. Each paragraph should develop and explore your major arguments. Moreover, present evidence that supports the claims you make in each paragraph. The number of paragraphs you write depends on the length of the essay and the number of major claims you intend to discuss. Ask yourself the following questions when writing each paragraph: What does the paragraph discuss? What argument am I presenting in this paragraph? What evidence do I have to support the claims I make and what is its implication? How does the paragraph link to the essay topic and title? Conclusion. Similar to the introduction, the concluding part of the essay should constitute approximately 10% of the essay. At this point, do not introduce any new idea or theme because the section is meant to summarize your major arguments. You should: restate your thesis statement, summarize the essay, describe why your essay is significant, make recommendations were necessary. In some cases, the recommendation is written as a stand-alone text after the conclusion. The conclusion and recommendation should link to the essays title. While some students prefer writing the sections as they appear in the final draft, some prefer writing the body, followed by the introduction and finally the conclusion segment. Post Writing Tips to Ensure You Actually Did It! Proofreading and referencing constitute the most important elements that ensure your essay is appropriate and capable of helping you attain a high grade. Proofreading. Proofreading involves going through the essay several times to eliminate grammar mistake and other errors. Follow the steps below on how to proofread your essay: Take a break. Do not engage in proofreading immediately after writing the essay. Taking a one-hour or two-hour break will make mistakes more apparent, and proofreading will be easier. Minimize distractions. Once you are back from the break, mute your phone and ensure you are in a quiet environment to provide the proofreading session undivided attention. However, some people work best in noisy environments. Read Aloud. Reading aloud allows you to vocalize the written words. The process will provide you with an opportunity to hear and see any sentence structure, grammar, and content coherence flaws. In this case, missing commas and full stops are readily visible when reading through the essay. Referencing. Ensure you acknowledge every borrowed idea using the appropriate referencing methods.

Moral Values Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Moral Values - Assignment Example I tried to convince him of the seriousness of the issue but all in vain. The more I persuaded him the more he became indifferent to me; and further explained that his choice would not cause any negative impact on the organization. I knew that his act was against the moral perception of the organization and it would spoil the reputation of the firm. The logical reasoning suggested me that he had his right to make his choices on his life. Furthermore, if I tried to discourage him it would also break our friendship. On the other hand, if I did not report the matter to the management, as an employee I would also be violating my moral responsibility. I analyzed all possible alternatives that can deal with the issue for I needed his friendship as well as the organization’s status. Finally I told him that I would inform the management if he did not abstain from the unethical relation. Lori smiled and said that I could do that because he did not bother the consequences. Therefore in h is presence I rang to our manager and informed him the situation that we both had been facing. I left the decision to his reasoning and said that Lori has his own reasons but (only) if it is a moral violation he could take some actions against him. Lori was given a punishment transfer and that put an end to his affair. The real value of my decision came to light later as Lori told me that he was grateful to me because I saved his personal integrity and future with my good decision. If I had taken any other move I would have lost my friend for ever; and if I did not report his mistake, I would have cheated my

Nikita Khrushchev & Cuban Missile Crisis Term Paper

Nikita Khrushchev & Cuban Missile Crisis - Term Paper Example Cuban Missile Crisis is an important historical event for its relevance to the cold-war era, as it is believed to be the most intense encounter between the then Superpowers, U.S and USSR. Since both countries had a nuclear capability, a direct encounter meant the most cataclysmic war in the history of global politics. For this reason it is important to draw a cause and effect relationship between variables in this context to analyze the important factors causing this event and the outcomes. Historically, most of the accounts presenting the Cuban Missile Crisis and its resolution rhetorically give due credit to the patient and the wisdom of JFK to have resolved the issue in time and avoid nuclear war. Many factors can be identified, for instance, the placement of U.S missiles in Turkey close to the vicinity of Soviet. Similarly, the Bay of Pigs incident caused a threat perception in the mind of Castro and in order to avoid a future attack, he sought assistance from the Soviets. Also, another reason can be understood in terms of the balance of power and the ambition of the Soviets to represent a superior vision in the world regarding the power and the image of the Soviet. Thus, as a result of these, along with many other factors Soviets placed Middle Range Ballistic Missiles in Cuba which stimulated the threat perception within the minds of the decision makers in the U.S. Consequently, JFK along with his advisors explored all available options to resolve the crisis, and agreed upon the option of the Naval Blockade, which they labeled as â€Å"Quarantine† which continued for 13 days.... Nevertheless, in my view, Khrushchev should equally be appraised, as he also took the matter very seriously and patiently communicated his terms and conditions to JFK. Thus, without appraising Khrushchev, even Castro, for their efforts in this regard the rhetoric remains incomplete. To analyze the event, its historical context needs to be discussed in detail. In this regard, the various long-term as well as short term objectives of the Missile deployment in Cuba by the Soviets can be studied, which will help us analyze the causes behind the event. The historical context of the event can be traced back to the U2 incident which occurred in May 1960, when U.S sent a spy plane into the vicinity of Soviet Union, which was both a breach in the security of the territory of the U.S.S.R, and a cause of building a trust deficit. Even after this event, despite the pressure from the hard liners, Khrushchev managed to stay calm and kept indicating his intentions of maintaining peace between the s uperpowers1. Preceding this dangerous event was the Bay of Pigs accounts which again proved to draw a line between the superpowers. In 1961, U.S made an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro`s government in Cuba which eventually failed. U.S trained and triggered some Cuban rebels to overthrow Fidel in an operation, however the operation immensely failed. This led towards the shattering of the image of the U.S in the world, and it further boosted the confidence of the Soviets which encouraged them to take this step. 2Also, this event was an indication of the interest of U.S in Cuba which indicated that U.S fears that Cuba can later turn out to be problematic for the U.S. Also, U.S later posed various sanctions over Cuba which

Journey to the West Essay Example for Free

Journey to the West Essay In The Journey to the West, Pilgrim and the woodcutter seem to be similar where they both feel that they have a purpose in life. However, their situations are different from one another. For instance, Pilgrim tries to better himself by seeking the immortals, as well as, gaining eternal youth. He is full of passion, desire, and excitement, which has lead him to have no worrisome thoughts. He has nothing holding him back from the tasks that he wishes to accomplish. Unlike the Pilgrim, the woodcutter continuously is concerned about his mother and how he is going to make enough money each day to take care of her. The immortals even taught the woodcutter a poem that would help him to calm down because of his worrisome feelings. Pilgrim is someone that follows his curiosity to find newer and bigger things, while the woodcutter is merely a slave to his obligations of making a decent living. Due to his obligations, the woodcutter does not have any dreams for his future, and even if he did, he would never dare follow them. Pilgrim only cares about himself and the benefits that he will receive due to his journey to find the immortals. The woodcutter is not as selfish or as motivated with what he wants to do with his life. Since the woodcutter was a child, he has taken on the responsibility of being an adult. Woodcutter approaches Pilgrim by saying, â€Å"when I was young, I was indebted to my parents’ nurture until I was eight or nine. As soon as I began to have some understanding of human affairs, my father unfortunately died, and my mother remained a widow. I had no brothers or sisters; so there was no alternative but for me alone to support and care for my mother. Now that my mother is growing old, all the more I dare not leave her† (Wu Cheng’en 433). Even after the woodcutter’s explanation, Pilgrim still asked him to come along on his journey with him to find the immortals. Pilgrim does not have any concern or regard about the woodcutter’s problems and his responsibility to take care of his mother. According to Pilgrim’s actions, he continues to prove his selfishness while the woodcutter dedicates his life to taking care of someone other than himself and proving his unselfish ways. Pilgrim is the type of individual that will jump at any opportunity that comes his way. He takes every chance that has any possible potential for him to improve. Consequently, the woodcutter has an immortal neighbor and has no desire to learn anything from him. If Pilgrim had that opportunity, he would be grateful and take advantage of such a connection. Pilgrim has to go on an arduous quest for what the woodcutter has in the palm of his hand. Overall the woodcutter does not think very highly of himself like Pilgrim does. Pilgrim calls him a â€Å"gentleman† and â€Å"honored brother,† while the woodcutter refers to himself as a â€Å"foolish fellow.† He lives a mundane life with no goals or ambitions. He is stuck in a rut, because of the duty to his mother to which he holds himself accountable. Pilgrim lives freely and open minded, unlike the woodcutter, but then again, Pilgrim has nothing restraining him.

The Ghost Story of the Banshee Essay -- Urban Legends Ghost Stories

The Tale of the Banshee On a dark and stormy night it happened. Not too far in the recent past, two teenaged girls were out camping in the woods. There, they sat in their tent while exchanging frightening ghost stories by the flickering candle-light. What began as a normal, cool, summer’s night, took an eerie turn for the worse when, in the middle of one particularly terrifying tale, an ominous howl rang out too close for comfort and a thunderous crash was heard. As they scrambled to be near each other for warmth and security against the tingling feeling arising on the backs of their necks, and the fear of their impending doom, what jumped out at them was a horrifyingly great big... just kidding. This all started with two teenaged girls telling stories one night, but it was spring, not summer, in a dorm room, not at a camp site, and completely calm, not alarming in the least. For this assignment, I chose to ask a friend to tell me a story regarding ghosts, magic, or the supernatural, and what she came up with I considered to be very helpful for this project. I collected a version of the Tale of the Banshee from my roommate here at the University of Maryland, who is also a college freshman. This young woman is a 19-year-old from Montgomery, New Jersey, with a very diverse and complex background. Her father is from Pakistan, her mother is a European-American Christian, and she herself is Muslim. What she told me was told to her by older relatives when she was just a child, and accused of â€Å"screaming like a Banshee.† The curious little girl that she was, she asked what it meant; based on the explanation she received she never wanted to scream like that again. In her retelling she presented the story with a straigh... ...fter an attack, the yowl could have been considered a warning cry. All peoples across cultures and time need things to believe in and to trust. The people of ancient Ireland chose to believe in a deceased, friendly relative to warn them of tragedy. That is a much happier belief than the evil, menacing idea of Banshees that I had prior to this assignment, so I am happy for having learned more. Works Cited Ireland Now  ©1997-2005 http://www.ireland-now.com/banshee.html Irelandseye.com and contributors  © 1999-2004 http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd Copyright  ©2000 - 2005 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=229025 Morey, Eibhlin: Submitted on Thursday 17th of March 2005 http://www.constant-content.com/article/1788/The-Banshee/ Susan Sheppard http://magick.wirefire.com/newpage5.htm The Ghost Story of the Banshee Essay -- Urban Legends Ghost Stories The Tale of the Banshee On a dark and stormy night it happened. Not too far in the recent past, two teenaged girls were out camping in the woods. There, they sat in their tent while exchanging frightening ghost stories by the flickering candle-light. What began as a normal, cool, summer’s night, took an eerie turn for the worse when, in the middle of one particularly terrifying tale, an ominous howl rang out too close for comfort and a thunderous crash was heard. As they scrambled to be near each other for warmth and security against the tingling feeling arising on the backs of their necks, and the fear of their impending doom, what jumped out at them was a horrifyingly great big... just kidding. This all started with two teenaged girls telling stories one night, but it was spring, not summer, in a dorm room, not at a camp site, and completely calm, not alarming in the least. For this assignment, I chose to ask a friend to tell me a story regarding ghosts, magic, or the supernatural, and what she came up with I considered to be very helpful for this project. I collected a version of the Tale of the Banshee from my roommate here at the University of Maryland, who is also a college freshman. This young woman is a 19-year-old from Montgomery, New Jersey, with a very diverse and complex background. Her father is from Pakistan, her mother is a European-American Christian, and she herself is Muslim. What she told me was told to her by older relatives when she was just a child, and accused of â€Å"screaming like a Banshee.† The curious little girl that she was, she asked what it meant; based on the explanation she received she never wanted to scream like that again. In her retelling she presented the story with a straigh... ...fter an attack, the yowl could have been considered a warning cry. All peoples across cultures and time need things to believe in and to trust. The people of ancient Ireland chose to believe in a deceased, friendly relative to warn them of tragedy. That is a much happier belief than the evil, menacing idea of Banshees that I had prior to this assignment, so I am happy for having learned more. Works Cited Ireland Now  ©1997-2005 http://www.ireland-now.com/banshee.html Irelandseye.com and contributors  © 1999-2004 http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd Copyright  ©2000 - 2005 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=229025 Morey, Eibhlin: Submitted on Thursday 17th of March 2005 http://www.constant-content.com/article/1788/The-Banshee/ Susan Sheppard http://magick.wirefire.com/newpage5.htm

The Relationship Between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth

The Relationship between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth A Psychological Study Whether a person is aware of it or not, everywhere they go, they are mentally judging people and creating an opinion about others without necessarily ever even meeting them. These judgments can be based off of simple appearance, or actions, or any other sort of visible aspect of a person. Simply put, humans are judgmental creatures. One of the most common aspects of a person’s life that is judged from outside appearance is wealth.Assumedly, if a person dresses well, they must have money to buy such a wardrobe. Though this is certainly not always the case, people generally assume that what is on the outside is reflected on the inside. In this study, people’s visual interpretation of a person and the person’s assumed wealth will be examined. The participants will be shown pictures of random people of various wealth and asked to judge their monetary net worth. The variables being stu died through this experiment are conceived attractiveness and monetary success.The goal of this experiment is to find a correlation between the two. Many studies concerning this phenomenon have been performed in the past and many books on the subject of attraction have been written. The relationship between physical attractiveness and monetary worth has been an interest for scientists for many years. As long as there has been social class, people through the ages have been judging other’s wealth by their appearance, whether people have been conscious of it or not.These studies have been important because these two variables (attractiveness and wealth) have also been linked to desire and favorability, two of the most unique and profound of human emotions, as will be discussed in the following In an experiment conducted at Georgia Southern University by researchers Dawson and McIntosh, the relationship between wealth, attractiveness, and desirability was examined (Dawson & McIn tosh, 2006). Dawson and McIntosh believed that men looked for physical attractiveness in women, whereas women looked for material resources (wealth) in men.Alternatively, the experimenters predicted that if men and women were less advantageous in these physical and monetary traits, they would compensate with other personal traits, such as personality. Participants to be judged for the experiment were randomly chosen from Yahoo Personals. Members of the opposite sex then rated the attractiveness of the participants and generated adjectives that were believed to describe the participant. For the male participants, it turned out that if they were considered less attractive or wealthy by the raters, their profile would emphasize of other positive personal characteristics.On the other hand, for the females, there was a trending phenomenon that if a profile emphasized greatly on the woman’s physical attractiveness, it concentrated little on other personal characteristics. However, there was no relation between how physically attractive the rater found the participant and what other positive characteristics were used to describe the participant. Dawson and McIntosh (2006) believed that their hypothesis was moderately supported. The judgments that people make on a person’s physical attractiveness can influence much more than the assumed size of his or hers wallet.These judgments can influence decisions as important as whom to vote for in government elections. This phenomenon was studied by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick at the University of Alabama and Loyola University. They hypothesized that the more attractive a candidate was, the more memorable their campaign was (Hart, Ottati, & Krumdick, 2011). Hart et. al. (2011), explored this by showing participants photos of potential candidates (all Democrat) along with campaign policies.The photos and information was then removed and the participants were asked to recite all the information that they could rememb er about each candidate and answer various questions regarding their attitudes and standpoints about the candidate and his or her campaign. The results show that those who were considered novices on the subject matter, being those that were unable to remember the candidates’ specific campaign and policy points, seemed to favor those that they found more physically attractive. Alternatively, those that were considered experts on the campaign material seemed to favor the less attractive of the candidates (Hart et. l, 2011). One might ask, however, what exactly is it of a person physique that lead people the judge them as attractive? While most people look at a person’s overall appearance and make judgments based on that, there are much subtler cues that a person subconsciously picks up on. Each person’s tastes are unique, and different cues appeal to different people. Author Gordon L. Patzer Ph. D. described some of these cues in his book The Physical Attractivene ss Phenomena (1985). Overall Patzer believed that personality was the main contributing factor. While physical first impressions are important, personality is what a person really remembers.A good impressions is key. If a person makes a bad impression of themselves upon meeting someone, their negativity or foolishness will forever live on in he or she’s new acquaintance’s eyes. After personality, however, traits that spark attraction become much more minute and specific. First, Patzer believed that height was a key contributor. Women have a tendency to be attracted to a man taller than herself, though not towering. Men, on the other hand, are attracted to women who are shorter than himself, but not unproportionately so. Even if one does not consciously acknowledge it, they are taking note of everyone’s height that they meet.People also take notice of someone’s facial aspects, such as shape of the jaw, hairline, etc. (Patzer, 1985). Specific combinations o f all of these aspects, plus many more, determine how attractive a person finds another. Whereas none of these traits have an scientific relation to personal wealth, they do play a key role on how attractive someone is initially judged as. Whenever a person meets someone new, they subconsciously judge the stranger’s appearance and determine what level of attraction if had towards the stranger, even if there is no intent to pursue romantically.Other assumptions then stem off of this initial judgment of attraction. One of the most common is the attempt to judge a stranger’s wealth by their appearance and personal attraction. Scientists have been exploring the relationship between attractiveness and monetary value for years. The following study attempts to spread more light on the subject. Methods This study was designed to determine the correlation between ‘attractiveness’ and perceived wealth. Variables were defined as how personally attractive the surveyor s found the estranged participants pictured versus how monetarily wealthy the stranger was based on the surveyors’ attraction.The data was collected using a Likert Scale to represent attractiveness and a scale with different levels of wealth. The results from the experiment allowed for the ratings of ‘perceived wealth’ to be compared to the rating of ‘attractiveness’ and discover if a correlation did in fact exist between the two. Based on the results of the previous study, â€Å"Attributions of physical attractiveness† (Johnson, & MacEachern, 1985) ‘attractiveness’ should influence the perception of desirable traits, such as wealth.This may result for a multitude of reasons to be discussed in the future. Participants The participants sampled were the 10 females and 10 males pictured in the slide show. The participants varied all ages, ethnicities, and states of wealth in an attempt to make the sample’s characteristics repr esentative of the public and mildly random. All participants were retrieved off of Google with some strategy to make sure that characteristics were varied in an attempt to be representative, making it a stratified sample.Also participating were the surveyors who rated the sample of participants. The surveyors consisted of a cluster sample of the Flagler College PSY 253 class. The sample totaled 17: 12 females and 5 males. Considering that the sample consisted of college students, assumedly between the ages of 19 and 22, the surveyors were not necessarily representative of the public but rather of college students in general. The participating surveyors received no compensation other than class participation and attendance points, which were awarded simply for showing up to the class. MaterialsFor the experiment, a Powerpoint was used with 20 photos of participants, strangers to the surveyors, obtained off of Google: 10 pictures of females and 10 pictures of males, one per slide. Mat erials also included a paper survey handout on which the participants would record their responses. The survey consisted of two scales, one Likert scale rating attractiveness and one rating wealth. The Likert scale ran from 1-10 with one with the least attractive and ten the most and the scale for wealth ran from Poor($0-1000)-Average($1000-999,999)-Millionaire-Billionaire (See Appendix A).The participants provided their own writing utensils (pens and pencils). Procedure All participating surveyors were given a single handout survey (See Appendix A) by the administrators and then instructed to record their gender on the handout. Each surveyors’ gender determined whether they would be in Group A (Females) or Group B (Males). Both groups were instructed that they would be shown a slide show consisting of pictures of different individuals of the opposite sex and asked to record their opinions on attractiveness and wealth on the paper survey provided for each picture shown.Each p icture was shown for approximately ten seconds and a totally of ten pictures were shown for each group. Group A was administered the survey first. The surveys were then collected by the administrators and a slideshow with ten different pictures was shown to Group B and the participants were asked to fill out the same survey as the prior group. The surveys were then collected by the administrators, concluding the experiment. Results Data was collected using a between subjects design. This experiment examined the correlation between how a person perceives attractiveness and how wealthy the person is then assumed to be.The experiment had two variables: Variable 1, perceived attractiveness, and Variable 2, assumed wealth. Participants were administered a survey listing the two variables, Variable 1 was measured on a Likert Scale of 1-10, when Variable 2 was measured on a scale of 1 (Poor, $0=1,000), 2 (Average, $1,000-$999,999), 3 (Millionaire), and 4 (Billionaire). The mean value for V ariable 1 was M=4. 12 with a standard deviation of SD=1. 13314 and the mean value for Variable 2 was M=2. 36 with a standard deviation of SD=. 33066 (refer to Table 1).The median for Variable 2 was 3 and the mode is 2. The median and the mode for Variable 2 were both 2. The Pearson Correlation for the experiment was r=. 05 and the significance for each variable was p=. 891. This made the study’s finding significant and that there is a strong correlation between our variables. Discussion At the beginning of the experiment, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between how physically attractive someone was conceived as by a stranger and how wealthy they were assumed to be, judged on their rated attractiveness.At the end of the experiment, the results support this hypothesis. The significance of the variables was p=. 891, demonstrating that there is a high correlation between how attractive someone perceives a stranger and how wealthy the stranger is ass umed to be, confirming the hypothesis. The positive correlation of the results suggests that the more attractive a person finds a stranger, the more monetary value the stranger is assumed to have. The Pearson Correlation was r=. 05 which proves that these results were reliable.The fact that r=. 05 means that the results were very specific, with few outliers, and can be condensed to a confined ranged of results, which all fit in together to support the hypothesis. Also, the low standard deviations of SD=1. 12212 and SD=. 33066 show how little overall variation there is to the variable means among participants. The results of this study can be interestingly related to the results of other studies previously performed, while the studies themselves may not mirror each other.As discovered by Dawson and McIntosh (2006), men and women on dating websites, if considered less attractive, emphasis more of their personal traits (Dawson & McIntosh, 2006). Though it was not a component of the stu dy being examined, some participants in the photos, when less attractive, dressed better, in fancier clothing, while those who were deemed more attractive tended to wear less flashy clothes. Perhaps if a person does not consider themselves to be physically appealing, they will try to look nice in other ways in public, such as clothing.Previously discussed, an experiment by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick (2011) revealed that voters are more likely influenced by and likely to remember candidates that are perceived as more physically attractive and tend to think higher said attractive candidates (Hart et. al, 2011). This could have a relation to the current experiment in the respects that the survey takers may have had higher expectations of the participants’ monetary value if considered more attractive. This could be because people have a tendency to hold high hopes and expectations for those they find desirable.The experiment at hand has no relation, however, to the third theory P reviously discussed by Patzer (1985). Patzer (1985) believed that there is a combination of specific attributes that causes a person to be attracted to another person. A specific feature that Patzer discussed was height, being that females prefer taller men and males vice versa (Patzer, 1985). However, there was no way for the surveyors to judge the participant’s height to their own through the pictures shown during the survey. For this experiment at least, height had nothing to do with personal attraction or attraction’s relation to wealth.There were very few flaws to this experiment that would have altered the results. The only obvious flaw was the issue of sexual orientation. For surveying ease, the experimenters divided the groups into male and female, rather than by sexual orientation because while attracted to males and attracted to females are two clear groups, there may have been bisexuals in the population and they would not have been able to take the survey t wice. So though some surveyors may have felt that they were in the wrong group and it may have had an effect on the results, it effects were nothing detrimental.If repeated in the future, perhaps the experiment would involve surveys more catering to sexual orientation rather than being limited to division of gender. On the other hand, while there may have been a flaw, there was no experimenter bias because each participants’ correct wealth was never hinted at until the end. Also, it was impossible for the surveyors to develop practice effects because the survey involved no technique or talent. Also, there was no difficulty level so there was no floor or ceiling effects. In conclusion, the original hypothesis was supported.There was a positive correlation between perceived attractiveness and assumed monetary wealth, this meaning the more attractive a person found a stranger, the person then tended to assume the stranger proportionately more wealthy. There may be more triggers behind this phenomenon but judging by the survey results, the correlation was at least fueled by the attractiveness variable. References Dawson, B. L. , & McIntosh, W. D. (2006). Sexual strategies theory and internet personal advertisements. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9 (5). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. du:9005/ehost/detail? vid=11&hid=110&sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=22677445 Hart, W. , Ottati, V. C. , Krumdick, N. D. (2011). Physical attractiveness and candidate evaluation: a model of correction. Political Physology, 32 (2). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. edu:9005/ehost/detail? vid=5&hid=110&sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=58702305 Patzer, G. L. (1985). The physical attractiveness phenomena. Los Angeles, CA: Plenum Press

Persuasive Speech Is There a Need for More Gun Control

Persuasive Speech: Is There a Need for More Gun Control? At present we often find ourselves in flight or fight situations where our lives are under threat. No wonder, there are people who support the idea of owning a gun as a means to protect themselves and their possessions. But does gun ownership really make the world a safer place to live in? The Gun Owners Foundation claims that guns are mostly used as a means of self-defence. It is rather misleading, as the correlation between the usage of guns for self-defence and less peaceful purposes is currently 1:22. The advocates of gun ownership use this figure, however, to show that forbidding guns has no effect on the criminal world, because perpetrators still manage to get their hands on the arms. We all know that violence gives rise to more violence, so the best way to address the problem would be to establish better and stricter gun control instead of eliminating it all together. In addition to this, having a gun at home raises the risk of a homicide or a suicide. Not all people who have a gun in their possession are trained to use it, which sometimes results in accidental shootings and injuries. Besides, as statistics shows, one in ten of the guns owned by private households is loaded and only one in eight is equipped with a child safety lock. As you can see, failing to ob serve some safety guidelines of guns’ conservation is really unsafe and might be a cause of accidents. All in all, guns are highly dangerous, as they take away thousands of lives each year. Consequently, stricter gun control laws should be introduced to reduce the number of people dying because of gunshot injuries and make our world a safer place to live in.