Friday, January 24, 2020

J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

An inspector calls' - what is the main message and is it still relevant today? We get the impression that she is a when Priestly adds, ‘very pleased with life’. She is ignorant to the world of the working class, and is constantly surrounded by her riches without even considering the lives of other people. During the engagement party, Gerald gives Sheila an engagement ring. This is to represent their relationship and love. Her words on receiving the gift are ‘Oh –Gerald-you’ve got it’. The pause in her sentence indicates the excitement in her voice. She then becomes very involved with the present- like a child receiving a birthday gift. Mr. Birling is about to make his speech about the war and the Titanic, however, he pauses when he realizes that Sheila may not be listening, as she is only concentrating on her ring. This is what a child may do when receiving a toy. This as with both her ‘mummy’ and her father gives us the impression that these people are annoying and makes us dislike them. WHOM 2 BLAME After the inspector leaves the house, they are shocked, but then think about the idea whether the inspector really is the guy he pretends to be and they come to the conclusion that he is not an inspector after all. They find this out by contacting the police who then unfold the truth about him. The play finishes when the police calls saying a young lady died and an inspector is on his way to the Birling house. I think the whole play is very important and a good example of collective responsibility. You understand the problem which follows the behaviour of those people. The content shows the bad treatment of a â€Å"normal â€Å"family towards a person, who lives on a lower social standard, without realizing that they destroy this person’s life. This is as significant for the society of that time as it is for the society in our own time. This will never change. The play wants to show that poor people did not have a chance to change their lives to improve it. This is only possible in our world and in our time. My main reason for thinking that Mrs. Birling is responsible is because she was not only the last step before Eva/Daisy ended her life but because in my eyes she was the most powerful one. Eva/Daisy was at a time where she was most emotional and she must have been feeling J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature An inspector calls' - what is the main message and is it still relevant today? We get the impression that she is a when Priestly adds, ‘very pleased with life’. She is ignorant to the world of the working class, and is constantly surrounded by her riches without even considering the lives of other people. During the engagement party, Gerald gives Sheila an engagement ring. This is to represent their relationship and love. Her words on receiving the gift are ‘Oh –Gerald-you’ve got it’. The pause in her sentence indicates the excitement in her voice. She then becomes very involved with the present- like a child receiving a birthday gift. Mr. Birling is about to make his speech about the war and the Titanic, however, he pauses when he realizes that Sheila may not be listening, as she is only concentrating on her ring. This is what a child may do when receiving a toy. This as with both her ‘mummy’ and her father gives us the impression that these people are annoying and makes us dislike them. WHOM 2 BLAME After the inspector leaves the house, they are shocked, but then think about the idea whether the inspector really is the guy he pretends to be and they come to the conclusion that he is not an inspector after all. They find this out by contacting the police who then unfold the truth about him. The play finishes when the police calls saying a young lady died and an inspector is on his way to the Birling house. I think the whole play is very important and a good example of collective responsibility. You understand the problem which follows the behaviour of those people. The content shows the bad treatment of a â€Å"normal â€Å"family towards a person, who lives on a lower social standard, without realizing that they destroy this person’s life. This is as significant for the society of that time as it is for the society in our own time. This will never change. The play wants to show that poor people did not have a chance to change their lives to improve it. This is only possible in our world and in our time. My main reason for thinking that Mrs. Birling is responsible is because she was not only the last step before Eva/Daisy ended her life but because in my eyes she was the most powerful one. Eva/Daisy was at a time where she was most emotional and she must have been feeling

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Middle Range Theory Essay

Middle-range theory, developed by Robert K. Merton, is an approach to sociological theorizing aimed at integrating theory and empirical research. It is currently the de facto dominant approach to sociological theory construction,[1] especially in the United States. Middle-range theory starts with an empirical phenomenon (as opposed to a broad abstract entity like the social system) and abstracts from it to create general statements that can be verified by data.[2] This approach stands in contrast to the earlier â€Å"grand† theorizing of social theory, such as functionalism and many conflict theories. Raymond Boudon has argued that â€Å"middle-range theory† is the same concept that most other sciences simply call ‘theory’.[3] The analytical sociology movement has as its aim the unification of such theories into a coherent paradigm at a greater level of abstraction. The midrange approach was developed by Robert Merton as a departure from the general social theorizing of Talcott Parsons. Merton agreed with Parsons that a narrow empiricism consisting entirely of simple statistical or observational regularities cannot arrive at successful theory. However, he found that Parsons’ â€Å"formulations were remote from providing a problematics and a direction for theory-oriented empirical inquiry into the observable worlds of culture and society†.[4] He was thus directly opposed to the abstract theorizing of scholars who are engaged in the attempt to construct a total theoretical system covering all aspects of social life. With the introduction of the middle range theory program, he advocated that sociologists should concentrate on measurable aspects of social reality that can be studied as separate social phenomena, rather than attempting to explain the entire social world. He saw both the middle-range theory approach and middle-range theories themselves as temporary: when they matured, as natural sciences already had, the body of middle range theories would b ecome a system of universal laws; but, until that time, social sciences should avoid trying to create a universal theory.[5] Merton’s original foil in the construction was Talcott Parsons, whose action theory Merton classified as a â€Å"grand theory†. (Parsons vehemently rejected this categorization.) Middle range theories are normally constructed by applying theory building techniques to empirical research, which produce generic propositions about the social world, which in turn can also be empirically tested. Examples of middle range theories are theories of reference groups,  social mobility, normalization processes, role conflict and the formation of social norms.[3] The middle-range approach has played a key role in turning sociology into an increasingly empirically-oriented discipline.[6] This was also important in post-war thought. In the post-war period, middle-range theory became the dominant approach to theory construction in all variable-based social sciences.[5] Middle range theory has also been applied to the archaeological realm by Lewis R. Binford, and to financial theory by Harvard Business School Professor Robert C. Merton,[7][8] Robert K. Merton’s son. In the recent decades, the analytical sociology program has emerged as an attempt synthesizing middle-range theories into a more coherent abstract framework (as Merton had hoped would eventually happen). Peter Hedstrom at Oxford is the scholar most associated with this approach,[9] while Peter Bearman is its most prominent American advocate. Middle Range Theory (Final) MRT approach was developed by R K Merton in contrast to abstract theorizing of total system in all aspect of social life by scholars particularly Talcott Parson. Hence it opposed the grand theorizing of social theory like functionalism, conflict theories etc. MRT is an approach to sociological theorizing that integrates Theory and Empirical research. They are constructed by applying theory building techniques to empirical data. These produce general statement about the social phenomenon under study which can be this verified by data. Examples: theories of reference groups; Social mobility; role conflict etc. However he agreed with Talcott Parson that narrow empiricism cannot arrive at successful theory. He saw MRT approach and theories as temporary that would become a system of universal laws on maturity, so before that he says that social science should avoid trying to create a Universal Theory. Currently MRT approach has become a dominant approach to Sociological theory construction and has been applied to other fields like archaeology, finance etc. as of now analytical sociology program is attempting to unify MRTs into coherent abstract framework as hoped by Merton.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Enron And Its Impact On Enron s Downfall Essay - 1492 Words

Abstract recent collapses of high profile business failures like Enron,Worldcom,Parmlat,and Tycohasbeen a subject of great debate among regulators, investors, government and academics in the recent past. Enron’s case was the greatest failure in the history of American capitalism and had a major impact on financial markets by causing significant losses to investors. Enron was a company ranked by Fortune as the most innovative company in the United States; it exemplified the transition from the production to the knowledge economy. Many lessons can we learn from its collapse. In this paper we present an analysis of the factors that contributed to Enron’s rise and failure, underlying the role that energy deregulation and manipulation of financial statements played on Enron’s demise. We summarize some lessons that can be learned in order to prevent another Enron and restore confidence in the financial markets, as well as in the accounting and auditing professions. 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Many people know about the energy titan’s downfall but less realize that it was also one of the biggest auditing blunders in American corporate history, leading to the dissolution of the Arthur Andersen LLP, which at the time was one of the five largest auditing and accountancy partnerships in the world. The most intriguing aspect of this case is that Andersen was eventually cleared by the United States Supreme Court, yet the