Multivariate Multilevel Modeling

Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Literature Review This chapter tying up the various similar studies related to modeling responses multivariately in a multilevel frame work. As a start, this chapter begins by laying out the recent history of univariate techniques for analyzing categorical data in a multilevel context. Then it gradually presents the literature available on fitting multivariate multilevel models for categorical and continuous data. More over this chapter reviews the evidence for imputing missing values for partially observed multivariate multilevel data sets. The Nature of Multivariate Multilevel models A multivariate multilevel model can be considered as a collection of multiple dependent variables in a hierarchical nature. Though the multivariate analysis increases the complexity in a multilevel context, it is an essential tool which facilitates to carry out a single test of the joint effects of some explanatory variables on several dependent variables (Snijders Bosker (2000). These models have the power of increasing the construct validity of the analysis for complex concepts in the real world. Consider a study on school effectiveness which can be measured on three different output variables math achievement, reading proficiency and well-being at school. These data are collected on students those who are clustered within schools by implying a hierarchical nature. Although it is certainly possible to handle three outcomes separately, it is unable to show the overall picture about school effectiveness. Therefore multivariate analysis would be more preferable in these types of scen arios since it has the capability of decreasing the type 1 error and increasing the statistical power (Maeyer, Rymenans, Petegem and Bergh) (Draft). Hierarchical natures of multivariate models are not like as the univariate response models. Let us focus on above example; it implies a two level multivariate model. But in reality it has three levels. In this case, the measurements are the level 1 units, the students the level 2 units and the schools the level three units. Importance of Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Multivariate multilevel data structures may itself present a greater complexity as it leads to focus the multilevel effects together with the multivariate context. Therefore the traditional statistical techniques would fail to face these kinds of areas since it can decrease the statistical efficiency by producing overestimated standard errors. On the other hand violation of independence assumption may cause to under estimate the standard errors of regression coefficients. Therefore multivariate multilevel approaches play an important role to get rid of these kinds of situations by allowing variation at different levels to be estimated. Furthermore Goldstein (1999) has shown that clustering provides accurate standard errors, confidence intervals and significance tests. Some amount of articles have been published on multilevel modeling based on a single response context. Multivariate multilevel concept comes into the field of statistics during the past few years. When people want to identify the effect of set of explanatory variables on a set of dependent variables and by considering these effects separately on response variables, then if it shows a considerable difference among those effects then it can be handled only by means of a multivariate analysis (Snijders Bosker, 2000). Software for Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In the past decades, due to the unavailability of the software for fitting multivariate multilevel data some researchers tend to use manual methods such as EM Algorithm (Kang et al., 1991). As a result of developing the technical environment, the software such as STATA, SAS and S plus are emerged in to the Statistical field by providing facilitates to handle the multilevel data. But none of those packages have a capability of fitting multivariate multilevel data. However there is evidence in the literature that nonlinear multivariate multilevel model can be fitted using packages such as GLLAMM (Rabe-Hesketh, Pickles and Skrondal, 2001) and aML (Lillard and Panis, 2000). But it was not flexible to handle this software. Therefore MlwiN software which has become the under development since late 1980’s was modified at the University of Bristol in UK in order to fulfill that requirement. However, the use of MlwiN for fitting multivariate multilevel models has been challenged by Goldstein, Carpenter and Browne (2014) who concluded that MlwiN was useful if only when fitting the model without imputing for the missing values. However REALCOM software was then came into the field of Statistics and provided the flexibility to impute the missing values in the MLwiN environment. MLwiN is a modified version of DOS MLn program which uses a command driven interface. MLwiN provides flexibility to fitting very large and complex models using both frequentist and Bayesian estimation along with the missing value imputation in a user friendly interface. Some particular advanced features which are not available in the other packages are included in this software. Univariate Multilevel Modeling vs. Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In general, data are often collected on multiple correlated outcomes. One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field for many years is modeling the association between risk factors and each outcome in a separate model. It may cause to statistically inefficient since it ignores outcome correlations and common predictor effects (Oman, Kamal and Ambler) (unpublished) Therefore most of the researches tend to include all related outcomes in a single regression model within a multivariate outcome framework rather than univariate. Recently investigators have examined the comparison between Univariate and Multivariate outcomes and they have proven that Multivariate models would be preferable than several univariate models. According to the Griffiths, Brown and Smith (2004), they conducted a study to compare univariate and multivariate multilevel models for repeated measures of use of antenatal care in Uttar Pradesh, India. In here, they examined many factors which may have a relationship to the mother’s decision to use ante-natal care services for a particular pregnancy. For that they compared Univariate multilevel logistic regression model vs. Multivariate multilevel logistic regression model. However as a result of fitting univariate models, model assumptions became violated and couldn’t get stable parameter estimates. Therefore they preferred the multivariate context rather than the univariate context after performing the analysis. Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel Tests for Checking Association of Multilevel Categorical Data. The history of arising the concepts related to Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel was streaming to the late 1950’s. Cochran (1958), one of a great Statistician has firstly introduced a test to identify the independence of multiple 2 Ãâ€" 2 tables by extending the general chi-square test for independence of a single 2-way table. In here, the each table consists of one or two additional variables for higher levels to detect the multilevel nature. The test statistic is based on the row totals of each table. The assumption behind is that the cell counts have binomial distribution. As an extension to Cochran’s work, Mantel and Haenzel (1959) extended the Cochran’s test statistic for both row and column totals by assuming the cell counts of each table follows a hypergeommetric distribution. Since Cochran Mantel Hanzel (CMH) statistic has a major limitation on binary data, Landis et al (1978) generalized this test into handle more than two levels. However there is a major drawback of the Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel (GCMH) test. This test was unable to handle clustered correlated categorical data. Liang (1985) was proposed a test statistic for get rid of this problem. However that test statistic itself had major problems and it was fail to use. As development of the statistics field, a need for a test statistic capable of handling correlated data and variables with higher levels arouse. Zhang and Boos (1995) coming in to the field and introduced three test statistics TEL TP and TU as a solution to the above problems. However among these three test statistics TP and TU are preferred to TEL since these two use the individual subjects as the primary sampling units while TEL use the strata as the primary sampling unit (De Silva and Sooriyarachchi, 2012). Furthermore, by a simulation study TP shows better performance than TE by maintaining its error values even when the strata are small and it uses the pooled estimators for variance. Therefore it provides a guideline to select TP as the most suitable statistic to perform this study. De Silva and Sooriyarachchi (2012) developed a R program to carry out this test. Missing Value Imputation in Multivariate Multilevel Framework The problem of having missing values is often arising in real world datasets. However it contains little or no information about the missing data mechanism (MDM). Therefore modeling incomplete data is a very difficult task and may provide bias results. Therefore this major problem address to a need of a proper mechanism to check the missingness. As a solution to that, Rubin (1976) presented three possible ways of arising misingness. These are classified as Missing At Random (MAR), Missing Completely At Random (MCAR) and Missing Not At Random (MNAR). According to the Sterne et. Al (2009), missing value imputation is necessary under the assumption of missing at random. However, it can also be done under the case missing complete at random. On nowadays most statistical packages have the capability of identifying the type of missingness. After identifying the type of missingness, the missing value imputation comes into the field and it requires a statistical package to perform this. Since the missing value imputation in a hierarchical nature is little bit more advanced and it cannot be done using usual statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS and R etc. Therefore Carpenter et. al (2009), developed the REALCOM software to perform this task. However latter version of REALCOM was not deal with multilevel data in a multivariate context. Therefore the macros related to perform this task was recently developed by the Bristol University team in order to facilitate under this case. Estimation Procedure The estimation procedures for multilevel modeling are starting late 1980’s. However For parameter estimation using Maximum Likelihood Method, an iterative procedure called EM algorithm was used by early statisticians (Raudenbush, Rowan and Kang, 1991). Later on the program HLM was developed to perform this algorithm. The most operational procedures for estimating multivariate multilevel models in the presence of Normal responses are Iterative Generalized Least Squares (IGLS), Reweighted IGLS (RIGLS) and Marginal Quasi Likelihood (MQL) while for discrete responses are MQL and Penalized Quasi Likelihood (PQL). According to Rasbash, Steele, Browne and Goldstein (2004) all of these methods are implemented in MLwiN along with including first order or second order Taylor Series expansions. However since these methods are likelihood based frequentist methods they tend to overestimate the precision. Therefore more recently the methods which are implemented in a Bayesian framework using Marcov Chain Monte Carlo methods (Brooks, 1998) also used for parameter estimation which allows capability to use informative prior distributions. These MCMC estimates executed in MLwiN provides consistent estimates though they require a large number of simulations to control of having highly correlated chains. Previous researches conducted using Univariate and Multivariate Multilevel Models Univariate multilevel logit models Before take a look at to the literature on multivariate multilevel analysis, the literature of univariate multilevel analysis is also be necessary to concerned since this thesis is based on some univariate multilevel models prior to fit multivariate multilevel models. In the past decades, many social Scientists used to apply multilevel models for binay data. Therefore it is very important to review how they have implemented their work with less technology. As a aim of that, Guo and Zhao (2000) was able to do a review of the methodologies, hypothesis testing and hierarchical nature of the data involve of past literature. Also they conducted two examples for justify their results. First of all they made a comparison between estimates obtained from MQL and PQL methods which was implemented by MLn and the GLIMMIX method implemented by SAS by using examples. They have shown that the differences in PQL 1 and PQL 2 are small when fitting binary logistic models. Furthermore, they have shown that PQL- 1 and PQL-2 and GLIMMIX are probable to be satisfactory for most of the past studies undertaken in social sciences. Noortgate, Boeck and Meulders (2003) uses multilevel binary logit models for the purpose of analyzing Item Response Theory (IRT) models. For that they carried out an assessment of the nine achievement targets for reading comprehension of students in primary schools in Belgium. They performed a multilevel analyses using the cross-classified logistic multilevel models and used the GLIMMIX macro from SAS, as well as the MLwiN software. However they found that there were some convergence problems arisen by using PQL methods in MLwiN. Therefore they used SAS to carryout analysis. Furthermore they have shown that the cross-classification multilevel logistic model is a very flexible to handle IRT data and the parameters can still be estimated even with the presence of unbalanced data. Multivariate Multilevel Models In the past two decades a very few of researches have sought to fit the multivariate multilevel models to the real world scenarios. Among those also all most all the researches trying to focus basically in educational sectors as well as socio economic sectors. None of them were able to focus these into the medical scenarios. However lack of multivariate multilevel analysis which presents in the field of health and medical sciences this chapter consists of the literatures of multivariate multilevel models in other fields. According to the previous studies of education, Xin Ma (2001) examined the association between the academic achievements and the background of students in Canada by considering three levels of interest. For that the three level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was developed in order to achieve his goals. This work allows him to draw the conclusions that both students and schools were differentially successful in different subject areas and it was more obvious among students than among schools. However the success of this study is based on some strong assumptions about the priors of student’s cognitive skills. Exclusive of the field of education Raudenbush, Johnson and Sampson (2003) carried out a study in Chicago to determine the criminal behavior at person level as well as at neighborhood level with respect to some personal characteristics. For this purpose they use a Rasch model with random effects by assuming conditional independence along with the additives. Moreover, Yang, Goldstein, Browne and Woodhouse (2002) developed a multivariate multilevel analysis of analyzing examination results via a series of models of increasing complexity. They used examination results of two mathematics examinations in England in 1997 and analyzed them at individual and institutional level with respect to some students features. By starting from a simpler model of multivariate normality without considering the institutional random effects, they gradually increased the complexity of the model by adding institutional levels together with the multivariate responses. When closely looked at, there work shows that the choice of subject is strongly associated with the performance. Along with this growth of applications of multivariate multilevel models, researches may tend to apply those in to the other fields such as Forestry etc. Hall and Clutter (2004) presented a study regarding modeling the growth and yield in forestry based on the slash pine in U.S.A. In their work, they developed a methodology to fit nonlinear mixed effect model in a multivariate multilevel frame work in order to identify the effects of the several plot-level timber quantity characteristics for the yield of timber volume. In addition to that they also developed a methodology to produce predictions and prediction intervals from those models. Then by using their developments they have predicted timber growth and yield at the plot individual and population level. Grilli and Rampichini (2003) carried out a study to model ordinal response variables according to the students rating data which were obtained from a survey of course quality carried out by the University of Florence in 2000-2001 academic years. For that they developed an alternative specification to the multivariate multilevel probit ordinal response models by relying on the fact that responses may be viewed as an additional dummy bottom level variable. However they not yet assess the efficiency of that method since they were not implemented it using standard software. When considering the evidences of the recent applications of these models the literature shows that Goldstein and Kounali (2009) recently conducted a study on child hood growth with respect to the collection of growth measurements and adult characteristics. For that they extended the latent normal model for multilevel data with mixed response types to the ordinal categorical responses with having multiple categories for covariates. Since data consists of counts they gradually developed the model by starting a model with assuming a Poison distribution. However since the data are not follow exactly a Poisson distribution they treated the counts as an ordered categories to get rid of that problem. Frank, Cerda and Rendon (2007) did a study to identify whether the residential location have an impact to the health risk behaviors of Latino immigrants as they are increasing substantially in every year. For that they used a Multivariate Multilevel Rasch model for the data obtained by Los Angelis family and neighborhood survey based on two indices of health risk behaviors along with their use of drugs and participation for risk based activities. They starting this attempt by modeling the behavior of adolescents as a function of the characteristics related to both individual and neighborhood .According to the study they found that there is an association between increased health risk behaviors with the above country average levels of Latinos and poverty particularly for those who born in U.S.A. Another application of multivariate multilevel models was carried out Subramanian, Kim and Kawachi (2005) in U.S.A. Their main aim was to identify the individual and community level factors for the health and happiness of individuals. For that they performed a multivariate multilevel regression analysis on the data obtained by a survey which was held on 2000. Their findings reflect that those who have poor health and unhappiness have a high relationship with the individual level covariates By looking at the available literature, it can be seen that there are some amount of studies conducted on education and social sciences in other countries but none of the studies conducted regarding health and medical sciences. Therefore it is essential to perform a study by analyzing the mortality rates of some killing diseases which are spread in worldwide to understand risk factors and patterns associated with these diseases in order to provide better insights about the disease to the public as well as to the responsibly policy makers.

A Guide to Successful Communication and Study Essay -- teamwork, commun

According to a survey done by a statistical website ‘Nation Master', twenty one out of thirty four OECD(Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries ranked 14.4% for an average percentage of single households in 2013. To be more specific, the United States, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Japan are the top five countries ranking the highest percentages of population living alone, nearly up to 26% in common. These statistics clearly demonstrate how prevalent phenomenon ‘individualism’ is in recent days. In other words, people nowadays are more accustomed to being alone than being together. The time is now when importance of working together must be highlighted. Particularly, pinpointing an emphasis on teamwork in the universities seems notably demanding. Therefore, it is fundamental for universities to increase group activities for the students on account of three main benefits teamwork can bring; enhancing communication skills, improving lea dership and raising responsibility. To begin with, teamwork provides opportunities for the university students to enhance communication abilities. Teamwork is an activity done by more than one person with a same goal. The more people there are, the more perspectives there must be. In other words, conflicts from different viewpoints of each member are unavoidable in a disparate group of individuals. For example, there was a survey done by Korea Herald toward 522 Korean university students about the most common trouble that occurred during teamwork. 38.3% of the students chose difficult time scheduling for team meetings. 25.5% answered an unsatisfactory division of tasks for each member, and 14.8% pointed out a hardship in uniting opinions among the members. Such data clea... ...cles/teamwork-quotes-and-sayings.html (Master's thesis, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia)Retrieved from http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/lasc/professional-skills/tips-for-effective-teamwork Maughan, Caroline & Webb, Julian, Lawyering Skills and the Legal Process (2005). "One person households by country", OECD. Retrieved from http://www.NationMaster.com/graph/peo_one_per_hou-people-one-person-households Sompong, Y. (Designer). (2010, November 12th ). 36 ways to build working team [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/bright9977/36-ways-to-build-working-team Stephen, R. (2011, October 11th). Leadership roles and responsibilities. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/leadership-roles-and-responsibilities.html Tuckerman, Bruce W, ‘Developmental sequence in small groups’ (1965) 63(6) Psychological Bulletin 384-99.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Religion Essay examples -- Mental Il

Obsessive Disorder and Religion Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects up to 2.1% of adults and features pervasive and intrusive thoughts that lead to repetitive uncontrollable behaviors aimed to reduce anxiety (APA, 2000). Further, these thoughts and behaviors impede and disrupt daily living and cause marked distress in the lives of the sufferer. The recurrent thoughts often center on fear of contamination, harming self or others, and illness (Himle, Chatters, Taylor, and Nguyen, 2011). Those who experience the compulsive behaviors associated with OCD report feeling as though they cannot stop or control the urge to perform the compulsive behavior and that the urge is alien or from outside conscious control. Behaviors often involve washing the hands or body, repeatedly checking, and mental acts such as counting and repeated prayers. (Himle, Chatters, Taylor, and Nguyen, 2011) According to Obsessive-Compulsive Working Group (1997, 2001, as cited by Abramowitz, Deacon, Woods, and Tolin, 2004) OCD can be classifi ed into six domains. The domains include inflated responsibility, beliefs about the importance of thoughts, importance of controlling thoughts, overestimation of threats, intolerance of uncertainty, and perfectionism. Inflated responsibility involve excessive feelings of responsibility for actions seen as harmful or failing to take action to prevent harm, whereas the domain of importance of thought involved attributing excessive authority or power to unwanted thoughts and beliefs. Similarly, the importance of controlling thoughts entailed the belief that one should be in control of every thought at all times. The unrealistic belief that unlikely events will always occur and bring with them extreme consequences characte... ...rurinsky, S., Rosmarin, D. H., & Pargament, K. I. (2009). Community attitudes towards culture-influenced mental illness: Scrupulosity vs. nonreligious OCD among Orthodox Jews. Journal of Community Psychology, 37(8), 949–958. doi:10.1002/jcop.20341 Rosmarin, D. H., Pirutinsky, S., & Siev, J. (2010). Recognition of scrupulosity and non-religious OCD by Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(8), 930–944. doi:10.1521/jscp.2010.29.8.930 Siev, J., Baer, L., & Minichiello, W. E. (2011). Obsessive†compulsive disorder with predominantly scrupulous symptoms: Clinical and religious characteristics. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(12), 1188–1196. doi:10.1002/jclp.20843 Yossifova, M., & Loewenthal, K. M. (1999). Religion and the judgment of obsessionality. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 2(2), 145–151. doi:10.1080/13674679908406343

Black Leaders Essay

Booker T. Washington and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois were influential black leaders. Their leadership strengthened the minds of the black race. During the decades of Reconstruction following the Civil War, African Americans struggled to be assimilated into the new American society. To do this African Americans required social and economic equality. Two great Negro leaders that emerged for this cause were Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. With these two strong-headed men, another problem arose. They both sharply disagreed upon the strategies needed to gain these equalities. Washington preferred a gradual, submissive, and economically based plan. On the other hand, Du Bois relied upon a more agitating and politically aggressive plan. They worked for the advancement of African-Americans in American society, but their methods of achieving this goal and their leadership style differed greatly from one another. It is hard to fathom that two men, who helped to strive for the great goal of racial fairness, could have been such opposites, but it is true. Booker T. Washington, a former slave and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, believed that African Americans needed to accept segregation and discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. The eventual acquisition of wealth and culture by African Americans would gradually win for them the respect and acceptance of the white community. This would break down the divisions between the two races and lead to equal citizenship for African Americans in the end. Also he urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. He believed in education in the crafts, industrial and farming skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise and thrift. This, he said, would win the respect of whites and lead to African Americans being fully accepted as citizens and included into all strata of society. Washington wanted blacks in the south to respect and value the need for industrial education both from a vantage of American and African experience. Booker T. Washington was born a slave on April 5, 1856 in Franklin County, Virginia. Once the slaves were emancipated, his family moved to West Virginia. There, his family was poor, and he had to work in a salt furnace and then a coal mine. In school he named himself Booker Washington. Only later did he find out his name was Booker Taliaferro. So he combined both names to form his now famous name, Booker T. Washington. He went to school at the Hampton Institute, which was an industrial school for blacks. Later on, he based his educational theories on his time at Hampton. He founded the Tuskegee Institute, which was a Negro school, which eventually became known for its hardworking, reliable graduates. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born into an affluent family on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Bois took college preparatory classes while in high school. He was also a column writer of a newspaper, the New York Globe. While still young he attended town meetings to listen to people discuss concerns of the town. He spoke about Wendell Phillips at his high school graduation. Du Bois’s mother unexpectedly died in 1884. After high school, he attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the first black person to obtain a Ph. D. from Harvard. He taught at Atlanta University. At Fisk he took part in public speaking and debates. He edited the Fisk Herald, the school’s paper. At Fisk he realized that his goal was not for his own happiness, but for the advancement of the black race. He graduated from Fisk in 1886 with an A. B. degree. After Fisk he was accepted into Harvard. In 1895 Du Bois became the first African American to get a Ph. D. from Harvard. Even with a Ph. D. from Harvard he did not feel he was ready to deal with the problems that African Americans faced. He then spent two years at Berlin University. This gave him an extended outlook on the race problem. In the south, African Americans received segregated and unequal education established by white Americans. Du Bois was confident that he could get white Americans to give up discrimination. Du Bois was motivated to lead African Americans out of the disadvantaged position they seemed to be in. He believed the key to their advancement was in education. Near the end of the 1800’s African Americans occupied unskilled jobs in southern cities. Their economic situation was not good. Du Bois felt compelled to work to improve this situation. He initially wanted to dedicate his life to education. In 1909 he contributed to the development of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). According to Gerald Hynes, Du Bois was not pleased with the group, due in part by it being under the leadership of whites. He agreed to work with them and became the editor of â€Å"The Crisis† (1909-1934), a publication from the NAACP. He also led the Niagara Movement. The Niagara Movement was an organization founded by black Americans to racial discrimination. The movement placed most of the blame for America’s racial problems on whites. It opposed the view of Booker T. Washington. He later became a Marxist and a Communist. Washington and Du Bois were alike in few ways. They were both black leaders. They were both teachers and authors. They were also both subject to discrimination from whites. They were both spokesmen for their separate ideologies. Du Bois and Washington were polar opposites of each other in every aspect except for the reasons previously stated. They were so much so that Du Bois published a book named The Souls of Black Folk, which contained many essays criticizing Washington’s views. Du Bois went on to write many other essays and speeches opposing the viewpoints of supposed â€Å"Uncle Tom’s. † The author believes that Booker T. Washington developed a leadership style based on the model of the old plantation house servant. He used humility, politeness, flattery, and restraint as a wedge with which he hoped to split the wall of racial discrimination. His conciliatory approach won the enthusiastic support of the solid South as well as that of influential Northern politicians and industrialists; their backing gained him a national reputation and provided him with easy access to the press. Members of his own community were filled with pride to see one of their own treated with such respect by wealthy and influential leaders of white America. Du Bois assigned Washington of giving the black race the â€Å"distinct status of civil inferiority. † Washington was for surrendering basic human rights and dignity for economic advancement. Du Bois thought that was detrimental to the black race. Washington thought that a vocational education was far more important to blacks than higher education. Du Bois thought that the really important things in life laid in the realm of the mind. The term â€Å"The Talented Tenth† was the trademark of his educational philosophy. To him, this was, â€Å"The Talented Tenth of the Negro race must be made leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people. No others can do this work and Negro colleges must train men for it. The Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. † In the author’s opinion, there’s any question that Booker T. Washington did accept segregation. Booker T. Washington was an accommodationist. And his program was to accommodate the social and political situation of the South. â€Å"Du Bois was not in complete disagreement with Booker T. Washington. Du Bois referred to Booker T. Washington as the greatest black leader since Frederick Douglass. And also referred to Washington as the most distinguished man, black or white, to come out of the South since the Civil War. So it wasn’t as though Du Bois disagreed with Washington’s program, but Du Bois felt that there was room for more than one solution to the problem. And just as Washington advocated vocational education for the majority of African Americans in the South, Du Bois felt yes, there were African Americans in the South, perhaps the majority who at that point in their historical development were better off with vocational education. But there were others among the race who needed to be the individuals who were at the top, the individuals who did the training, the individuals who were the intelligentsia. And that you needed this group of people. And I think that was the basis of their disagreement. Not that Du Bois felt that Washington was completely wrong, but that Washington needed to have more than just one way of approaching the problem. And then of course the other issue on which they disagreed was Du Bois did not feel that you could accommodate injustice. And he felt that Washington was placing upon his shoulders an extremely heavy responsibility by advocating that African Americans accommodate the social and political system in the South. Washington stated that blacks should work hard and become economically prosperous before they should ask for racial equality from the whites. Du Bois thought that this was absolutely preposterous. Blacks shouldn’t have to ask for equality from whites, it is God’s gift to them and every human being deserved it. Du Bois believed that the whites were responsible for keeping the black men down and that the black man should cry out and declare his independence. Washington wanted to please the whites, because he thought that was the only way anything good could happen. Even when he was a child, he made his name Washington, whom was a well-known white historical figure of prominence. Du Bois was more radical, whereas Washington was very moderate. Washington was a realist, Du Bois was a romantic. Du Bois wanted to stir men’s hearts, Washington wanted to stir men’s minds. Washington was loyal to his country, Du Bois was loyal to his race. Washington was possessed humility, and could relate to the common man, Du Bois was arrogant, egotistical, and imperious. Since he could not believe that the average Southern white man had any desire to help the Negro, Du Bois could see no future in the South for the ambitious young people of his race. Directly contradicting Washington’s counsel, Du Bois urged them to go North for freedom and advancement. He encouraged urban migration at every turn, believing that the â€Å"country represented oppression and serfdom,† while the â€Å"city represented opportunity. † It is very clear to see that their experiences were different and this is very important in understanding how they saw the future of the race. But it’s also important to keep in mind that for both of them, race uplift was the central key. Despite all of Du Bois attacks on him, Washington still managed to be more popular at the time, and more famous today.

Shoehorn Sonata Speech + Related Text

At age 15, you are thrown into a war, fighting for your life and your will to live is slowly diminishing. Are you scared? Probably, but you know that if you show fear, everyone will see you as being weak. This is what the main protagonists of both the play, Shoe Horn Sonata by John Mistro and the movie, Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross endured. Together with photographs, cinematic techniques and symbols, these texts represent the devastation of war, the bonds of friendship forged during a war and their respective will to survive.Friendship is defined as a relationship between friends. In Shoe Horn Sonata, when Sheila and Bridie first meet, it seems unlikely that they will ever be friends. They are complete polar opposites. Sheila cynical statement ‘People always get on when they’re tossed in together. I’d hardly call that friendship. ’, reinforces that Bridie and Sheila initially formed a friendship out of desperation to survive, not because there was mut ual affection for each other. Bitter tone is utilised to convey Shelia’s survival instincts are prioritised over tender friendship.Additionally the alliteration of tossed in together reflects how people in war have no choice of their companions, that it pushes them together in survival. Similarly in the Hunger Games , the friendships that Katniss makes with both Rue and are forged out of necessity and need rather than sentiment. Rue and Katniss team up as they both have valuable skills assets that the other would like to utilise to their advantage such as when Rue manages to take a weapon unnoticed using the trees. In many ways, an alliance with Rue is an alliance to District 11 which Katniss can use to her benefit.Peter and Katniss act as if they are lovers in a ploy for the audience as a means to survive as seen when Katniss receives a note from Haymitch asking ‘You call that a kiss? ’. The sarcastic tone makes Katniss realise that the ploy will be futile as if Haymitch is doubtful then others will be too. Both texts show that although they may not have been friends in normal circumstances, war has pushed them together and this has attributed to them surviving. Symbols are also used in both texts to represent the protagonists’ hope and survival.For example, the shoehorn in Shoe Horn Sonata is first seen when the girls are in the water and Bridie uses it to wake Sheila up and prevent her from drowning. In this scene, it a metaphorical and representative an object of survival and the will to live. As the play goes on, the shoehorn symbolises family for Bridie and sacrifice for Sheila but in the end it unites the girls and demonstrates that not only did they survive the war, they survived the effects of the war as well. Caramel is another symbol of survival.It was the only luxury the girls had during the camp and ‘it had to last till the end of the war’. The caramel was even important enough that it was written into the g irls’ wills. This conveys to the audience that the girls clung to the hope that they would eventually be released from the prison camp. On the other hand, in Hunger Games, the mockingbird pin was not only Katniss’s link to her district, but a symbol of her love for her father as well as her survival. The pin is a representation of a creature with a spirit of her own.By breaking free of the Capitol’s control this show that the Capitol does not have complete control of the districts. Katniss, like the mockingjay, has escaped from the Capitol’s clutches which is why the pin symbolises her survival and spirit. The photographs shown during interview in Shoe Horn Sonata support the dialogue and give the audience a visual representation of what the girls went through during the camp. In scene 7, you see visuals of what the prisoners looked like during the camp. They are emaciated, haggard and impoverish.The effects of the imprisonment of the innocent is clearly highlighted during these photographs. The stark black and white photos depicting the harrowing effects of mistreatment of innocents evokes sympathy towards the prisoners from the viewer and loathing for their captors. In contrast, within the Hunger Games, the film is seen as whirs and jolts with sharply edited scenes intercutting from perspective to perspective which represents Katniss’s inner turmoil and her agitation which accompanies those new changes.Her life is unpredictable and this is shown as the camera shakes around representing the sudden changes in her life and well as extreme long shots used to give the audience a general impression of the places she goes. Little detail can be seen in these scenes which corresponds to the insignificance of these places to Katniss. The audience witnesses the consequences of these changes but to everyone else, they are unable to see this because of the defensive stoic mask she wears.In conclusion, the protagonists in Shoe Horn Sonat a and the Hunger Games have survived horrors unimaginable to us and through distinctively visual techniques such as , photographs, cinematic techniques and symbols, we are able to grasp a small idea of what they have endured on their journey. Therefore, thus despite common circumstances being the catalyst for friendship in times of war, strife and horror they are able to triumph over their circumstances because of the sustenance that this unexpected friendship provides them.

Berkshire Hathaway Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Berkshire Hathaway Company - Essay Example The company is now a holding company that holds many diverse subsidiaries. What is the company’s Mission Statement? What is the company’s Vision Statement? Who are the Primary Stakeholders of the company? Primary stakeholders are those who have a direct interest or stake in the organization. The stakeholders of almost all the companies are same. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the actions of a business. The primary stakeholders of Berkshire Hathaway include the owner of the company, the employees, its customers, suppliers, its creditors, the trade unions, its stockholders and the government. The employees of Berkshire have a great stake in the organization because they are directly linked to the company’s performance (BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, INC 2010) Similarly the stockholders share the same stake in the business of Berkshire Hathaway. What are the five forces of Competition and how they impact on the company? The five forces of competition present in the environment and that affect the competition include the competitors of a firm, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of the customers, new entrants and the substitutes available. Competitors of a firm result in rivalry. ... Berkshire Hathaway has very good relations with its suppliers. Plus the company owns so many subsidiaries that it has a large numbers of suppliers, thus resulting in a low bargaining power of the suppliers. Looking at the customers as a force, they have a high bargaining power as opposed to the suppliers. Berkshire Hathaway honors its customers in every possible way. Then comes the threat of the substitutes. Berkshire has a very diverse range of business activities and it offers so many products to so many different markets. There is a threat of substitutes but Berkshire Hathaway has a very strong financial and capital position that whenever there is an alternative investment available in the market, it does not hesitate in acquiring that alternative. Berkshire faces competition but the competition is not very huge because the number of firms present in the holding industry is not very large. There are only few holding firms that equal the size of Berkshire Hathaway. So the competiti on is low as compared to other industries. All the forces of competition lead to rivalry, but in the case of Berkshire these forces are not that intense and thus do not result in huge rivalry. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a tool that is used to look into the strengths and weaknesses of the company. It helps to determine the opportunities and threats posed by the external environment. Basically the analysis sets a direction for the organization as to how it should use its strengths to minimize the threats posed by the external environment and also to make use of the opportunities in order to overcome its weaknesses. Though Berkshire Hathaway is well established holding company but still it is not possible that it won’t have any weaknesses or

Race and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Race and Religion - Essay Example He then illustrates the attitude the religious community had towards the black population as they were not accepted as Christians. Rather, the community placed the black people in an environment associated with inferiority and slavery. Furthermore, black people are wrongly associated with the mark of Cain, which was falsely used to misrepresent these individuals as cursed. Father Brown states that traditionally in Exodus, the Jews would cry and tell their trials and tribulations to God who would come down to help them. Brown states that the white American religious denomination also attempted to adopt the same culture. However, West Africans had other approaches when it came to interaction with God. Hence, in this perspective, Brown illustrates the differences that existed in the religious activities of different races. He also illustrates how black West African individuals had to adapt to the western principles of religion. Father Brown also states the discrimination that existed towards black people even in some rituals in the church. These individuals were prohibited from singing certain songs, which further shows how European Christianity made blacks inferior individuals. The attitude that existed towards the black Catholics at that time made these individuals attend other churches that gave them the possibility to express themselves and feel the Holy Spirit. Brown relates to the fact that individuals from other races such as the Germans during the fall of the Berlin wall also sang souls which helped them relate with the spirits. This shows the necessity of this element which was denied to the black populations in the earlier times. Brown also relates the oppression that the African Americans endured to the walls of Jericho. He states that the reason individuals during these times related to the song about Jericho was because it resembled the situation they were experiencing. The African Americans were