Evaluating Advertising Campaign

Evaluating Advertising Campaigns It is through the process of review and evaluation that an organization has the opportunity to learn and develop. In turn, this enables management to refine its competitive position and to provide for higher levels of customer satisfaction. The use of marketing communications is a management activity, one that requires the use of rigorous research and testing procedures in addition to continual evaluation. This is necessary because planned communications involve a wide variety of stakeholders and have the potential to consume a vast amount of resources. The evaluation of planned marketing communications consists of two distinct elements: The first element is concerned with the way the ad communicates. Thus, it deals with the development and testing of individual messages. An advertising message has to achieve, among other things, a balance of emotion and information in order that the communication objectives and message strategy be achieved. To accomplish this, testing is required to ensure that the intended message is encoded correctly and is capable of being decoded accurately by the target audience. This testing could be pre or post testing. The second element concerns the overall impact and effect that a campaign has on sales once a communication plan has been released. This post-test factor is critical, as it will either confirm or reject management’s judgement about the viability of their communication strategy. THE ROLE OF EVALUATION IN PLANNED COMMUNICATIONS The evaluation process is a key part of marketing communications. The findings and results of the evaluation process feed back into the next campaign and provide indicators and benchmarks for further management decisions. The primary role of evaluating the performance of a communications is to see that the advertising objective has been met and that the strategy has been effective. The secondary role is to ensure that the strategy has been executed efficiently, that the full potential of the individual promotional tools has been extracted and that resources have been used economically. TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE? Companies are generally interested in finding whether they are overspending or underspending in advertising. One way to figure that out is to use the formula given below. Share of voice is the company’s share of advertising expenditure that earns a share of the consumer’s mind, and ultimately the market. Comparing that to market share provides an idea as to the feasibility of the company’s ad spend. An advertising effectiveness ratio of 1 means an effective level of ad expenditure, while a ratio less than 1 indicates a relatively ineffective advertising level. As can be seen from the above table, firm A spends Rs. 20 lakhs of the total industry expenditure of Rs. 35 lakhs. Thus, its share of voice is 57. 1%. However, its market share is only 40%. So we can say that firm A is either overspending or misspending. Firm B has a market share equal in proportion to its share of voice. It spends effectively on advertising, while firm C is super efficient, and could probably increase expenditures.

Disciples Are Created

â€Å"So God created man in his image. † Man was given dominion over all creation and paradise for his sustenance and enjoyment. But to whom much is given, much is likewise asked. The forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge proved to be too difficult for Man to resist. That cost Man the loss of his paradise and banishment from heaven, in complete shame. He had truly fallen. God sent his Only Son to redeem Man. Jesus walked the earth and preached about God. From fishermen to a tax collector, Jesus created his own, chosen set of disciples.He said, â€Å"I did not come to call the righteous but sinners. † He had instructed them to continue His work when He has gone back to the Father. â€Å"Go, therefore, and make disciples from all nations. † Jesus died on the cross for Man. Man had sinned but Jesus led Man back to the Father. He had set the example for Man to follow. True discipleship is following God’s example of never giving up on Man’s fallibil ity. It is helping Man to rise from iniquity and taking the righteous path.His followers had betrayed Him like Judas and denied Him like Peter, yet He had it in His heart to forgive. He proclaimed, â€Å"Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Whatever one’s status in life is, he may be made into a disciple. Simon Peter and Andrew were fishermen and Matthew was a tax collector. A disciple made from God’s own image follows His example. God forgave sin against Him. So must the disciple. The positive influence of God’s example to my personal ministry is to accept sinners and give them the second chances they need.

How to write a methodology (2018) Dissertation Help

How to write a methodologyDissertation Help To address how to write a methodology, in the Methodology section of your dissertation you have to justify and explain your choice of methodologies employed in your research. You don’t however have to explain the methodological approaches that you could have used. In other words, say why you chose the ones you did and don’t say why you didn’t choose the others that were at your disposal.How to write a methodology?You may consider whether or not someone else could easily replicate your study based on what you have included in this section and in the appendices. In this section you have to explain very clearly how you arrived at your findings and state clearly why they are reliable and how they answer your research questions or test the hypotheses on which your research was based.How to Structure the Methodology Chapter?Section I PhilosophyThis will deal with the philosophy which underpins your research. You will set out the research paradigm here. While there are many different research philosophies you can adopt, three of the most popular are positivism, post-positivism and interpretivism. Each is suitable for a different sort of study, and each involves different assumptions about the world (ontology), how we know that world (epistemology) and the nature of knowledge. You may also be interested in: What is dissertation and why is it important? The following table sums up key details about each philosophy, and should help you decide which is most useful for your area of study. PHILOSOPHYBRIEF DESCRIPTIONTYPE OF DATA/DATA COLLECTIONONTOLOGYEPISTEMOLOGY PositivismAims to mirror scientific method. Uses deductive reasoning, empirical evidence and hypothesis testingQuantitative data, surveys based on scientific methods, larger sample sets, numericThe world is objective and independent of our subjective experienceThe world is knowable, and this knowledge is communicable between agents InterpretivismAn approach to studying people, particularly in social sciences, that starts from position that the subject matter is inherently different from non-human subjects.Qualitative data, subjective experience, small numbers of respondents, detailed examinations, textualThe world is dependent on the many subjective experiences of that world, and does not exist independently of experienceThere is no possibility of ‘objective’ knowledge of the world, all we have are different experiences. Post-PositivismShares the main assumptions of positivism, but takes a more relativistic perspectiveQuantitative, qualitative, mixed methodsThere is an objective world, but knowledge of it is filtered through the subjective experience of individuals. Knowledge is by its nature partial and bound by individual experienceSection II: ApproachHow to write a methodology Research Onion, Source: Saunders et al (2012) Here you will need to explain the context of your research, its limitations and specifically answer the â€Å"w-† questions, which include How, Why, What Where and WhenThe main decision you are likely to make is whether you will be using qualitative or quantitative methods (or methods which combine both). Each method is associated with a different approach to gathering data. In general (there’s lots more material available online if you want to learn more) you first need to decide whether you are going to work along broadly positivist, scientific lines, starting with a defined hypothesis and testing this against reality. If so, you are likely to be collecting numerical data in reasonably large quantities (30 or more) and running statistical tests on this data. In other words, you’ll be using a quantitative approach (to do with collecting and manipulating data).On the other hand, you might be more interested in exploring broad areas, probably to do with people’s experiences of, perceptions of or emotional reactions to a subject, and looking in detail at these responses in all their richness. By looking at broad areas of interest, you are aiming to generate theories about the area you are investigating. If this is the case, you will be adopting a qualitative approach (concerned with analysing textual responses in detail).Finally, you might want to use a mixture of both methods, and indeed ‘mixed methods’ research is becoming increasingly popular. It’s particularly useful when you want to reflect different perspectives on a subject, or put quantitative information into a robust real-world context. Other Relevant Articles: 1. Should I use Primary or Secondary Research? 2. The Steps involved in writing a Dissertation.Section III: Strategy and Research DesignIn this section you will outline how you collected your data; and you will have to explain your choice for using the methods you did, such as online surveys, phone surveys, face-to-face-interviews and so on. How did you choose your sampleExplain the choice of age group and ethnicity of your respondents. What questions did you ask and how have these contributed towards answering your research question or how did these test your hypothesis which formed the basis of your researchIt is actually better to write this at the start of your research, so that it can be changed if your methods are not producing the results you need. However as this is not usually how dissertations are written- they are written in hindsight, then you will have to be honest about the flaws in the design. When writing or planning this section, it’s good practice to refer back to your research questions, aims and objectives, and ask yourself whether what you are planning to do is the best way to answer the questions and achieve the objectives. It’s best to do this at an early stage, rather than look at the data you collected and find it doesn’t throw any light on the topics you wanted to ask about. Another thing to remember is that you need to convince the reader that the results you obtain are valid and reliable. When discussing why you selected the methods you did, you should be convincing that these methods are the best ones available given what you want to achieve.Section IV: Data Collection and Analysis MethodsYou will have to explain how the data was collected (by what means) and then explain the analysis tools you used. For example, if you were sampling texts, or have a lot of qualitative data are you using semiotics analysis, discourse analysis and so on. If you used software tools then you will have to say what these were and why you chose to use these particular ones. In this section you have to explain very clearly how you arrived at your findings and state clearly why they are reliable and how they answer your research questions or test the hypotheses on which your research was based. . The choices you made at the beginning of your research study should have been aided by contributions from your supervisor. That being so, writing the Methodology section will be the easiest part of your dissertation.Section V: Ethics, Reliability, Validity, Generalizability and LimitationsFinally, your methodology should discuss the following: Ethics – you need to explain how you have taken into account the ethics of your research, particularly if it includes human subjects. What steps did you take to make sure no one involved is harmed in any way (even very minor ways) This discussion should include how you dealt with issues of confidentiality of data, and data protection Reliability – that is, the extent to which your study is reliable, in that the results can be repeated by other researchers at other times. To be informative, studies should be both reliable and valid Validity – that is, does the study test what it sets out to testAre the measures you use able to accurately assess what you want to look at Generalizability – to what extent are the particular results you obtained true of other populationsNot all studies are as generalizable as others, but you need to discuss how generalizable your results are likely to be, and why. Limitations – finally, you need to acknowledge any ways i n which the study was limited. Was it restricted to only one country, when data from other regions would be usefulOr were only people of a certain age interviewed, when a more representative cross-section of the population would have yielded more informative results Continue Reading: 1. Sample Dissertation Methodology: Mixed Method Deductive Research 2. How to Structure a Dissertation: Chapters & Subchapters 3. Understanding Mixed Research Methods 4. Flawless Tips on Selecting your PhD Thesis Topic Summary Reviewer John- our site Admin Review Date 2017-08-20 Reviewed Item How to write a methodologyDissertation Help Author Rating 5

The creation, development, and use of mirrors in Northern Renaissance Essay

The creation, development, and use of mirrors in Northern Renaissance Art - Essay Example r in three paintings; Jan van Eycks Arnolfini Portrait, Hans Memlings Virgin and Child and Maarten van Niewenhove, and Petrus Christus Goldsmith in His Shop. All three paintings depict mirrors and all three use the mirror to manipulate both what the viewer sees and also the role the viewer plays within the painting. The aim of this essay, therefore, is to explore in each painting how this manipulation takes place and the purposes of the artist in undertaking such a manipulation. The reflection has long fascinated man-kind, and stories such as the terrible fate of Narcissus, hopelessly in love with his own image, proliferate in ancient literature. From the earliest Greek vases there are depictions of people holding mirrors, which would have consisted of highly polished metal or stone. However, by the time of the Renaissance, glass-working had reached the level of sophistication to allow small, glass mirrors to be produced. The production of clear glass was underway in Venice by the early fifteenth century, creating mirrors which provided a clear reflection with little distortion to the facial features. It is just such mirrors, of humble proportions due to the difficulty of blowing glass large enough to make a bigger surface area, which appear in the painting which will be considered in this essay. Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, depicting Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, dates from 1434. It is painted in oils on an oak panel. The painting is immediately striking for the sense of realism that it creates. This is due to two factors; light and perspective. The two figures are depicted centre-left and centre-right of the painting. The faces of both figures are illuminated by the light which streams in from a window on the left of the painting. The chiaroscuro of their clothing gives a sense of depth and richness to the material, while the feet of Arnolfini and the ceiling of the room are in darkness, framing the two figures. A pair of shoes cast

Career Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Career - Research Paper Example Below is a succinct depiction and description of this career. I. Nature of the Work II. Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement III. Work Environment IV. Job Expectations V. Job Outlook VI. Earnings VII. Advantages VIII. Disadvantages Nature of the Work Their core obligation is to protect lives and property. These police officers pursue individuals who break the law, apprehend them and give warnings or rather citations. The largest percentage of their time is spent on activities of keeping and maintaining records of the occurrences in their area of work. They also spend large proportions of their time writing reports on the occurrences in their area of work. They usually patrol areas under their jurisdiction and maintain peace, order and calm. They further investigate and examine incidences they encounter. Special agents are the category of detectives who investigate cases, gathering important evidence and compiling their findings. The routine obligations of police officers d iffer with the kind of specialty in which they concentrate on. It is dependent on whether they are police officers, game wardens or detectives and whether they work for federal, state or local agencies (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Police officers in uniforms have universal law enforcement obligations. Their work is to maintain order and respond to calls for service. They spend numerous hours of work doing consultations with the citizens and doing masses of paperwork. They are also involved in direction of traffic at the scene of a motor accident, give first aid to casualties and control traffic at the incidence of burglary. In huge police agencies, the police officers are assigned different tasks to carry out. They are ambassadors in the issue of community policing where they mobilize citizens to deal with crime and also help in law enforcement. This establishes a profound connection between the police officers and the citizens, easing their work. Police officers are familiar with thei r areas of jurisdiction and therefore patrol in pursuit of incidences that threaten the safety of citizens (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Many police agencies are vested with geographical jurisdiction and enforcement responsibilities. This includes public schools for police officers, college level, university level schools and transportation hubs. Police officers are trained to do different tasks as, finger print identification, firearms instruction, microscopic and chemical analyses and firearms instruction and training. Different units are available including: Bicycle, horseback, canine corps, motorcycle, special weapons and tactics and emergency/ weapons systems. A number of special police officers perform their work in correctional facilities and other special areas. Sheriff Officers work on county level and enforce law from there. They are designated into their positions through election. They enforce law and order in the county level. Additionally, Deputy Sheriffs have the same ran k as the senior police officers in the urban police departments. State police officers apprehend criminals statewide and also control the traffic and ensure that rules and regulations concerning traffic are observed (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Detectives are state plainclothes police officers who conduct investigations, generate reports and keep a record of the criminal activities in the state level. They specialize in either frauds or homicide. They work on assigned cases, arrest the

Have our hegemonic ideas of masculinity changed Answer this question Essay

Have our hegemonic ideas of masculinity changed Answer this question by comparing and contrasting the representation of mascul - Essay Example The interaction of man with the media and communication tends to create a crisis, with the un-tenability of conceptualized single, fixed and unified masculinity. In the film Michael Clayton, there is the depiction of masculinity as a ruthless force, with highly realistic dominance in the courts of law. There is a perception of self-drive and control in the main character, Michael Clayton, brings down alternatives and preferences in his clients as a way of exchanging their fantasies with unjustified justice. Many clients believe that Michael works miracles in the law field, though he is a self-proclaimed janitor. Male masculinity is, hereby, depicted as having changed hegemonically, with the portrayal of a super power in the masculine main character, Michael, who mysteriously succeeds in his law career by winning his cases. In the Searchers film, there is the depiction of male masculinity as cruel and racist. The main character, who is a white man, is a violent character that interact s with people from other races by killing them. The film brings out the perspective of typical racism in the notion of terrorism, with the tarnished hegemonic ideas of the male masculinity in the media fraternity clearly depicted. Racism is the main theme of The Searchers, which also questions the morality levels and quality in the planning and carrying out of terrorism. The film surprisingly and amazingly explores the relations between blood-related individuals and those who have a race in common. Kinship is depicted as a wise choice for masculinity between relationships with blood-related individuals and individuals of the same race. The main character believes that he cannot make any relations or deals with the Indians due to their race and culture, and should rather kill them than make deals, or interact with them. This brings about changed hegemonic perceptions and ideas of masculinity through the media and communication. Racism is highly associated with male masculinity, with many race abuses proven to originate from the males. This is clearly depicted in the Searchers, whereby, the whites brutally kill the Indians, and bring up a racist myth. The Whites consider themselves a superior and dominant race over the Indians, in the movies and the inevitably real situation, and treat racism as a comic channel. This leaves the Indians humiliated if not dead, and turns racism into a horror situation. The media and mass communication industry tends to bring the changed hegemonic ideas about masculinity to light, with the controversial consideration of racism as a comedy rather than a tragedy or timebomb. In the Trailer film, Clayton works closely with the head of the law firm, Marty Bash, as an anchor in intelligence, authority and masculinity. This strongly angers a top partner in the firm, who strips naked and runs through the snowed parking lot, during a deposition hearing. This is a clear example of changed hegemonic ideas in masculinity in the media sector. Arthur is loaded with the testifying responsibility of delivering justice, which is questioned after he strips and runs naked in the parking lot. Male masculinity has faced a changed perception, both in the media sector and in the real world, which has led to the domination of feminity in journalism and mass media. Male actors and characters in the film industry

Warranties and Product Liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Warranties and Product Liability - Essay Example A warranty also comes to the fore in any contract of sale whenever such contract is subjected to any condition whereby such is not performed. The promisee therefore, has two options. He may refuse to proceed with the contract by reason of a breach of warranty or he may waive the performance of that condition. To test whether in a contract of sale there is warranty, the pertinent question is whether the buyer is an 'ignorant' buyer who relied on the seller's affirmation of fact or promise or not. If he is, there is warranty. However, in one case, there is no warranty when the purchaser is expected to have an opinion and the vendor has no special opinion (Spencer Heater Co v Abbot). In the hereinabove definition of warranty, there are 2 kinds of general warranties enumerated i.e. express warranty and implied warranty. A third one, statutory warranty has recently been added via legal enactments. From these 3 categories are engendered several other warranties which may be express or implied depending on the facts of the case. Express warranty is any affirmation of fact or any pledge by the vendor relating to the goods if the natural inclination of such affirmation or pledge is the inducement of the vendee to buy the same, and if the vendee purchases by reason of such affirmation or pledge. Thus, it is imperative that such warranty... express warranty and implied warranty. A third one, statutory warranty has recently been added via legal enactments. From these 3 categories are engendered several other warranties which may be express or implied depending on the facts of the case. Express warranty is any affirmation of fact or any pledge by the vendor relating to the goods if the natural inclination of such affirmation or pledge is the inducement of the vendee to buy the same, and if the vendee purchases by reason of such affirmation or pledge. Thus, it is Warranties 3 imperative that such warranty as derived from the language of the contract must be explicit and may take form as an affirmation, pledge or representation (Parish v Kotthoff). The Patricia Henley case whereby petitioner Henley sued Philip Morris for damages on the basis of the latter agent's misrepresentation to her that she should shift to Marlboro Lights in order to escape or diminish the risks of smoking, is one potent example of express warranty. The court ruled that the petitioner's carcinoma of the lungs was caused by her chain-smoking of Marlboro Lights and that such was induced by the (mis)representation of Philip Morris'agent that such is not only safe but desirable (Henley v Philip Morris). Another example is when the product contains these words in the label "This product is guaranteed free from defect". Implied warranty, on the other hand, doesn't involve any explicit promise rather the warranty is imposed on the seller by operation of law. The basis for such is the circumstances of the sale. Thus in each contract of sale, oral or written, it is implied or inferred that the

Tort Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tort Law - Assignment Example It is also likely that the question of transferred malice might arise in Stella’s case since the assault was initially aimed at the doctor and inadvertently struck Stella. The issue of consent also arises as it appears the Mick did not consent to the doctor’s treatment and whether or not the absence of consent will render the doctor’s medical treatment a battery. Each of these issues are discussed in detail below. Assault arises out of conduct that puts the victim in fear of immediate or instant harm or force to his person (Rogers 2002). In order to substantiate a claim of assault it is not necessary to prove that actual physical contact was made. Similarly, intention to cause harm is not a necessary element of the tort of assault. All that is necessary is a reasonable apprehension of harm is sufficient to substantiate the tort of trespass to the person on a claim of assault. Whether or not the victim is afraid or capable of truncating or thwarting an assault is immaterial. This is because the test is an objective test and largely depend on what a reasonable man would reasonably perceive (Stephens v Myers (1830) 4 C & P 349 ). In Stephens v Myers (1830) a man was asked to leave a meeting and in response he launched toward the chairman but was quickly interrupted by the warden, preventing any contact. Even so, the court found that the conduct amounted to the tort of assault and ruled that: Be that as it may, not every threatening gesture will amount to an assault. In Thomas v Num [1986] Ch 20, picketing protesters made threats of violence in circumstances where police were able to hold them back. It was held that no assault was made because in the circumstances the defendants were not in a position to carry out their threats regardless of how determined they may have seemed (Thomas v Num [1986] ). Applying the reasoning in Thomas and Stephens, it is entirely unlikely that Mick would be successful in a

Critical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Critical Analysis - Essay Example Today, many view the US presidency as a form of monarch due to numerous unbalanced and unchecked powers exercised by the president. The US constitution provides qualifications that should be met by persons intending to vie for the presidency and the vice presidency. One fascinating thing about the qualifications is that anyone, who has been a US citizen for a minimum of 14 years and is above 35 years of age, is qualified to vie for the presidency. This provision gives legal immigrants a chance to exercise their constitution rights, and everyone can agree that this provision enabled the current US president to be an eligible presidential candidate among other attributes. The issue of the vice president having similar qualifications to those of the president is truly okay. This is because the vice president takes over incase the president is kicked out of office for reasons provided in the constitution. Therefore, government operations continue as usual (John et al 2-56). On the other hand, sitting presidents have the power to appoint a vice president in case the current vice president is out office. The process is carried out in a democratic way since the appointed vice president goes through a vetting process by the Senate. The move to seek the Senate opinion is a sign of limited presidential powers in the nomination of vice presidents. The US constitution allows incumbents to hold power for two terms. In any democratic State, such provisions give more citizens a chance to lead government than when an incumbent remains in office until his death (John et al 2-56). People may argue that a sitting president may detach from State affairs in the last term of presidency. This is contrary to what has been seen from the history of the US presidency, whereby persons who have been in the white house have held the States’ interests at heart until their last minute in office. In many states, persons in the vice president’s office usually take

PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology - Assignment Example The humanistic theories are also discussed in the chapter (Ellen et al.: slides 16-18), and these theories are presented as more humanistic than Freud’s theories. In this case, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is outlined. The chapter analysis that under these theories, although parents set up conditions for their children, there is a person centered therapy where people are taught to live by their own values. Moreover, the chapter discusses trait theories (Ellen et al.: slides 19-23) and the way they explain personality and differences among people with regard to personal characteristics that consider situations. It explores some ideas proposed by early trait theorists. The chapter concludes the topic by listing five factors that were considered by trait theorists as most significant in personality. The chapter also discusses cognitive theories (Ellen et al.: slides 24-27) where the situation trait debate is analyzed. The components of Bandura’s reciprocal determinism model are discussed, in addition to the locus of control and what it contributes to personality. Lastly (slides 28-38), the nature, nurture and personality are discussed and the way personality differs across culture. The chapter concludes by discussing personality assessment methods, the rating scales and tests. In this light, chapter eleven highlights the projection of the result’s insight to personality. Chapter twelve discusses psychological disorders including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychological disorders. The chapter starts by defining psychological disorder (Ellen et al.: slide 2-8) as mental processes or behavioral pattern that leads to emotional distress and finally impairs the mental functioning of an individual. The criteria to be used to determine abnormal behavior are discussed with the inclusion of DSM-IV-TR, which is used by clinicians. The ways of preventing psychological disorders and the theoretical approaches used to explain

Business Analysis Tools Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10500 words

Business Analysis Tools - Dissertation Example It involves integration, summarization, and abstraction as well as ratios, trends, and allocations.† It entails extrapolating useful data from huge knowledge repositories that deal with trends, allocations, ratios, integration, summarization, and abstractions. It involves comparing and resolving generalizations based on information to model-based suppositions. Business Intelligence deals with innovative thinking that data enhances and the measurement of the innovative notions that the organization initiates. It pertains to using data well, knowing how to measure it, and extracting information from its models. Business intelligence operates as a continuous pool of data analysis and decision-making enhancement. Its framework comprises conflict resolution, access models, data collection, dimensional structuring, model verification, predictive models, data synthesis, access processes, knowledge sharing, intuitive representations, prescriptions, resource strategies, decision impleme ntation, and scenario analysis (Rao, 2000, p. 517). Rajteric (2010) cites the definition of Howard Dresner, who described it as â€Å"concepts and methodologies for improvement of business decisions using facts and information from supporting systems.† (p. 47). The author cites those definitions of Azvine and Wells, which stress the ability of organizations to attain business objectives and effectiveness: â€Å"Business Intelligence is all about capturing, accessing, understanding, analyzing and converting one of the fundamental and most precious assets of the company, represented by the raw data, into active information in order to improve business† (p. 47); Wells’ meaning of â€Å"Business Intelligence is the capability of the organization or company to explain,... In reviewing the literature, many definitions of Business Intelligence exist. Rao offers an excellent definition of Business Intelligence: â€Å"Business Intelligence (BI) is about synthesizing useful knowledge from large datasets. It involves integration, summarization, and abstraction as well as ratios, trends, and allocations.† It entails extrapolating useful data from huge knowledge repositories that deal with trends, allocations, ratios, integration, summarization. It involves comparing and resolving generalizations based on information to model-based suppositions. Business Intelligence deals with innovative thinking that data enhances and the measurement of the innovative notions that the organization initiates. It pertains to using data well, knowing how to measure it, and extracting information from its models. Business intelligence operates as a continuous pool of data analysis and decision-making enhancement. Its framework comprises conflict resolution, access models , data collection, dimensional structuring, model verification, predictive models, data synthesis, access processes, knowledge sharing, intuitive representations, prescriptions, resource strategies, decision implementation, and scenario analysis.In other literature review, Sell et al (2011) define Business Intelligence (BI) as the incorporation of a pattern of tools to sustain the conversion of data into information in enhancing decision making. In addition, organizations utilize BI to study data for their needs.

Instructional Objectives Essay Example for Free

Instructional Objectives Essay Instructional objectives may also be called performance objectives, behavioural objectives, or simply objectives. All of these terms are used interchangeably. Objectives are specific, outcome based, measurable, and describe the learners behaviour after instruction. Instructional objectives serve as goals that teachers have set in the achievement of a greater goal. They also tell students what is expected of them. Instructional objectives make definite the direction in which teaching leads and become the focus of instruction, not only for the teachers, but also for the students. Without instructional objectives teaching is comparable to a fallen leaf whose destination is dependent on the will of the wind. Without instructional objectives, teachers will have nothing to follow in order to achieve what it should achieve. A well-written objective should meet the following criteria; describe a learning outcome, be student oriented, be observable or describe an observable product. A well-written objective should describe a learning outcome. It should not describe a learning activity. Learning activities are important in planning and guiding instruction but they are not to be confused with instructional objectives. A student-oriented objective focuses on the learner, not on the teacher. It describes what the learner will be expected to be able to do. It should not describe a teacher activity. It may be helpful to both the teacher and the student to know what the teacher is going to do but teacher activities are also not to be confused with instructional objectives. If an instructional objective is not observable, it leads to unclear expectations and it will be difficult to determine whether or not it had been reached. The key to writing observable objectives is to use verbs that are observable and lead to a well defined product of the action implied by that verb. Verbs such as to know, to understand, to enjoy, to appreciate, to realize, and to value are vague and not observable. Verbs such as to identify, to list, to select, to compute, to predict, and to analyze are explicit and describe observable actions or actions that lead to observable products. For an instruction to be useful, an objective must not only be well written but it also must meet the following criteria: be sequentially appropriate, be attainable within a reasonable amount of time, be developmentally appropriate. For an objective to be sequentially appropriate it must occur in an appropriate place in the instructional sequence. All prerequisite objectives must already have been attained. Nothing thwarts the learning process more than having learners trying to accomplish an objective before they have learned the necessary prerequisites. This is why continuous assessment of student progress is so important. A useful objective is attainable within a reasonable time. If an instructional objective takes students an inordinately long time to accomplish, it is either sequentially inappropriate or it is too broad, relying on the accomplishment of several outcomes or skills rather than a single outcome or skill. An objective should set expectations for a single learning outcome and not a cluster of them. Instructional objectives are often classified according to the kind or level of learning that is required in order to reach them. There are numerous taxonomies of instructional objectives; the most common taxonomy was developed by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues. The first level of the taxonomy divides objectives into three categories: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Simply put, cognitive objectives focus on the mind; affective objectives focus on emotions or affect; and psychomotor objectives focus on the body. Cognitive objectives call for outcomes of mental activity such as memorizing, reading, problem solving, analyzing, synthesizing, and drawing conclusions. Bloom and others further categorize cognitive objectives into various levels from the simplest cognitive tasks to the most complex cognitive task. These categories can be helpful when trying to order objectives so they are sequentially appropriate. This helps to insure that prerequisite outcomes are accomplished first. Affective objectives focus on emotions. Whenever a person seeks to learn to react in an appropriate way emotionally, there is some thinking going on. What distinguishes affective objectives from cognitive objectives is the fact that the goal of affective objectives is some kind of affective behavior or the product of an affect (e. g. , an attitude). The goal of cognitive objectives, on the other hand, is some kind of cognitive response or the product of a cognitive response (e. g. , a problem solved). Psychomotor objectives focus on the body and the goal of these objectives is the control or manipulation of the muscular skeletal system or some part of it (e. g. , dancing, writing, tumbling, passing a ball, and drawing). All skills requiring fine or gross motor coordination fall into the psychomotor category. To learn a motor skill requires some cognition. However, the ultimate goal is not the cognitive aspects of the skill such as memorizing the steps to take. The ultimate goal is the control of muscles or muscle groups. The following are the importance of instructional objectives in teaching I. C. T Firstly, Instructional objectives are of immense significance in today’s education process. They provide organizers of the process with the opportunity to delve into learners mind and know where they are heading. Instructional objectives provide teachers the opportunity to design proper assessment procedure through tests and evaluation. Students know what they are supposed to do, use before or after a particular class. Instructional objectives also help trace the amount of change that has been brought about in a student. It gives a definite direction to the whole teaching-learning and evaluation process of a particular class in classroom situations. It also helps both the teacher as well as students in determining particular educational goals and enables them to focus their attention on specific learning activities to achieve those goals. Through instructional objectives – the organizers of educational process can determine the resources, course materials, curricular and co-curricular activities, relevant contents and references etc. which are so vital to make the process functional. Instructional objectives also lead the teacher into discovering the best learning situations, strength and weaknesses of the prevalent learning process, level of growth and development of learners through a pre-determined evaluation process. In short, instructional objectives help in monitoring and evaluating the whole educational process in minute details.

Development of Electronic Media in the Mauritius

Development of Electronic Media in the Mauritius CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1.0 Chapter Overview This opening chapter introduces the study by examining the background and historical perspective of the development of the Electronic media use worldwide and in Mauritius. The emergence of the phenomenon of electronic media addiction is introduced, and then brought into focus as it is beginning to affect electronic media users around the world, including Mauritius. Next, the aims and objectives of study and the research questions are identified. The chapter concludes with the research questions and the scope of the study. 1.1 Background of the study According to Huesmann (2007) electronic media has become a common fashion today, especially among college students. One of the most remarkable changes in our society in the 20th century and 21st centuries has been the saturation of our culture and day-to-day lives by the electronic media. In this new generation radio, television, movies, videos games, video, cell phones, and computer networks have took on principal roles in our children’s daily lives. Electronic media improve the general knowledge by giving us with information all around the world. News transmit through different electronic media make it easier for us know about the day-to-day events in the world. News, tele ­films and documentaries revolving around social issues improve a social perception in teenagers and increase their concern towards societal environment. Electronic media also contribute to the enhancement of our language, knowledge and vocabulary. It is now a general truth that T.V and other means of electronic media is a strong source of not only giving information but also teach and satisfy the masses. Jennifer (2008) and Azeez et al. (2014) have found that research has proven that television has had either positive or negative impacts. Electronic media can be described as those communication which is based on technology or electromechanical means of production and most often differentiated from print media Berkowitz and Rawlings (1963), Azeez et al (2014). The main electronic sources used by public normally comprise television, radio, sound recordings, video recordings and internet. It can be found that there are four basic functions of electronic media which generally include to inform, satisfy, teach and most important to influence public opinion (students). They also stated that the 20th century is heavily influenced by communication technology. Motion pictures arrived on scene in the first decade of this century. The radio broadcast began in 1920s while TV entered in the world in 1940s, followed by cable television in 1950s, and satellite television in 1970s. Lastly the personal computer gave access to internet in 1980s. It transformed the interconnected computer networks through World Wide Web by 1990s. Many benefits are connected with electronic media use, such access to needed information, international access to news and events, and interpersonal communication through email. But, along with the phenomenal expansion of the electronic media, there has been increasing concern internationally about the dangers related with electronic media over-use and becoming addicted to it (Buchholz, 2009; Daily News, 2008, 2009; Fackler, 2008; Janta, 2008; Khaosod, 2007; The Associated Press, 2009; Wanajak, 2011). A possible risk of using these new forms of media technology is also beginning to appear. Majority students are becoming too addicted to it and is having an impact on their academic performance, cyberbullying, sexting, becoming aggressive, becoming victims of aggression, insufficient sleep and poor sleep quality among students, and health problem such as affecting overall diet quality. Specially, increasing numbers of adolescents are becoming victims of aggression committed by peers wit h this new technology as cited in David-Ferdon and Hertz (2007). Examples comprise adolescents creating Web sites or sending e-mail or text messages that are meant to humiliate or harass a peer and/or to threaten physical harm called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can be defined as bullying that occurs using electronic technology which contains devices and items such as mobile phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication instruments containing social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites. Examples of cyberbullying contain emails or mean text messages, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and humiliating pictures, clips, internet sites, or imposter accounts. Moreover, according Mr Ismael Bawamea an â€Å"enqueteur du bureau† at the Ombudsperson for Children Office in Mauritius, these offenders usually use SMS, e-mail, chat rooms and Facebook and social networking sites to spread their message. â€Å"Parents think they are observing thei r children effectively online, but according to an ICSF study, which is carried out in Mauritius, it has been found that less than 10% of parents monitored the websites,† says Mr Ismael Bawamea. â€Å"Without the necessary measure to ensure child protection online, children in Mauritius face massive dangers†, he indicated (Defi News, 2011). Researcher has collected over the past half century that exposure to violence on television, movies, and, most recently, in video games grows the risk of deviant behavior. According to the researchers, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); a latest study demonstrates that the average 8-10 year old child spends approximately eight hours a day using different forms of electronic technologies, and older children and teens spend more than 11 hours per day. Children and teenagers who have a Television in their bedroom spend more time with electronic media. Corresponding, the current amount of users for mobile phones, text messaging, e-mai l, and chat rooms by our teenagers have opened new venues for social interaction in which aggression can happen and adolescents can be victimized (Huesmann, 2007). Hence, Mauritian students are also facing many of the phenomenal problems due to electronic media. With the coming technology, everyone have a laptop and a Smartphone and with the everyday life, both parents work nowadays and adolescent do not have enough time to speak with their parents. After school, the teenagers go to their rooms, and start surfing, watching television for long hours or even listening to music through their mobiles, on their laptops, on radio. Moreover, they even eat in their rooms and keep sitting in front of their screen. The weird thing is that, they will prefer to talk to a stranger through social media rather than going out and talk with their friends. According to recent ICT indicators for Mauritius, a speedily increasing number of families and teenagers are using the Internet; the number of Internet subscribers at the end of 2010 was 284,200 and the number of mobile cellular subscribers was 1,190,900 in 2010 (Defi News, 2011). Henceforward, as stated in Al exa’s Statistics, Facebook can be seen as the number one site visited by Mauritian citizens as shown in the table below. Indeed, there were 159,480 Mauritians on Facebook as at 13th January 2010 as reported by the advertisement programme available on the network. Social Networking Site OR Social Networking Service (SNS) Ranking Facebook 1st YouTube 5th Tagged 24th Twitter 39th Badoo 42nd Hi5 51st Photobucket 54th Flickr 64th LinkedIn 68th MySpace 85th Table 1: Alexa’s Ranking of SNS visited by Mauritians in top 100 sites1 1.2 Problem statements A conversion in telecommunications has greatly changed communication by providing new media in order to have access to long distance communication in the last years. The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast took place in 1906 and led the way to usual transmission via analogue and digital media. The new communication media now permit for long distance exchanges between higher numbers of populations. Electronic media is appreciating a wide use every day with a rise in technology devices being created. Technology has become a time wasting act that distracts youth from communicating personally with mates and family through face to face communication. Electronic media now comes in the forms laptops, tablets, desktops, mobile phones (containing new applications such as WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, WeChat and many more), mp3/mp4 players, video games, movies, radios, and television. Electronic has displayed to record highs within the last era, thus altering the dynamic of comm unication. Electronic media, as it is known in different globe, has altered with time. Teenagers and technology appear to have a good relationship for each other. Both are young, proceeding rapidly, and ever altering. During the last 20 years there has been a sudden increase in new technology (David-Ferdon and Hertz, 2011). In the older generations teens readily accepted new technologies for example TVs, record and cassette players, computers, and VCRs, but the new generations have observed a virtual rapid increase in new technology, including mobile phones, iPads, iPods, Mp3/mp4 players, and personal digital assistants. This new technology has been eagerly accepted by adolescents and has caused to an expanded vocabulary, which contain instant messaging (â€Å"IMing†), blogging, and text messaging. Modern technology has many social and educational benefits. In an article (Anon 2010) was stated that with the emergence of internet as the global media, education has progressed to a large extent. Nowadays it is found that distance education programs are carried out through online media which has proved to be quite an advantage to people who seldom have the chance to have interactive classes. There are many television programs that impart knowledge on different facets of education comprising language, science, mathematics and so forth. Electronic media has facilitated in encouraging students to deal effectively with the present educational system. It has changed their view towards education. With the introduction of electronic media, education has got a new meaning. Problems arise when certain students do not use electronic media in a certain way that will have a positive effect on them, thus they become addicted to it. It is noticed that students give more attention to electronic media than they do to their studies (Ndaku, 2013). Teenagers try to follow new fashions, culture and style which is being presented in different programs and advertisements on television, on radio, through their smartphones, laptops, tablets, internet or posters on social networking sites. Teachers have showed concern about the risks students can be exposed to through these electronic devices. To respond to this concern, some countries and schools have, for example established new strategies about the use of mobile phones on school grounds and created strategies to block the use of certain websites on school computers. For example, in Florida, South Carolina, Utah, and Oregon are developing new strategies to cope with cyberbullying. Teachers have decided to take action individually by randomly inspecting websites used by teenagers, such as MySpace. This small activity emphasizes on the phenomena of electronic aggression: any type of aggression which carried out through technology, any sort of harassment or bullying (lying, making fun of people, making rude or mean comments, gossips, or making threatening or hostile comments) that happens through email, a chat room, instant messaging, a website, or even text messaging. Teachers, custodians, and other people who work wit h youngsters know that children and adolescents spend most of their time on electronic media such as blogs, instant messaging, chat rooms, email, text messaging rather that studying. What is not known is exactly how and how frequent they use different kinds of electronic? Could the use of electronic technology expand the likelihood that a teen is the victim of an attack? (David-Ferdon 2010). Electronic media is having a negative impact on the academic performance of students, cyberbullying, becoming aggressive, becoming victims of aggression, insufficient sleep and poor sleep quality among students, and health problem such as affecting overall diet quality. For example, too much addicted to violent video games or listening and watching too much of metallic, hard rock and rock music are affecting the brain and pushing the students in violent behavior. Attention is growing about the danger of teenagers to become victims of aggression carried out by peers with electronic media (David-Ferdon et al, 2007). Cyber-bullying is a global phenomenon which can include people from different countries. It can be defined as simple as continuing to leave a text through means of technology to someone who does not want further contact with the sender. Moreover, cyber-bullying happens when adolescents are tortured, bullied, harassed, humiliated, or in a different way which is targeted by a nother adolescent using the Internet, interactive and electronic means or mobile phones (Defi news, 2011). During recent decades, research examined the sleep patterns and habits of adolescents has become growingly more widespread. More precisely, lack of sleep and poor quality have been associated with impairments in declarative, procedural and working memory performance, as well as poor concentration on studies leading into poor academic performance at schools (Cain and Gradisar, 2010). Therefore, to conclude, that is the reason why I am conducting this research study. This research study aims at demonstrating the impact of electronic media on the secondary school students. 1.3 Aims and Objectives of study They are: To analyse the impact of electronic media on students’ social life. To find out how often the students use electronic media. To evaluate the attitude of students towards electronic media and measure the spending time on it. To determine how the use of electronic media has affected the academic performance of students. 1.4 Research Questions What are the impact of electronic media on students’ social life? How often do the students use electronic media? How are the attitude of students towards electronic media and the time spending on it? How has the use of electronic media affected the academic performance of the students? 1.5 Scope of study The essence of this research is to primarily study the impact of electronic media on secondary school students. The research intends to focus on students in Mauritius for easy analysis of data. 1.6 Flow of report Following this introduction are the chapters that address the relevant literature used to develop the theme the impact of electronic media on secondary school students, the research methods used in the work, the results data analysis, discussion, the conclusion and recommendation. Each chapter is briefly introduced below. Literature Review In chapter 2, the literature is reviewed in different areas. First, the impact of electronic media around the world. Research Methods (Methodology) In chapter 3, the methodology and research design are explained. The research sample and date collection methods are described. Results data analysis In chapter 4, the results and data analysis are explained according to the data collected, from the questionnaire survey. Results are compared. Discussion In chapter 5, the discussion will be made from the results obtained. Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter 6, concludes the research work and incorporates the recommendations In the next chapter we shall proceed with a review of the literature.

University Peer Selection and Influences of Social Support

University Peer Selection and Influences of Social Support Phase 1 – Peer selection and influence of perceived social support of university students: do connections matter? Background Perceived social support has been shown to be an important predictor of psychological disturbance where individuals are exposed to distressing stimuli such as earthquakes (Xu et al, 2013) and war (Besser Neira, 2012). Additionally, perceived social support has also been shown to an important predictor in school environments for academic achievement (Song et al, 2014), and other problematic behaviour indicators such as low self-esteem, adaptive skills and teacher reported social skills (Demaray Maleki, 2002) which are linked to educational advancement. Other studies have observed the origins of perceived social support for particular populations being an important factor. Chavajay (2013) found that international students felt great levels of social support came from fellow international students, and Zagenczyk et al (2010) found perceived organisational support (POS) of employees would be more like the nearest person they found to be influential. perceived social support is complex in nature, its links with human growth and prevention of psychological disturbance, but also how and where the sense of perceived social support transcends to and from can depend on the similarities of the people around them. Social network analysis considers the human in relation to others within the network, and it is shows the nature of their relationships that give rise to social phenomena found within the analysis of networks. This could be via structural effects such as reciprocity, centrality in the network and popularity, or it could be actor driven such as the tendency to behave in a certain manner, such as the case for friendships being linked to smoking behaviour (Mercken et al. 2012) or it could be levels of psychological phenomena (which are also characterised as behaviour) (Snjiders et al, 2010), or more commonly aspects of the self such as cultural indicators such as nationality, gender, race, sexuality and so on. Psychological research could develop into a new branch of social network analysis, the longitudinal actor-driven stochastic models (actor-driven stochastic model) as developed by Snijders et al. (2010) which can be used to validate social network phenomena variance with psychologi cal phenomena, such as perceived social support, by observing it longitudinally and use that information to model expectations on actor and network development while utilising Markov chain process to model the networks evolving structure. Rationale The rationale for exploring perceived social support with actor-driven stochastic model metholology can be found via a synthesis of some recent research in perceived social support. Besser Neira (2010), made inferences based on means that can no understand the individual in relation to their situation within a network. They discounted medium effect size change of attachment style across the length of their study, perhaps as a result of an inability to look at socialising factors, such as covariates of reciprocity and the tendencyofhomophily between dyads. When consideringZagenczyk et al. (2010) in conjunction with Besser Neira, they show that peer influence on perceived support options in an environment might be important, and therefore it is plausible to hypothesise that similar phenomena could change attachment style behaviours that Besser Neira observed. Zagenczyk and colleagues work was cross-sectional and used social network measures in a 2 step multivariate analysis, and the refore is unable to infer causality (a common criticism of social network analysis (Borgatti and colleagues)), although it shows that social network phenomena correlated with beliefs it does not show how these beliefs became over the life-cycle. When considering the origins of perceived social support within the university context Chavajay (2013) focused his attention on international students, in essence he focused his attention on a population with situational similarities and found that higher levels of perceived social support were reciprocated between these similar groups. Chavajay suggested that this may have been a result from a greater need to experience social support when entering a new culture, and this collective need amongst international students engenders greater levels of the perceived social support phenomena, but these inferences are subjective and have not been clarified with a qualitative investigation. Chavajays research describes the tendency for homophily wher e by similar populations naturally evolve denser and become more homogenous networks (Steglich et al. 2010) while Zagenczyk and colleagues research suggests structural factors such as centrality (as inferred by the importance advice ties which have a strong relationship with friendship ties and ties of structural equivalence) of certain individuals within proximate networks in organisations is indicative POS as POS emanate from advice ties of structural equivalence. If perceived social support or POS can be related to self-ordering phenomena as well as hierarchical network effects then research into this field can describe behavioural change via two distinct psycho-social roots. Psychology can utilise the actor-driven stochastic model to discover the relationships of perceived social support within categorical groups as well as through common mechanisms of friendship formation lime, reciprocity, homophily and transitive closure, i.e. researchers can combine agency and structure while modelling behaviour (perceived social support). The psychologist can analyse multiple data sets and generate a wide variety or multivariate and bivariate statistics, and to a degree infer time sequentiality when seeking causality. Research can combine active theory development through generating and comparing findings, and then control for alternative explanations while assessing uncertainties in inference Snijders et al. (2010). However, the model is assumption-intensive – the actor-driven stochastic model uses two functions to predict network evolution via microsteps. Firstly, rate function which depends on observation period, actor cocariates and network position, which combine to consider the speed and opportunity for change within the network, and secondly, the objective function which evaluates the actor decision to change a tie based on short-term goals following preferences, opportunities and constraints. These functions require network and behaviour parameter estimates to be used in order for the model to estimate network evolution, therefore good data and awareness of group context is important when carefully developing theory (Steglich et al. 2010). Investigations of human psychology, can benefit from interpersonal methodology such as the actor-driven stochastic model as the individual can be noticed within the context of their immediate relationships. Although, limitations to the model include traditional problems associated with effects that are distil in nature (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) – it can not explain the disappearance of a tie as a result of exo-system decisions in the wider environment, however as is traditional in the empirical method mechanisms are in place to resolve sample problems. However, since the researcher requires high levels of contextual understanding when using actor-driven stochastic model to understand phenomena, descriptive phenomenological investigation would be welcomed to help identify spurious relationships in quantitative data. In cases such as small pilot studies, when sample sizes are inadequate and where the aim is the learning of a new methodology Trafimow (2014) may argue that this links with the goals of qualitative inquiry. A researcher considering human intelligence of an alien culture is less likely to make valid measurements of intelligence if he basis them on personal experience. So when embarking on an exploratory phase of a research project Trafimow (2014) recommends using qualitative methods to find out the variables that matter and then to use empirical methods to quantify how much they matter. Another point to consider before implementing actor-driven stochastic model is its complexity. Not only must the researcher understand its core concepts and assumptions of the stochastic social network analysis, they also have to aquire the skills and knowledge to produce social-network panel data that fits the stochastic model. Additionally, the researcher must then be able to navigate and use RSiena, the program which runs inferential statistics and generates predicted network models in accordance with the statistics related to the actor-driven stochastic model (Snijders et al, 2010). With the level of complexity within such a psychological methodology, correctly measuring and validating perceived social support within the group context while correctly estimating parameters for ongoing theory development and model validation requires a 2 phase approach. Aims Phase 1 (MSc) To understand contemporary issues surrounding perceived social support Understand the ways social networks are analysed Understand perceived social support within the group context Develop valid panel data gathering forms for pilot study To understand practical psychological applications of actor-driven stochastic model To understand the relationship of peer selection and perceived social support Objectives Systematic Review of Literature: perceived social support perceived social support Measures Social Network Analysis actor-driven stochastic model Design Focus Group with Open Ended Questions on perceived social support Survey Focus Group on how they understand perceived social support Analyse and Evaluate Findings From Focus Group Compare Focus Group Findings with validated perceived social support questionnaires Build Panel Data Gathering Form Conduct Pilot Study using actor-driven stochastic model using RSiena Method This study is exploratory in nature and will be divided up into two parts. The first part will be qualitative and the second quantitative. Part 1: Participants For an exploratory qualitative exercise 8 – 15 will suffice to inform the evaluation of perceived social support. The group will be taken from a selected population university students that take part in a society and see each other on a regular basis. Prodecure Participants will be informed that they their information will be kept in strict confidentiality and that the session will be recorded for analysis. Participants will then be asked to complete a consent form before the focus group will begin. Focus group with open-ended questions The focus group will be structured around open-ended questions regarding the nature of perceived social support and how they understand it. An example could be â€Å"I wonder what comes to mind when you consider the support around you?† this would illicit the participants perceptions toward support and what kind of resources they see as available. Analysis This information will then be analysed using a content analysis method proposed by Berg (2007) and then used to validate existing self-report questionnaires such as Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, Farley, 1988) or the The 18-item Index of Sojourner Social Support Scale (Ong Ward, 2005), both of which were used on populations of university students. The validated survey questions will then be used as part of the panel data gathering form used in the quantitative analysis. Part 2: Participants The specification for the participants is that they will be in a reasonably dense network structure and therefore see each other on a regular basis and reciprocate within the group. Although the minimum amount of participants for the method for reliable results is n > 25 (Snijders et al, 2010) 8 – 15 participants will suffice to form the basis of a RSiena pilot study. Prodecure Participants will be informed that they their information will be kept in strict confidentiality and that the session will be recorded for analysis. Participants will then be asked to complete a consent form before the focus group will begin. Measures For the study to produce meaningful parameter estimates for modelling the data will be captured in 3 waves of fortnightly assessments. The participants will complete a self-report questionnaires providing panel data Friendship network. Students will be asked to identify up to 5 close friends within the group. Only friendships in which nominations are shown to reciprocate will be retained for analysis. Homophily. Students will be asked four indicators of homophily on socio-demographic characteristics: gender, race, university year and age. Perceived Social Support. Students will be asked a chosen number of indicators which reflect their perceived social support and make up a scale where internal consistency will be tested. The scores will then be divided up into meaningful ranges where by the participants can be catergorised. Analysis The analysis of the data will be consistent with the longigtudinal actor-based stochastic method as described by Snijders et al (2010). The analyses will be implemented with the Simulation Investigation for Empirical Network Analysis software program (Snijders et al. 2007). All changes in friendship ties and perceived social support scores observed between the final 2 measurements are modelled as the most probabilistic sequence of events that explain the total amount of observed changes. In this scenario there are two dependent variables, one describes perceived social support and one describes changes in friendship ties, and are modelled simultaneously with each other as dependent variables with each other. Within subjects effects can be measured with ANOVA where appropriate and parameter estimates for the actor-based model deemed to be statistically significant with a t-ratio obtained by dividing the unstandardised estimate by the standard error.  ­

The Lotos-Eaters By Tennyson Essay -- essays research papers fc

I. Introduction For many years, Tennyson has attracted readers by what Edmond Gosse called "the beauty of the atmosphere which Tennyson contrives to cast around his work, molding it in the blue mystery of twilight, in the opaline haze of sunset." He is one of the greatest representative figures of the Victorian Age. His writing incorporates many poetic styles and includes some of the finest idyllic poetry in the language. He is one of the few poets to have produced acknowledged masterpieces in so many different poetic genres; he implemented perhaps the most distinguished and versatile of all the written works in the English language. The first time I read â€Å"The Lotus-Eaters†1, I have to admit that I had a hearty dislike for it. Having read The Odyssey in Literature class last year, this seemed like its replica. It occurred to me that Tennyson was plagiarizing Homer. But when I reread the poem with greater depth, I noticed its poetic techniques, imagery, symbols, etc. It was really exceptional actually, although the meter didn’t remain uniform. But when you thoroughly understand it, you see how it pertains and is true to life. This being the first time I had ever come about a work by Tennyson. I didn’t know anything about his life. The idea that manifested me was that when writing this poem, Tennyson was depressed and cynical. Sort of like Hamlet2 in the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy. In one point in the poem, he says, â€Å"Death is the end of the world...life all labor be?† I think he meant that life is hard to live; there are so many obstacles, so many wrong turns, and you can never go back and change anything. II. Analysis of Poem A. Summary The poem is about the journey of Odysseus to the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Here they encounter a race of creatures known as the Lotophagi (lotus eaters). They[Lotophagi] spend their days in a â€Å"daze†, literally. This was the effect of the lotus flower. It was a primitive version of narcotics. The Lotophagi offered the plant to Odysseus and his crew members. Some of the clique ate it. And then, they too, experienced a state of euphoria. Under these circumstances, they start speaking of staying over here[land of Lotos Eaters], and only dream about home. They forget their wives and children; only dream about them. Subsequently, the entire crew ate the lotos plant. Tennyson describes euphor... ...days at Cambridge he often did not bother to write down his compositions. We owe the first version of "The Lotos-Eaters" to Arthur Hallam, who reproduced it from Tennyson’s tidbits of information. IV. The Poem’s Place in its Time Tennyson turned to questions of death, religious faith, and immortality in a series of short poems, of which â€Å"The Lotus-Eaters† was a part. Tennyson had a way of achieving a covenant with his â€Å"public†. He gave them what they wanted. For example, the poem Princess was won by the hearts of the millions because it supported the women’s rights, which was one of the issues just igniting at that time. His consummately crafted verse expressed the terms of the Victorian feeling for order and harmony. Unlike Dickens, who was present in Tenneson’s time and a social critic, Tennyson didn’t seem to find an ill to society. Maybe that is why he was given the title of Lord and not Dickens. V. Bibliography 1.â€Å"Lord Alfred Tennyson,† Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia ‘99, October 1999 2. The Norton Anthology of Poetry, The Lotos-Eaters, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1997, p. 540. 3. World Wide Web-http://charon.sfsu.edu/TENNYSON/tennyson.html.

Clash of Classes and Cultures in Educating Rita Essay example -- Educa

Clash of Classes and Cultures in Educating Rita To What Extent Would You Agree That Educating Rita Depicts a Clash of Classes and Cultures? 'Educating Rita' is a play by Willy Russell, a dramatist recently turned novelist. 'Educating Rita' contains only two characters, a young woman called Rita and a middle-aged man called Frank, although this may sound boring these characters are so interesting that anymore characters would ruin the ambiance of the play. In the early part of the play Rita, a hairdresser from north-west England, has started an Open University course with Frank, a university lecturer in his early fifties, in order to change herself. Throughout the play Rita becomes more and more cultured giving up anything that gets in the way of her education or tries to stop her being the cultured individual she wants to be. Rita is a working class woman in her late twenties trying to find herself through a university education; Frank is a divorced university professor in his early fifties. Bored of teaching Frank drinks his life away and has taken on Rita as an Open University student to fund this habit. These two interesting characters from very different backgrounds are thrown together and the clashes of class and culture are depicted in a number of ways. Rita's language is very colloquial and this, at times, amuses Frank; for example, 'What in the name of God is being off one's cake.' Her language is both new and puzzling to Frank as he is used to hearing the generally proper English spoken by his university students. These phrases seem out of place when issued by Frank. 'One is obviously very off one's cake,' - 'you can't say that [Frank].' Frank's sesquipedalian language does not mix with Ri... ...etween two classes and cultures. In the earlier part of the play Rita feels surrounded by an alien environment, the university and its students, she is nervous and, as a result, comes across as very loquacious. She sees this in herself when she says, 'I talk too much' in act one scene one. However, towards the end of play her speeches are generally shorter. In this new environment Rita also feels isolated but gradually changes and feels as though she can interact with the 'real students'. When she finally does this in act two, scene two it may surprise the audience because in earlier scenes she describes them as 'real students' as though her life and their lives cannot mix. But, when she finally does speak to the student, the first line she tells us she said was, 'Excuse me but I couldn't help overhearin' the rubbish you were spoutin' about Lawrence.'

Read and Respond to: Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue Essay

Amy Tan is a passionate writer of books such as â€Å"The Joy Luck Club† and other published works. Now that we have read her text read her text â€Å"Mother Tongue†, we learn new things about her as a writer. In my first response to Amy Tan’s passage I described her as a self-motivated author as I read what motivated her to write. She introduced readers to her mother, a woman who enjoys reading Forbes and listening to the Wall Street Journal talks. This gave us as readers a clue that Amy’s mother was used to reading more advanced pieces. Amy tan tells us about her mother’s English and how it sounded â€Å"broken† or as if something was â€Å"missing† every time she talked. While at the same time, her mother’s way of speaking English sounded natural and real to Amy, and I think this could be a reason she chose â€Å"Mother Tongue† as her title. While Amy described herself as a rebel by nature, she pursued her passion to become a great write for herself, and for her mother, while disproving all negative assumptions about her. A good example of this when she started writing fiction. She mentions in her article that most sentences although grammatically correct, had an in-authentic sound to her and unnatural. In other words she was probably writing something â€Å"mother wouldn’t approve†. I go back to when Amy Tan mentions that she enjoyed disproving assumptions made about her while she was starting out. She was told that her English was not good enough to be a writer and still pursued her goal and worked hard to become a great writer. She gives off a sense of pride and accomplishment when she writes that about how she knew she had succeeded as a writer when her mother finished reading her book and said to Amy, â€Å"so easy to read†. Mother Approved. As a personal opinion, I think most people are not like Amy Tan. In the sense of us sometimes not being passionate enough to truly follow what we want and work towards it regardless of what other may have to say. There are many influences out there and must learn to only pay attention to those that will help us get closer to our goal and ignore the rest. As a good friend of mine once told me; It’s not that don’t care about certain people, it’s just that at this very moment where our goals are constantly in our minds, we need to focus and let go and only stick to what will help us accomplish our goals.

Accounting Ethics Essay

1. Given the corporate ethical breaches in recent times, assess whether or not you believe that the current business and regulatory environment is more conducive to ethical behavior. Provide support for your answer. With the historical amount of fraud that has taken place over the last few decades, there had to be a stop of some sort to this type of unethical behavior. Through our class lectures, discussions, and readings, I have learned about the changes made to the business of accounting to ensure that the financial documentation occurred in an honest and professional manner. I would say that I am a believer that the current framework for accountants is working and does lead to more ethical behavior. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was a key milestone in ensuring the appropriate recording of financial information takes place. The SOX framework can ensure reliable and complete financial information due to the strict requirements set in place. Management (as a result of SOX) has to take a much more active role in their accounting and determine that all financial information is certified and correctly gathered. As a result of numerous scandals, SOX has made the penalties for fraudulent activity more severe, working to the benefit of accounting professionals since there can be dishonest influence placed upon them from the companies or corporations they work for. Additionally, the change to the image that has been placed upon accountants due to the scandals that took place has drastically improved. The act helped to build trust in both investors and managers that would otherwise be nervous that dishonest accounting would take place. See more:Â  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Certain sections of the act helped to solidify my support of the regulatory environment and the effect on the behavior in accounting. According to the American Institute of CPAs, Section 302 lays the groundwork to honest accounting, by creating a set of procedures to ensure complete and accurate financial disclosure. The internal control of periodic reports must be evaluated every 90 days, which in itself helps to keep these proceedings honest since there is a timely evaluation involved. Section 401 required the proper disclosure of all off-balance sheet items and a study from the SEC to understand these tools. Lastly, Section 404 required internal control reports from management. This helped tremendously to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, though the process of this portion of the legislation was high in effort to control. 2. Based on your research, describe the organization, the accounting ethical breach and the impact to the organization related to ethical breach. I will continue to build upon the example that I found interesting in our second week of class. The American Insurance Group scandal of 2005 was a famous insurance corporation, alleged to have $3.9 billion dollars in accounting fraud, as well as stock manipulation of their prices and bid rigging. The CEO booked loans and listed them as revenue, while leading their clientele to insurers that were in quiet dealings with AIG through payoffs. He also tipped off the traders to inflate their stock prices. 3. Determine how the organizational ethical issue was detected and how management failed to create an ethical environment. The SEC discovered the scandal through investigation, and the CEO was fired, though he did not face any criminal charges. AIG settled with the SEC for close to two billion dollars between 2003 and 2006. Outside verification of their financials would have prevented this instance from occurring.

Study Habits

Sometimes a purely quantitative matter, while having the findings of lengthy, comprehensive research published by a recognized journal is also a notable academic achievement (Ansari 1983 ). When students get admission in a university, they have no idea about studies requirement. Most of them have old patterns of seeking knowledge at the beginning, they apply the same old techniques but after some time they realize that old techniques are no more effective. Gradually they started developing mature study style. Some students, when enter the higher education institution, feel free themselves from all the worries of studies which affect their studies negatively. Even they get failed in their tests or exams and there are some other poor study habits which affect the achievement of the students. These are as follow: This is a very common mistake which is made by students, and also most unavoidable from the side of students. When students enter, especially in the universities, they think of themselves free from every duty of studies. When students leave their classes, due to this, their study habits are also affected. They get used to it and lose their positions. If they want to succeed in their life, they should be punctual in their studies, attend all lectures which the teacher delivers in the class. Hostel is a place where usually travelers and students live in a supervised environment. Mostly hostels are used by the students, who come from distant places to earn their degrees. Hostel life has a great impact on the academic achievement of the students. Some students gain knowledge in proper manner but some do not. The reason is that some students do not feel comfortable in hostels and get home sick. On the other side, those students who are day scholars, they also have some problems. Some have home conflicts and other factors which influence their academic achievements. Because of these problems, they can never be able to achieve good results in their academics. Sometimes students those are living in hostels face many difficulties due to economic hardships or home sickness but still work hard and achieve good grade and sometime they deviate due to lack of proper supervision and guidance so in the case of day scholars. Present study is design to explore this mystery that whether day scholar’s students have good study habits and higher academic achievement or hostel living students have more effective study habits and higher academic achievements Statement of the Problem The problem under investigation was to explore the relationship between study habits

Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh Essay

Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 1. Introduction : BANGLADESH IS QUITE RICH IN ETHNIC CULTURE. THERE ARE ABOUT THIRTY-FIVE ETHNIC COMMUNITIES LIVING IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. THE MAJOR ETHNIC COMMUNITIES ARE CHAKMA, MURMA, GARO, SANTAL, HAJONG, TIPRA, KHASI, MURANG, SHENDHU, PANKO ETC. THEY STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN THEIR LIFE STYLE, CULTURE AND PROTECT DISTINCT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS FROM THE INFLUENCE OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE AND RELIGIONS. IN THE NORTH AND NORTHWESTERN BELT OF BANGLADESH A NUMBER OF ETHNIC COMMUNITIES LIVE WHO STILL HAVE TO STRUGGLE HARD TO SUSTAIN THEIR ORIGINAL CULTURE AND TRADITIONAL HERITAGE. THE ADIVASIS IN THIS REGION COMPRISES OF SEVERAL GROUPS SANTAL, ORAON, MUNDA, MAHALI, MAHATO, MALPAHARA ETC. AMONG THE ETHNIC PEOPLE IN THE NORTH AND NORTHWESTERN BELT OF BANGLADESH SANTALS ARE LARGEST IN NUMBER. BUT THERE IS NO ACCURATE AND RELIABLE STATISTICS REGARDING THEIR ACTUAL POPULATION. THERE IS ALSO A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL FIGURES AND ESTIMATES. ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT CENSUS OF 1991, THE ADIVASI POPULATION WAS ESTIMATED 3,14,337 IN 16 ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT OF THE RAJSHAHI DIVISION. BUT AS CLAIMED BY AN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY LEADER, BADLA ORAON OF DINAJPUR ADIVASI ACADEMY, THE NUMBER OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN RAJSHAI DIVISION WAS 3,222,000 WAY BACK IN 1984. A SURVEY REPORT REVEALS THAT THE TOTAL POPULATION OF SANTAL IS 143932 IN DINAJPUR, RAJSHAHI, BOGRA, PABNA AND SOME OTHER AREAS OF BANGLADESH. ACCORDING TO THE OTHER SOURCES, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SANTALS ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN ESTIMATED. MOST OF THE SCHOLARS ALSO QUESTIONED THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE NUMERICAL DATA. IN THEIR OPINION, THE CENSUS TAKES LANGUAGE AS THE BASIS FOR IDENTIFYING ANY PERSON AS BENGALI OR INDIGENOUS. THEY HAVE ALSO ALLEGED THAT THE EXISTING POLICY IS TO SHOW THE NUMBER LOWER THAN THE ACTUAL NUMBER. 2 | P a g e. Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 2. Historical Background of the Santals SINCE HOW LONG THE SANTALS LANDED IN THE TERRITORY OF PRESENT BANGLADESH, IS NOT PRECISELY KNOWN. SOME BELIEVE THAT THE KHERWARS REACHED THE LAND OF BENGAL IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE FIRST CLASHES WITH THE INVADING ARYAN TRIBES (2500 B. C. ). WITH EVERY PROBABILITY THE SANTALS LANDED IN BANGLADESH WITH THEIR ACTUAL ETHNIC IDENTITY, NOT AFTER 1000 B. C. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THE SANTALS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT BENGAL AT THE TIME OF THE MUSLIM INVASION OF THIS REGION DURING THE LAST DECADES OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY OR AT THE BEGINNING OF THIRTEENTH CENTURY. IN THE WORDS OF FR. LUIZI PUSSETTO: â€Å"THE SANTALS RETIRED PROGRESSIVELY TOWARD MORE CALM REGIONS OR WHERE IT WAS MORE EASY TO DEFEND [THEMSELVES] FROM THE INVADERS†¦ † IN LATER TIMES, WITH THE HISTORIC SANTAL REVOLUTION IN 1855 UNDER THE BRITISH COLONIAL RULE IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, WHEN 30,000 THOUSAND SANTALS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN KILLED, IT IS BEYOND ANY DOUBT THAT MANY OF THE SANTALS WERE DISPERSED INTO DISTANT LANDS AND GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED TERRITORIES. MANY OF THEM EVEN CROSSED THE RIVER GANGES AND END UP IN THE EAST, THE PART OF PRESENT BANGLADESH. MANY THINK THAT THE EARLY SANTALS CAME TO NORTH BENGAL IN SEARCH FOR JOB OPPORTUNITIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE RAILWAY TRACKS WERE UNDER CONSTRUCTION during the British rule in the second half of the 19th century. This may be one of THE REASONS THAT MOST SANTALS IN BANGLADESH ARE FOUND SETTLING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RAILWAY LINES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. 2. 1 THE NAME â€Å"SANTAL†: REGARDING THE NAME SANTAL, OPINIONS DIFFER AMONG THE SCHOLARS. FOR SKREFSRUD, THE NAME SANTAL IS A CORRUPTION OF SAONTAR, AND WAS ADOPTED BY THE TRIBE AFTER THEIR SOJOURN FOR SEVERAL GENERATIONS IN THE COUNTRY AROUND SAONT IN MIDNAPUR. W. B. OLDHAM OPINED THAT SANTAL IS AN ABBREVIATION OF SAMANTAWALA, WHICH HAS ITS ETYMOLOGY FROM SANSKRIT SAMANTA, ANOTHER NAME GIVEN TO THE COUNTRY AROUND SAONT. O’MALLEY IS OF THE OPINION THAT SANTAL IS AN ENGLISH FORM ADOPTED FROM HINDI WHICH CORRESPONDS WITH THE FORM SAOTAL USED BY THE BENGALI SPEAKING PEOPLE. MOST ANTHROPOLOGISTS AGREE THAT SANTAL IS A NAME GIVEN TO THIS TRIBE BY NON-SANTALS. HOWEVER, SANTALS PREFER TO CALL THEMSELVES HOR MEANING â€Å"HUMAN BEING OR PERSON. † FOR THE SANTALS THE CONCEPT HOR BEARS A RICH CONNOTATION TO MEAN A PERSON WITH QUALITIES OF INTELLECT, OF KNOWLEDGE, OF WISDOM; THEY REFER THEMSELVES AS A TRIBE WITH DIGNITY AND FULL HUMAN POTENTIALITY. THE SANTALS ARE PROUD OF THEIR IDENTITY THAT DEFINES THE TRAITS OF SOLIDARITY AND UNIQUENESS AS A GROUP. 3 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 2. 2 ORIGIN, RACE, AND LANGUAGE: AS TO THE â€Å"ORIGIN† OF THE SANTALS, VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN FOR CERTAIN. THE SANTALS HAVE NO RECORDED HISTORY. LIKE OTHER ANCIENT SOCIETIES, SANTALS HAVE TRIED TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES OF CREATION, HISTORY AND LIFE BY MEANS OF MYTHS AND LEGENDS. FOLLOWING THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA, SOME AUTHORS CLASSIFY SANTALS AS PRE-DRAVIDIAN AND OTHERS AS PROTO-AUSTROLOIDS; AND OTHERS AS ABORIGINALS OF THE NORTHWEST. THUS, THE OPINIONS IN THIS RESPECT ARE VERY DISCORDANT. THE SANTALS DO HAVE THEIR OWN MYTHOLOGY OF CREATION AND MANY BELIEVE THAT THEY ALL HAVE COME FROM PILCU HARAM AND PILCU BUDHI, WHICH IS LIKE ADAM AND EVE IN THE BIBLE. SANTALI IS THE MOTHER TONGUE SPOKEN BY THE SANTALS. IT IS A MUNDA LANGUAGE OF THE KHERWAR GROUP THAT BELONGS TO THE MUNDA-MON-KHMER OR ‘AUSTRO-ASIATIC’ SUB-FAMILY. BUT THERE ARE OTHER DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THIS TOO. ACCORDING TO N. PRASAD, â€Å"SANTALI IS THE RICHEST DIALECT AMONG ALL THE TRIBAL DIALECTS OF BIHAR. † 2. 3 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: IN BANGLADESH, THE SANTALS ARE FOUND MOSTLY IN NORTH BENGAL (NORTHERN PART OF BANGLADESH) ESPECIALLY IN THE THEN GREATER DISTRICTS OF DINAJPUR, RANGPUR, BOGRA, AND RAJSHAHI. ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1881, THE SANTALS RESULTED PRESENT IN THE DISTRICT OF KHULNA, PABNA AND CHITTAGONG IN THE SOUTH. MANY SAY THAT THE SANTALS, WHO ARE IN SYLHET, ARE THE ONES WHO MIGRATED FROM THE DISTRICTS MENTIONED ABOVE AND CAME HERE MAINLY TO WORK IN THE TEA GARDENS AS LABORERS. IN SHORT, THE SANTALS OF BANGLADESH ARE ALMOST ALL DERIVED FROM THOSE EMIGRATED FROM THE SANTAL PARGANA IN INDIA AND NOTHING DISTINGUISHES THEM FROM THOSE WHO ARE STILL LIVING THERE, WITH THE EXCEPTION, PERHAPS OF THE USE OF BANGLA WORDS THAT ARE SANTALIZED. IN RECENT TIMES SOME OF THE BANGLADESHI SANTALS ALSO STARTED GOING ABROAD TAKING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. 4 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 3. THE WORLDVIEW THE SANTALS ARE SIMPLE AND UNSOPHISTICATED PEOPLE. LIKE ANY OTHER PEOPLE, THE SANTALS HAVE DEVELOPED THEIR OWN WORLDVIEW, A SYSTEM SUITED TO DEAL WITH THE BASIC PROBLEMS OF LIFE AND ITS MEANING. THEY HAVE PERCEIVED THE ENIGMA AND THE BASIC DICHOTOMY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE—LIFE AND DEATH, GOOD AND EVIL FROM THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVE. FOR THE SANTALS, LIFE, HEALTH, WEALTH, PROSPERITY, HAPPINESS, TRIBAL SOLIDARITY, RELIGIOUS BELIEF, MORES, ETC., ARE â€Å"GOOD†; AND DEATH, ILLNESS, POVERTY, MISFORTUNE, INJURY ETC. ARE â€Å"EVIL†. THEIR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES IS MEDIATED THROUGH THEIR CULTURE AND ARE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF SYMBOLS, METAPHORS, MYTH, LEGENDS, FOLKLORE, SONGS, CULT, RITUALS AND SO ON. THE Santals consider Th kur Jiu ? (Life Giver) or Cando Baba (Sun Father) or Marang BURU (GREAT MOUNTAIN) AS THE SOURCE OF ALL â€Å"GOOD†; WHILE IT IS THE â€Å"EVIL EYE†, THE â€Å"evil mouth† and the b ric’ bonga ? or malevolent spirits who cause harms in human LIFE. THEREFORE, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THE SUPREME BEING, THEY ALSO PROPITIATE THE BONGA IN AN ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF SUFFERING, SICKNESS, AND OTHER CRISIS. ALL THESE QUITE OFTEN LEAD THEM TO SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AND GIVE RISE TO PROMINENCE OF THE FEAR OF THE BONGA. FOR THE SANTALS EVERY NEWBORN CHILD COMING FROM THE INVISIBLE AND SHADOWY WORLD NEEDS TO BE PURIFIED, IDENTIFIED AND INTRODUCED TO THE SANTAL SOCIETY. MUCH OF SUCH REALITIES ARE EXPRESSED THROUGH THE RITUAL CEREMONIES PERFORMED AFTER A CHILD IS born. The ritual of the janam ch ti r? ? (birth purification and name-giving ritual) is ONE EXAMPLE WHERE THESE ASPECTS ARE ENACTED THROUGH BATHING, SHAVING THE HEAD OF THE BABY, DIVINING OF ARWA RICE (UNBOILED RICE) GRAINS AND WELCOMING OF THE BABY BY THE COMMUNITY. THE DEATH PURIFICATION CEREMONIES LIKE FUNERAL RITES OF BHANDAN, OR MORA KARAM (AFTER-DEATH CELEBRATION) PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS OF THE SANTAL-BELIEF SYSTEM THAT THE DEAD PERSON GOES BACK TO THE SAME SPIRIT-WORLD OF LIFE FROM WHERE HE/. SHE HAD COME AS A BABY AND REMAINS DEFILED AND DEFILING, FOR WHICH REASON NOT ONLY THE FAMILY THAT NEEDS PURIFICATION, BUT THE VERY RETURN OF THE DECEASED PERSON TO ITS ORIGINAL STATE OR SHADOWY-WORLD IS ALREADY DEFILING BECAUSE IT IS A TRIBELESS-STATE, CONDEMNED AND SINFUL STATE AND BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN CREATED FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF THE SINS OF GREED AND PRIDE. HENCE, THE DECEASED PERSON NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT BACK 5 |P a g e. Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh SPIRITUALLY TO HIS/HER OWN FAMILY AND IS INSTALLED AS AN INVISIBLE MEMBER AS HAPRAM (ANCESTOR). THE DECEASED, ALTHOUGH INVISIBLE, REMAIN A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY AND ARE REMEMBERED AND RESPECTED DURING ALL THEIR FAMILY OCCASIONS. THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT â€Å"WHEN [A] HUMAN BEING BECOMES PERFECTLY FREE FROM ALL GREED AND PRIDE THIS STATE WILL BE REMOVED AND THAT WILL BE THE NEW CREATION, WHICH IN CHRISTIANITY MAY BE COMPARED WITH THE STATE OF SALVATION. FOR THE SANTALS, THERE IS NO CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE, RELIGIOUS AND NON-RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL AND THE MATERIAL AREAS OF LIFE. ANIMALS AND THE MATERIAL WORLD ARE AT THE DISPOSAL OF HUMAN BEINGS FOR THEIR SELF-PRESERVATION AND WELL-BEING. MOREOVER, SANTAL-LIFE IS CLOSELY RELATED TO NATURE AND TO THE WHOLE OF CREATION. LAND AND FOREST REMAIN UNITED WITH SANTAL-IDENTITY AND ARE VERY MUCH REFLECTED IN THEIR LIVES, LOVE, POETRY, SONGS, DANCE AND MUSIC. THE SANTALS, FOR EXAMPLE, ADDRESS TO THE â€Å"SUPREME BEING† AS CANDO BABA (SUN FATHER) AND THE STARS TOO HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES. ACCORDING TO ARCHER, â€Å"ALTHOUGH FIELDS, HOUSES, MEN AND WOMEN SEEM TO CONSTITUTE A SANTAL VILLAGE, SANTALS REGARD THEM AS AT MOST A PORTION OF THEIR TOTAL WORLD. † 6 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 4. THE SANTALS IN THEIR SOCIO-CULTURAL REALITIES 4. 1 THE SANTAL-VILLAGE: THE SANTAL VILLAGE IS A PATTERN OF SANTAL LIVING AND IT IS THE MOST TRADITIONAL AND ANCIENT INSTITUTION, WHICH CRYSTALLIZES THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RITUAL STRUCTURES. IT COMES INTO EXISTENCE THROUGH THE SPECIAL DISPENSATION OF THE BONGA AND IS SANCTIFIED BY THEIR BLESSINGS. THE PRESENCE OF DIFFERENT CLANS IN A VILLAGE DEMONSTRATES THE BEAUTY OF A COMMUNITY LIVING AND OBVIOUSLY THE DEMOCRATIC CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE ADMINISTRATION ITSELF IS A SIGN OF INCREDIBLE RICHNESS OF THE SANTAL SOCIETAL DEALING AND LIVING. A SANTAL VILLAGE IS DEMARCATED WITH AN IMPLICIT BOUNDARY SO THAT IT MAY REMAIN FREE FROM OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS. THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT QUARRELS AMONG FAMILIES AND GROUPS IN THE VILLAGE, NATURAL CALAMITIES, SICKNESS, EPIDEMICS, ETC. , ARE CAUSED BY LACK OF BALANCE BETWEEN THE FORCES OF GOOD AND EVIL. 4. 2 SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF SANTAL VILLAGE: THE PRIMARY FEATURE OF EVERY SANTAL VILLAGE IS THE â€Å"MANJHI COUNCIL† OR THE VILLAGE COUNCIL HEADED BY A MANJHI (HEADMAN). THE VILLAGE COUNCIL IS THE REPRESENTATIVE BODY OF THE COMMUNITY CONSISTING OF SEVEN OFFICIALS, NAMELY: MANJHI, PARANIK (A DEPUTY HEADMAN), JOG MANJHI (AN OVERSEER OF THE VILLAGE ON MORAL ISSUES), JOG PARANIK (ASSISTANT TO JOG MANJHI), GODET’ (A MESSENGER), NAEKE (A village priest), and his assistant is Kud m Naeke?. These OFFICIALS IN FACT ARE THE SERVANTS, NOT THE MASTERS OF THE village and their role is purely functional. The M njhi? remains as the overall LEADER OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL AND PRESIDES OVER THE VILLAGE MEETING BUT WITH THE ACCEPTED PRINCIPLE THAT NO ONE OVERRULES ANY ONE ELSE. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE CATEGORICALLY DIVIDED AMONG THE MEMBERS IN ORDER TO AVOID ANY OVERLAPPING. THE COUNCIL MEMBERS PERFORM THEIR FUNCTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR TRIBAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS. THE PATTERN OF THE VILLAGE GOVERNANCE OF THE SANTALS IS MOSTLY DEMOCRATIC IN CHARACTER LIKE ANY OTHER DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION. HOWEVER IN PRESENT TIME, WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED UNION PARISAD (LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL) THE SOCIAL CONTROL OF THE TRADITIONAL m njhi ? council of the Santals is mostly undermined. 7 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh FOLLOWING THE PATRIARCHAL PATTERN, THE MANJHI (LEADER) OF THE VILLAGE FOR THE SANTALS, IS ALWAYS A MALE. THE TITLE OF THE MANJHI IS GENERALLY HEREDITARY AND IT IS PASSED ON PATRILINEALLY. NOW-A-DAYS, THE MALE MEMBERS OF THE VILLAGE MAY ELECT OR EVEN SELECT THEIR OWN HEADMAN UPON COMMON CONSENSUS. THE TERM OF OFFICE IS INDEFINITE BUT CAN BE ALTERED BY GENERAL AGREEMENT ACCORDING TO THE NEED. ALTHOUGH THE OFFICE OF THE HEADMAN IS VOLUNTARY AND HONORARY IN NATURE, THE MEMBERS OF THE MANJHI COUNCIL ARE RESPONSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY FOR THE SMOOTH RUNNING OF THE VILLAGE PARTICULARLY FOR SOCIAL MATTERS. 4. 3 THE CLANS: SANTALS ARE ENDOGAMIC AS A PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY CANNOT GET MARRIED OUTSIDE THEIR TRIBE, BUT THEY ARE EXOGAMIC AS CLAN BECAUSE THEY CANNOT BE married between the same clan (p ris? ). Traditionally the Santals used to have FOSTERED A TOTAL OF TWELVE CLANS BUT UNFORTUNATELY IN THE COURSE OF HISTORY ONE HAS BEEN MISSING. THE CLANS ARE: 1) BASKEY, 2) BESRA, 3) CORE, 4) HASDAK’, 5) Hembrom, 6) Kisku, 7) Marandi, 8) Murmu, 9) P uria, 10) Soren, 11) Tudu, and ? 12) BEDEA (THE LOST ONE). MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF THE CLANS ARE TO REGULATE MARRIAGE, INHERITANCE, SUCCESSION AND AFFILIATION (ALI 1988; ALSO HOSSAIN 2000). ONE BECOMES A CLAN MEMBER BY BIRTH. IT IS SAID THAT THESE CLANS ARE HIERARCHICALLY ORDERED ON THE BASIS OF OCCUPATION, LIKE: Kisku raja (king), Marandi Kipis r ? (wealthy or richer), Murmu Th kur ? (priest), Soren Sip hi ? (warrior), Tudu M nd ri ? ? ? (musician), and so on and so forth. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCHER, THESE OCCUPATIONAL HIERARCHIES OF STATUS DO NOT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THE SANTALS IN DAILY LIVES. 4. 4. FAMILY AND MARRIAGE: FAMILY IS THE PRIMARY UNIT OF HUMAN SOCIETY. THE FAMILY AMONG THE SANTALS CAN BE TERMED AS OF BIOLOGICAL, JOINT, AND EXTENDED. A. HUSBAND, HIS WIFE AND THEIR UNMARRIED CHILDREN FORM PART OF THE BIOLOGICAL OR NUCLEAR FAMILY. A HUSBAND, HIS WIFE AND HIS MARRIED AND UNMARRIED SONS AND DAUGHTERS AND SOMETIMES HIS OLD PARENTS, BROTHER AND HIS FAMILY FORM PART OF THE JOINT FAMILY OR EXTENDED FAMILY TYPE. ACCORDING TO THE SANTALS, MARRIAGE IS AN UNION BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN, WHICH IS SOCIALLY RECOGNIZED; CULTURALLY AND RELIGIOUSLY IT ALLOWS THE COUPLE TO LIVE IN A FAMILY. A SANTAL MARRIAGE CAN BE DESCRIBED ALSO AS A LEGAL TRANSFER OF DEPENDENCY OF THE 8 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh BRIDE, FROM HER FATHER’S FAMILY TO THE GROOM’S FAMILY. BY THIS TRANSFER, THE GROOM’S FAMILY DOES NOT ONLY ASSUME GUARDIANSHIP BUT ALSO ASSUMES CONTROL OVER ALL HER AFFAIRS. THROUGH MARRIAGE THE BRIDE LOOSES HER PATERNAL LEGAL IDENTITY AND ACQUIRES THE IDENTITY OF THE GROOM’S FAMILY. IN THE INSTITUTIONAL SENSE, MARRIAGE IS THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN REGULATED BY CUSTOMARY LAWS THAT ENHANCE LEGAL UNION BETWEEN THE SEXES AND DEFINE THE PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING THE HUSBAND-WIFE RELATION, THE RECIPROCAL OBLIGATIONS AND THE ACCEPTED RESTRICTIONS UPON ITS PERSONNEL. AS TO THE ORIGIN AND INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE, THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT THE CREATOR. HIMSELF HAS ESTABLISHED MARRIAGE. THAT IS, THE THAKUR JIU WHO CREATED THE FIRST HUMAN PAIR (PILCU HARAM AND PILCU BUDHI) HAS ALSO INSTITUTED MARRIAGE. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME INSTANCES OF POLYGAMY, MONOGAMY IS THE NATURE OF MOST SANTAL MARRIAGES. BESIDES SERVING SEXUAL NEEDS AND PROCREATION OF HEIRS, A SANTAL MARRIAGE HAS ALSO OTHER PURPOSES, SUCH AS COMPANIONSHIP, FORMATION OF FAMILY, ECONOMIC SECURITY, COOPERATION IN THE FAMILY ENTERPRISE, SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SECURITY, ETC. THUS, SANTAL MARRIAGE IS NOT ONLY BETWEEN TWO PERSONS OF OPPOSITE SEX BUT IT ALSO BECOMES A BOND OF UNION BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES, TWO VILLAGES, AND. ALSO INFLUENCES THE CIRCLE OF RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE RELATIVES. M. A. JALIL MENTIONS FOUR TYPES OF MARRIAGE AMONG THE SANTALS IN BANGLADESH. THESE ARE: 1) DANGWA BAPLA (CONTACT MARRIAGE), 2) ANGIR BAPLA (LOVE MARRIAGE), 3) OR BAPLA (FORCE MARRIAGE), AND 4) ITUT’ BAPLA (TACTICAL MARRIAGE). MOREOVER, SANTALS DO HAVE EXCEPTIONS ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF MARRIAGE BETWEEN CANDIDATES OF THE SAME CLAN. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE MARRIAGE OF A YOUNG COUPLE OF THE SAME CLAN FOR A VALID REASON BECOMES NECESSARY, AND CONSANGUINITY OR AFFINITY DOES NOT PREVENT IT, THEY APPLY A JURIDICAL PRETENSE. IN SUCH CASE, AN ELDERLY COUPLE OF A DIFFERENT CLAN, ADOPTS THE BRIDE AS THEIR DAUGHTER THROUGH A SIMPLE RITUAL CEREMONY AND GIVES THE PROPER NAME TO HER. 4. 5 ANNUAL FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES: THE SANTAL SOCIETY IS MARKED WITH FEASTS, FESTIVALS AND RITUAL CELEBRATIONS. ONE OF THE TERMS OFTEN used by the Santals is r sk? ? meaning happiness, or joy, WHICH IS NOT ONLY DEAR TO THEIR HEARTS BUT IS PART AND PARCEL OF THEIR LIFE. THUS, WE FIND DANCING AND SINGING HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE AT EVERY FESTIVAL OCCASION. IT BRINGS A SANTAL TO FORGET WORRIES AND STRESSES OF HIS OR HER 9 | P a g e. Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh DAY-TO-DAY LIFE. IN THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE SANTALS, FEASTS AND FESTIVALS HAVE GREAT SIGNIFICANCE FOR THESE ARE THE LIVING EXPRESSION OF THE DEEP ASPIRATION OF JOY AND HAPPINESS, AND ALSO DEMONSTRATE THE FEELING OF COMMUNITY AND SOLIDARITY INTEGRATED AS PART OF THE NATURE OF THE SANTALS. MANY OF SUCH CHARACTERISTICS ARE EXPRESSED IN SONGS, MUSIC AND IN DANCE. IN FACT, THE SANTALS DON’T GIVE ANY SPACE TO INDIVIDUALISM AND IT IS REALLY DURING THE FEASTS AND FESTIVALS THAT AN INDIVIDUAL REALIZES HIMSELF OR HERSELF IN THE COMMUNITY AND HIS OR HER FUTURE ROLE IN THE LIFE OF. THE COMMUNITY. ALTHOUGH, MOST OF THESE FESTIVALS SEEMINGLY APPEAR AS MERE GATHERING OF CLOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, INDIVIDUALS OF THE SAME SUB-CLAN OR THAT CONCERN ONLY THE INHABITANTS OF A VILLAGE; YET, THERE ARE ALSO OCCASIONS THAT INVOLVE MORE VILLAGES, AS IT USUALLY HAPPENS ON THE OCCASION OF MARRIAGE WHEN PARTICIPATION IS MOSTLY UNANIMOUS. IN ANY OF THESE FEASTS AND FESTIVALS, THERE ARE CERTAIN RITES AND RITUALS BEING FOLLOWED OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY SIMPLE OFFERING AT THE CENTER. ABLUTIONS AND UNCTION OF OIL, THE USE OF VERMILION TO MARK THE SACRIFICIAL VICTIM AND EVEN BEING USED BY THE. PARTICIPANTS, BEARS A GREATER SIGNIFICANCE. IN FACT, SOME OF THESE FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES CONSIST OF SOME SORT OF WORSHIP OR FOLK CULTS. FROM THE RITES AND FESTIVALS OF THE SANTALS, IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT THEIR ECONOMIC LIFE, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND RITUAL PERFORMANCES ARE INTERWOVEN MAINLY AROUND AGRICULTURE. THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT THE ASPECTS OF MATERIAL LIFE MUST BE PROTECTED AND GUARDED BY APPROPRIATE RITES AND FESTIVALS; AND BONGA (SPIRITS) MUST BE SATISFIED BY GIVING THEIR DUE SHARES. MANY OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL FESTIVALS AND RITUALISTIC CELEBRATIONS INDICATE THAT SANTALS. HAVE DEEPER INSIGHTS THAT GO BEYOND MERE EXTERNAL CELEBRATIONS. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THIS STUDY, WE ONLY MENTION SOME MAIN ANNUAL FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES COMMONLY OBSERVED LIKE: SOHORAE (HARVEST FESTIVAL), BAHA (FLOWER festival), Erok’ (sowing of rice seeds in the field), Iri-Gundli N wai? (offering of THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE MILLET IRI), JANTHAR (OFFERING OF THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE WINTER RICE CROP). SANTALS ALSO HAVE OCCASIONAL RITES AND FESTIVALS, WHICH ARE NEITHER ASSOCIATED WITH AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS NOR PERFORMED ANNUALLY. SOME OF THESE ARE: JOM SIM, MAK’ MORE AND KARAM. 10 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 5. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL REALITIES 5. 1 OCCUPATIONS AND LIVING: TRADITIONALLY SANTALS ARE MAINLY AGRICULTURISTS. THEY CLING TO THEIR LAND AS THEIR PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION AND MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE. ABOUT 95% OF THE SANTALS ARE INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS. INDUSTRIOUS AND HARDWORKING AS THEY ARE, UNFORTUNATELY THE SCIENTIFIC SIDE OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CULTIVATION AND MANAGING THEIR LAND HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED. IN THE PAST THE MAJORITY OF THE SANTALS WERE LANDOWNERS, BUT DUE TO THE INCREASE IN POPULATION, EXPLOITATION BY MONEYLENDERS AND LANDLORDS, ILLEGAL. OCCUPATION OF THEIR LAND, POVERTY AND ILLITERACY, NATURAL CALAMITIES ETC. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SANTALS IN BANGLADESH HAVE LOST THEIR LAND PROPERTIES. AT PRESENT, NEARLY 80% OF THE SANTALS ARE LAND-LESS, FORCING THEM TO EARN THEIR LIVELIHOOD DEPENDING ON THE MERCY AND AVAILABILITY OF WORK IN THE FIELDS OF THEIR MUSLIM OR HINDU NEIGHBORS FOR THEIR MERE SUBSISTENCE. YET, IT IS SIGNIFICANT TO NOTE THAT TRADITIONALLY THERE ARE NO BEGGARS AMONG THE SANTALS. RATHER, THE SANTALS IN THE TIME OF DIRE POVERTY GO TO THE JUNGLE TO COLLECT WILD PLANTS, FRUITS, WILD POTATOES AND ROOTS OF YOUNG SHOOTS, FLOWERS, MUSHROOMS, ETC. HUNTING AND FISHING THAT USED TO BE PART OF SANTAL-LIVING, HAVE NOW BECOME SECONDARY IMPORTANCE DUE TO THE CHANGE OF SITUATION. LACK OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE VILLAGE AREAS, ALSO FORCED MANY SANTALS TO FLOCK TO THE NEARBY TOWNS AND CITIES IN SEARCH OF DAILY WAGES AND JOBS. THE WOMEN IN SANTAL SOCIETY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MAINTAINING THEIR FAMILIES BUT IN REALITY THEY REMAIN DEPRIVED OF THEIR EQUAL RIGHT, WHICH IS REFLECTED BY THE FACT THAT WOMEN ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE INHERITANCE OF PROPERTIES. SANTALS HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND TO BE INTERESTED IN COMMERCE OR ANY SUCH PROFESSION. TO AVAIL OF ECONOMIC SELF-RELIANCE. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THEY REMAIN RATHER MARGINALIZED INVITING POVERTY IN THEIR LIVES. MOREOVER, MOST SANTALS DO NOT THINK ABOUT FUTURE, RATHER THEY ARE MORE CONCERNED FOR THE DAY; IT’S A DAY-TO-DAY LIVING AND THEY REMAIN SATISFIED AND HAPPY WITH THE LITTLE THEY CAN HAVE FOR MAINTAINING THEIR FAMILY. HOWEVER, DUE TO SOME PROGRESS IN EDUCATION, A SMALL NUMBER OF SANTALS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE LITTLE CHANGES IN THEIR WAY OF LIVING. 11 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh SOME HAVE TAKEN UP MODERN PROFESSIONS LIKE TEACHINGS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, JUDICIAL ADVOCACY, NURSING ETC. 5. 2 POLITICAL REALITY: SANTALS, A PEACE LOVING PEOPLE HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND INTERESTED IN POLITICS. YET, THEY HAVE ALWAYS REACTED WHEN THINGS WENT SEVERELY PAINFUL AND THEY WERE PUSHED AGAINST THE WALL WHEN THEY COULD NOT BEAR ANYMORE. THE HISTORIC SANTAL REVOLUTION IN 1855-56, THE TEBHAGA ANDOLON (SHARE CROPPERS’ MOVEMENT) IN 1945, AND THE NACHOL BIDROHO (FARMERS’ REVOLUTION) IN THE YEAR 1950, ARE THE CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF THE PAST. IN FACT, SANTALS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN USED BY OTHERS IN THE FOREFRONT BATTLE. ILLITERACY, ABSENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL SET UP AND LACK OF GENUINE. LEADERSHIP HAVE KEPT THE SANTALS FAR FROM ACHIEVING ANY END RESULT. IN RECENT YEARS, SOME OF THE SANTALS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO TAKE ACTIVE ROLE IN THE LOCAL POLITICS BY THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE LOCAL ELECTION. 12 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 6. BELIEFS AND RITUAL PRACTICES 6. 1 THE BELIEF IN ONE SUPREME BEING: AS IT HAS ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED EARLIER, SANTALS DO BELIEVE IN ONE â€Å"SUPREME BEING† WHOM THEY CALL THAKUR JIU (LIFE GIVER) OR MARANG BURU (GREAT MOUNTAIN) WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE â€Å"SUPREME† AMONG ALL THE â€Å"RELIGIOUS BEINGS†. THE MOST COMMON SANTAL-TERM USED FOR THE SUPREME BEING. THESE DAYS IS CANDO BABA (SUN FATHER). ACCORDING TO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RESEARCHER THE SANTALS HERE DO NOT REFER LITERALLY TO THE SUN ITSELF RATHER, IT IS AN EXPRESSION OF A DIVINE ACTIVITY: EXPRESSION OF DIVINE LOVE IN RELATION TO HUMAN BEINGS. FOR THE SANTALS, CANDO BABA IS A BENEVOLENT DEITY WHO ORGANIZES THE DAYS AND NIGHTS AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEAT AND COLD, RAIN AND SUNSHINE; AND FROM A DWELLING ‘SOMEWHERE IN THE SKY’, ALLOTS EACH SANTAL A TERM OF LIFE HERE ON EARTH. BUT, HE STAYS FAR AWAY, FAR ABOVE THE SKY AND CANNOT BE REACHED. IT IS UNDERNEATH. THE SUN, BENEATH THE CLOUDS, THAT SANTAL LIFE IS CHALLENGED. HERE THE BONGA ROAM AROUND AND ONLY BY COMING TO TERMS WITH THEM CAN SANTALS BE HAPPY. 6. 2 THE BELIEF IN BONGA (SPIRITS): THE SANTALS BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF THE SPIRITS WHO ARE CALLED BONGA. THE BONGA HAVE MUCH REPERCUSSION ON DAILY LIVING OF THE SANTALS. TO ENSURE THEIR CONTINUING CARE, BESIDE ANNUAL SACRIFICES, THE BONGA ARE REMEMBERED IN A DAILY BASIS. WHENEVER A MEAL IS TAKEN, A SMALL PORTION OF THE FOOD IS DROPPED ON THE FLOOR FOR THE BONGA, OR AT THE TIME WHENEVER RICE-BEER IS DRUNK, A LITTLE IS SPILT ON THE GROUND FOR MARANG BURU. THUS, THE SANTALS LIVE NOT ONLY IN THEIR TRIBAL SOCIETY BUT IN A GREATER SOCIETY CONSISTING OF SUPERNATURAL BEINGS AS WELL. IN PRACTICE, THE SANTALS OFTEN USE THE TERM BONGA MEANING â€Å"TO INCORPORATE† SOMEONE INTO THE SOCIETY BY DOING CERTAIN RITUAL. THE PHRASE USED IN THIS CASE IS: BONGA TALA KEDEAKO MEANING, HE/SHE HAS BEEN ADMITTED INTO SANTAL SOCIETY. ACCORDING TO THE SANTAL RELIGIOUS BELIEF THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF BONGA—THE MALEVOLENT AND THE BENEVOLENT ONES. THE BONGA-WORSHIP IS PRIMARILY TO PLEASE AND TO INVOKE THE POWERS OF THE BENEVOLENT BONGA AND TO AVERT THE ILL WILL OF THE MALEVOLENT BONGA. IN THE WORSHIP OF BONGA WE CAN DISTINGUISH ANALYTICALLY TWO INTERRELATED ASPECTS: 13 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh A) THE OBJECTIVE ASPECT OF THE RELIGIOUS RITES IS TO HAVE AN ALLIANCE WITH THE BENEVOLENT BONGA AND THEREBY CONTROLLING OR EVEN DEFEATING THE POWERS OF THE MALEVOLENT BONGA; AND B) THE EXPRESSIVE ASPECT OF THE WORSHIP IS MANIFESTED THROUGH VARIOUS SEASONAL AND RELIGIOUS RITES, FESTIVALS AND RITES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS SOCIAL RITUALS. SANTALS HAVE AN INNATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR BONGA AND CONSIDER THEMSELVES LIVING WITH THEM. THIS RELATIONSHIP IS MOSTLY OF DEPENDENCE, SUBMISSION, PROPITIATION AND REVERENTIAL FEAR. THE SANTALS DO SUPPLICATIONS; OFFER RICE-BEER; AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE NAME OF THE BONGA. IT IS WORTH MENTIONING THAT THERE ARE INSTANCES AMONG THE SANTALS IN THE RURAL VILLAGES WHERE PERSONS EVEN IN TIME OF SERIOUS SICKNESS WOULD NOT LOOK FOR MEDICAL HELP INSTEAD LEAVE IT TO THE BONGA TO BE CURED. 6. 3 BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT: RELATED TO SANTAL BELIEF-SYSTEM, IS ALSO THE EXISTENCE OF WITCHES. THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, WHO POSSESS SPECIAL POWER AND TECHNIQUES TO HARM PEOPLE, CATTLE, AND CROPS. THESE SO-CALLED WITCHES ARE INVOLVED IN DOING HARMFUL ACTIVITIES LIKE GIVING POISONS, TAKING OUT HUMAN LIVERS, SENDING TROUBLESOME SPIRITS TO CERTAIN FAMILIES AND CHANGING THEMSELVES INTO BLACK CATS. BECAUSE OF SUCH BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT PRACTICES, THE SANTALS EASILY SUSPECT ONE ANOTHER, AND ARE OFTEN LED TO FIGHT. IT IS PRESUMED THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO HAVE SUCH A BELIEF ESPECIALLY IN THE PAGAN WORLD. HOWEVER, THERE IS ALSO A COUNTER-BELIEF AMONG THE SANTALS THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN PEOPLE OJHA-JANGURU (SPECIALISTS), MAINLY MEN, WHO POSSESS SPECIAL POWER AND TECHNIQUES FOR DETECTING WITCHES AND NULLIFYING THEIR SPELLS. THUS, WHENEVER SANTALS GET INTO TROUBLE, THEY SEEK THE HELP OF THESE PEOPLE WHO, MORE OFTEN EXPLOIT THE SOCIETY. REFERRING TO THE SICKNESS AND OTHER PROBLEMS, THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE CAUSED BY THE EVIL SPIRITS WHEN THEY BECOME DISSATISFIED WITH THE SACRIFICES OF THE PEOPLE OR WHEN THEY THINK THAT THEY ARE BEING MANIPULATED BY SOME EVIL-MINDED PEOPLE (WITCHES). THEREFORE, THE SANTALS TRY TO IDENTIFY THE AGENTS OF THE TROUBLE THROUGH THE HELP OF OJHA–JANGURU AND TRY TO PACIFY EACH AGENT THROUGH VARIOUS SACRIFICES. 14 | P a g e. Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 6. 4 THE ANCESTORS: FROM THE RITES AND RITUALS AS PRACTICED BY THE SANTALS, IT IS QUITE EVIDENT THAT ANCESTOR-WORSHIP IS A COMMON FEATURE AMONG THEM. THE DEAD ANCESTORS ARE THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE FAMILIES OR GROUPS TO WHICH THEY BELONGED AND THAT THEY ARE EASILY APPROACHABLE BY THEIR LIVING KINSMEN. HENCE, AT ALL IMPORTANT OCCASIONS OF BIRTH, OF MARRIAGE OR OF DEATH THE DECEASED ANCESTORS ARE REMEMBERED AND OFFERED SACRIFICES. 6. 5 THE JAHERTHAN OR THE SACRED GROVE IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF A SANTAL VILLAGE. IT IS A SACRED PLACE OF SPECIAL WORSHIP FOR THE SANTALS. AFTER A VILLAGE HAS BEEN SET UP, A JAHERTHAN IS INSTALLED THROUGH RITUAL CEREMONY AT THE OUTSKIRT OF THE VILLAGE. THE MAIN DEITY OF THE JAHERTHAN, IS KNOWN AS JAHER ERA (THE LADY OF THE GROVE). ACCORDING TO THE SANTALS, SHE RESIDES THERE BESIDES OTHER IMPORTANT DEITIES SUCH AS THE MOREKO-TURUIKO (LITERALLY MEANS †FIVE-SIX†). THE JAHER ERA PRESIDES OVER THE SACRED GROVE, TENDS OVER OTHER BONGA IN THE JAHERTHAN AND LOOKS AFTER THE INTERESTS OF THE VILLAGERS ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR PHYSICAL NEEDS. THE SPIRITS OF THE JAHERTHAN ARE WORSHIPPED DURING THE PRINCIPAL FESTIVALS, LIKE SOHORAE (HARVEST FESTIVAL), BAHA. (FLOWER FESTIVAL), EROK’ (SOWING FESTIVAL), AND SO ON FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE VILLAGE PARTICULARLY FOR OBTAINING GOOD CROPS AND FOR THE HEALTH OF THE VILLAGERS AND THEIR LIVESTOCK. 6. 6 The M njhithan? or the altar of the headman is placed along side the kulhi (VILLAGE ROAD) OR OFTEN AT THE CENTRAL PLACE OF THE VILLAGE OR IN FRONT THE HOUSE OF THE M njhi? (the headman). It is believed that the Manjhi bonga (spirit of the headman) RESIDES IN THIS ALTAR AND ACTS AS THE SPIRITUAL ADVISER OF THE HEADMAN. HERE THE M njhi? offers sacrifice for the benefit of himself, his family and for the whole. VILLAGE. 6. 7 THE â€Å"HOUSE-ALTAR†: IN THE INNER SIDE OF A SANTAL HOUSE, THERE REMAINS THE bhit r, ? a tiny compartment, which is the darkest space of the house. It is the abode OF THE ORAK BONGA (HOUSE SPIRITS) OR OFTEN KNOWN AS ABGE BONGA—THE BONGA OF THE SUB-CLAN. THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY DOES THE WORSHIP. IN ANY OCCASION OF THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL FESTIVALS, FOOD OFFERING IS MADE ON THIS ALTAR. THE NAMES OF THE ORAK BONGA ARE NOT REVEALED TO OUTSIDERS AND EVEN TO THE FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE RATHER, HANDED DOWN FROM FATHER TO SON. USUALLY THE ELDEST SON RECEIVES THE NAME FROM HIS FATHER. 15 | P a g e. Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh The bhit r? is also used as a secret place to germinate and to store h ndi ? (rice beer), WHICH IS NOT ONLY USED AS NORMAL DRINK BUT ITS USE IS SIGNIFICANT AND EXTENDED TO SOCIO-CULTURAL RITUALISTIC CELEBRATIONS, AND EVEN THAT TO BE OFFERED TO SATISFY THE BONGA. 6. 8 THE â€Å"AFTER-LIFE† IS THE CONTINUATION OF LIFE THAT IS LIVED IN THIS WORLD. THE SANTALS BELIEVE THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE DECEASED GOES TO A SHADOWY WORLD WHERE THE PERSON REQUIRES THE MATERIALS OF THIS WORLD. THIS IS WELL EXPRESSED WITH THE RITUAL PRACTICES DONE AT THE TIME OF BURIAL AND DURING THE BHANDAN, THE LAST CEREMONY DONE IN HONOR OF THE DEAD. IN THE PAST, IT WAS PERFORMED IMMEDIATELY AFTER ALL THE REQUIREMENTS HAD BEEN FULFILLED FOR THE DECEASED PERSON, BUT IN PRESENT DAYS SUCH CEREMONY, IN A RICH FAMILY, IS DONE WITHIN TWO OR THREE MONTHS FROM THE DEATH AND IN A POOR FAMILY, IT IS ONE YEAR OR TWO. FOR THE SANTALS, THE MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE ANIMAL-VICTIMS OFFERED IN HONOR OF THE DEAD DURING THE BHANDAN, THE MORE WOULD BE THE ANIMALS THAT THE ANCESTOR WILL HAVE IN THE OTHER WORLD. MOST ANIMAL-VICTIMS ARE DONATED BY THE RELATIVES AND NONE OF THEM ARE TO BE SPARED FOR FUTURE USE BY THE FAMILY CONCERNED. TRADITIONALLY EVERY SANTAL, MALE AND FEMALE, IS SUPPOSED TO BEAR UNDELETABLE SCARS on the body. For the male, it is the sik? that must be at least three scars REPRESENTING JION (LIFE), MORON (DEATH), AND JION (LIFE). THE SANTAL WOMEN DO NOT practice sik? , but to escape to be devoured by the worms in the life-after, they have THEIR CHEST TATTOOED, WHICH IS CALLED BY THE SANTALS KHODA. FR. PUSSETTO, WITH HIS VAST EXPERIENCE WITH THE SANTALS TESTIFIED: I HAVE NOT ONLY SEEN SANTAL WOMEN TATTOOED ON THE CHEST BUT ALSO ON THE BACK, ON THE FACE, ON THE ARMS AND ON THE LEGS; THE TATTOO WERE ENOUGH COMPLICATED, BUT PURELY ORNAMENTAL†¦THE TATTOO WILL SERVE TO THE WOMEN TO BE RECOGNIZED FROM THE RESPECTIVE HUSBANDS IN THE OTHER LIFE. IN THE PRESENT TIMES THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF THE SANTALS IN BANGLADESH DOES NOT practice sik ? or khoda or rather these have become voluntary. However, every SANTAL CHILD BEARS NEEDLE-EYE WHOLES IN HIS/HER TWO EARS TO USE ORNAMENTS WHEN THEY GROW UP AND ESPECIALLY AT THE TIME OF HIS/HER MARRIAGE. 16 | P a g e Ethnic Group Of Bangladesh 7. MORALITY IN SANTAL CONCEPTION FOR THE SANTALS, MORALITY MEANS RIGHTFUL DOING AND LIVING; AND REMAINING TRUE AND LOYAL.