Macao Job Vacancy Issues in Hospitality Industry

Macao Job Vacancy Issues in Hospitality Industry Statistic Analysis Introduction This report analyses key factors which result in vacancy issue in Macao hospitality industry with supportive statistics and information basically from 2009 to 2011. Since 2009, the influx tourist flow keeps enlarging the tourism market. [18] In 2011 every Macao labour has received at least 80 tourists. (D1) The problem is that tourist growth rate (up to15. 1% in 2010 and down to 12. 2%) has far exceeded the number of labour growth rate (1. 5% in 2010, to 3. % in 2011) of Macao, and the difference keeps becoming larger during the last three years. (D5)So Macao labor market is obviously unable to feed the tourism industry employment gradually expanding need. [2] Job vacancy issues description In 2008 to 2010 periods, the total percentage of vacancy jobs has been growing with the total amount of job offered in hospitality industry from 7% to 8% in the total 50,271 offered jobs in 2010. According to the rese arch, the hospitality job vacancy problem mainly occurred on both management position (such as company leader and senior manager) and rank-and-file position.In the same period, management position vacancies drop from 3% in 2008 and ended up with 1% in all vacancy jobs). Rank-and-file position vacancies' occupation grew from 88. 2% in 2008 to 88. 5 %( 4,099 vacancies) in 2010 among all the job vacancies. Particularly, waiter/waitress, unskilled workers vacancies takes over 95% in the rank-and-file vacancies during the three years. Reasons for job vacancy issue analysis There are two reasons cause the management position vacancy. First, limited quality of labor market.Till 2011, there are 26% of the total Macao labors are holding a college or higher educational degree, this percentage would be 15. 8% if excluded imported workers apart. [3][4]Moreover, the language skills would bring the percentage even lower, as the most regular used language is Cantonese (83. 30%), and followed by Ma ndarin(5%), and English (2. 30%) respectively in 2011. Second, the lack of international exposure, makes Macao labors less competitive in the market, because of small amount of travels and business activities outside to western ountries. As for the rank-and-file job vacancy issue, mostly owes to: lower salary, lower status, and restricted labor importing policy. Low salary, especially for waiter/waitress, unskilled workers(around MOP6000), if compare with that(about MOP10,000) (D7)of rank-and-file positions in gaming industry which owns the similar job requirement; In Macau, there are common negative attitudes toward some rank-and-file jobs, because of social status concerns.Jobs like waiter/waitress, cleaning and house keeping, is always in need. Conclusion and Recommendations In conclusion, with the rapid development of tourism industry, issues like naturally lacking of human resource(267,200 local labours[10]), limited qualified manpower[14] and restricted labor importing policy, together will affect efficiency and effectiveness of the hospitality industry.In order to solve the job vacancy issues, government on the one hand, acts as a profound role in guaranteeing the benefit and priorities for local labors, in the short term; On the other hand government has being taken step improving the education system during the years, by subsidizing application for studying professional subjects and tertiary education, [13]in the long term.Recommendations for a company, such as arranging more practical training on management concepts and skills to develop local talents for senior positions; Language training to cater to international customers and management is also an alternative; Bring in certificate recognition system could be a good way to measure competence or set standard for employment, promotion and reward. Finally, it's also the individual responsibility to making full use of the resources offered by public and private organization, get to ready for the globa l competition. Reference: [1] 4 ? 2011 2] : http://news. china. com. cn/local/2012-03/29/content_25017774. htm [3] 1. 8? http://www. macaodaily. com/html/2012-04/24/content_692714. htm [4] 13/2010 http://bo. io. gov. mo/bo/i/2010/22/regadm13_cn. asp [5]2. 6 , , ,2011 [6] http://www. bizintelligenceonline. com/content/view/229/10/lang,/ [7] http://www. newmacau. org/cms/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=1290:2011-06-12-04-17-20&catid=9:2009-10-14-10-38-30&Itemid=23 [8] http://www. chengpou. om. mo/news/2011/12/9/19932. html [9] ,2009 http://www. al. gov. mo/diario/l03/cs1-4/2009-120%20%2801-05%29. pdf [10] , ,2011 [11] 14 15 http://www. gov. cn/jrzg/2007-09/12/content_746039. htm [12] – http://www. dsal. gov. mo/chinese/dfpcourse. htm [13]Government to create databank for securing young talent http://www. macaudailytimes. com. mo/macau/35383-Government-create-databank-for-securing-young-talent. html [14] http://www. macaodaily. com/html/2011-12/31/content_66071 5. htm [15] http://www. acaodaily. com/html/2011-12/20/content_657692. htm [16] http://www. macaodaily. com/html/2012-03/19/content_682512. htm [17]Macao workers happier, concerns lurking http://www. macaudailytimes. com. mo/macau/34953-Macau-workers-happier-concerns-lurking. html [18]Macau's GDP growth rate slows to 20. 7 pct in 2011 http://www. macaunews. com. mo/content/view/1667/53/lang,english/ [19] http://www. dsec. gov. mo/Statistic. aspx Diagram 1: 2008~2010 ( : ) | |2008? |2009? |2010? | | |2293. 3185 |2175. 214 |2496. 5411 | | |323. 4 |323. 9 |336. 3 | [pic] : ; Diagram 2: 2009~2010 ( : ) [pic] : -2010? 11 ; 2010~2011 ( : ) [pic] : -2011? 11 ; Diagram 3: 2009~2011 ( : ) |2009? | | |? 1? |? 2? |? 3? |? 4? | | |15176 |14250 |17272 |18222 | | 9216 |7027 |9331 |10325 | | |5960 |7223 |7941 |7897 | |2010? | | |? 1? |? 2? |? 3? |? 4? | | |14860 |29878 |44460 |45585 | | |8845 |12753 |14705 |13769 | | |6015 |17125 |29775 |31816 | |2011? | | |? 1? |? 2? |? 3? |? 4? | | 47404 |52525 |64091 |60961 | | |14199 |16912 |19554 |21278 | | |33205 |35613 |44537 |39683 | : ; Diagram 4: [pic] : ; Diagram 5: [pic] | |2009? |2010? |2011? | | |-1. 00% |1. 50% |3. 80% | | |-6. 20% |15. 10% |12. 20% | Diagram 6: 2008? ~2010 ( 😕 ) | |2008? 2009? |2010? | | |6617 |6490 |6470 | | |6468 |6340 |7850 | | |5619 |6080 |6100 | | |5633 |5820 |5830 | | |10045 |10580 |10730 | | |13974 |13360 |13710 | : ; Diagram 7: 2008? ~2010 pic] : ; Diagram 8: ( : ) [pic] : ; Diagram 9: | | (? ) | (? ) | (? ) | | |15. 7(5. 0%) |13. 9(4. 3%) |14. 8(4. 4%) | | |52. 3(16. 6%) |55. 8(17. 4%) |52. 5(15. 7%) | | |172. 6(54. 7%) |177. 6(55. 5%) |189. 8(56. 6%) | | |75. 2(23. 8%) |73. 0(22. 8%) |78. 3(23. %) | | |315. 8 |320. 2 |335. 4 | : ; Diagram 11: | | : | | : | : , | | : | : , , | | : | : | | : ? 4-5 3 , | | | : , ( ) | | | : | | | : | | : | : , | | : 18-45? | : , | | : | : , | | : | : , | | : ( ) | | | : , , | | : ;

Individual and environmental factors Essay

1.1Explain the individual and environmental factors that impact positively or negatively on learning. The study of adult learning – ANDRAGOGY – originated in Europe in the 1950s and was then pioneered as a theory and model of adult learning from the 1970s by Malcolm knowles, an American practitioner and theorist of adult education. He defined androgogy as: „the art and science of helping adults learnâ€Å" Knowles identified six principles of adult learning, which are: 1.Adults are internally motivated and self-directed. 2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences. 3. Adults are goal oriented. 4. Adults are relevancy oriented. 5. Adults are practical. 6. Adults learners like to be respected. With individualised learning the trainer needs to consider and cater for the needs of individual participants. Some of the key factors to consider are: -Rates of learning and learning style -Attitude -Maturity -Interest which effect the level of learning -Motivation -Learners can work at their own pace at the time most convenient to them -Different learning styles can be accommodated -Etc. All this above mentioned factors can have positive or negative impact on learning. I have identified that people have different learning styles and it is very important to utilise this to gaing the most from each individual learner and to help make their learning as effective as possible. There is no one right combination of elements that will magically result in a positive climate for learning for every participant. There is also four kinds of learning styles: -Visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films,  flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as „show meâ€Å", „lets have a look at thatâ€Å" and will be bes table to perform a new task after reading the instrucitons or watching someone else do it first. These are people who will work from lists and written derections and instructions. -Auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to spoken word, of self or others, of sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as „tell meâ€Å", lets talk it overâ€Å" and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. -Kinaesthetic learning styles has a preference for physical experience touching, feeling, holding, doing,, practical hands-on experience. These people will use phrases such as „let met tryâ€Å", how do you feel? And will be best table to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These are the people who like to experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first. -Auditory digital learning style has a preference for working outside of the senses. People will tend to: have a need to make sense of the word, to figure things out, to understand. Talk to themselves and carrz on conversations with you in their mind.Learn by working things out in their mind.Not to be spontaneous, as they like to think things through. Have logic play a key role in the decision process as do facts and figures. Memorize by steps, procedures, sequences. The learners have a wide range of learning needs and styles, and this diversity must be take into account by employing a variety of training methods. In additions, the size of the venue, the arrangement of the furniture, the functioning of equipment and other physical aspects of the training room all contribute to, or detract from, the learning evironment. When these factors can be manipulated to be positive influences, an environment more conductive to learning will be created. Organisational and process decisions: Venue, Facilities,Environment, Meals and refreshments, Accessibility, Cost and Physical layout. Environment – the environment around the training centre should be conductive to training taking place. There are various ways in which we can adapt the learning environment so that it caters for the physical needs of the participants: The temperature and environment within a training room should facilitate learning, it should be warm but not excessively hot or too cold because participants should be comfortable to pay enought attention to presentation. The layout of the room should be inviting suggesting the prospect of interesting activity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" areas. Make sure that you are comfortable with the layout of the room to deliver the best of your ability and the training will not be as effective as it otherwise could have been. A positive learning environment nurtures these feelings by allowing sudents to explore and expand their knowledge without undue risk or fear. Bring all types of learning could be positive for the individual as we are all different people and also confidentatiality is important too. Negative impact can be that participants do not switch off mobile phones what may lead to disturbing other participants and also trainer. Another negative factor could be lighting which should be appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio-visual aids and hands-on computer training otherwise it will have impact on individuals or group. Resource availability is based on available resources. The venue will have available a laptop, with internet access and an overhead projector. A flip chart will be available together with marker pens and pens and paper. Formative Assessment the goal of formative assessment is to gather feedback that can be used by the instructor and the students to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context. These are low stakes assessments for students and instructors. Examples: †¢Asking students to submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture †¢Have students submit an outline for a paper. †¢Early course evaluations Summative Assessment the goal of summative assessment is to measure the level of success or proficiency that has been obtained at the end of an instructional unit, by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Examples: †¢Assigning a grade to a final exam †¢Critique of a Senior recital †¢University Faculty Course Evaluations The outcome of a summative assessment can be used formatively, however, when students or faculty take the results and use them to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses. ACTIVITY 2 Undertaken at the workshop. ACTIVITY 3 How you created a positive learning environment: To create a positive learning environment i made sure the temperature and enviromnent within a training room was fine, e.g. warm but not excessively hot or cold, clean, welcoming, bright and colorful.Lighting was appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio – visual aids that the layout of the room was inviting, suggesting the prospect of interesing acitivity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" arears and also that the participants had free access to water and toilets. The feedback on your activity from learner participants: To get the feedback on my presentation from learner participants i used a feedback questionnaire with the following questions. On a scale of 1 – 5 (1being the worst and 5 being the best) please circle the one that applies 1.Was the learning informative? 2.Was the information delivered in a concise and structured manner? 3.Did you find the learning topic interesting? 4.Do you feel you were supported through questioning and feedback? 5.Did you find the activity clear and simple to follow And i aslo left space for any other comments or development needs. Comments and development needs recommended by participants: my topis was Junk food vs Healthy food would be good to explain more healthy options, could do meal plans – suggest exercise reqires the slides were sometimes unclear – blue words – blue background. Enjoyed though. No – good presentation Good reminder of what we know and why i tis important to eat healthily. I will try to eat less sugar!! No, very clear and enthusiastidly given. No. Was a very good presentation, good use of powerpoint slides. Observation record from assessor Les Curzon: OBSERVATION RECORD: F211A Candidate name:LUKAS DEMJANJUNK FOOD/HEALTHY FOOD Demjan898@gmail.com Unit 3DLA Delivering Learning and Development Activities Observation Criteria Assessor feedback – to be completed by the assessor with notes to support the decision Creates an environment that is positive & conducive to learning – e.g. – health & safety – room layout – welcome – accommodates needs – puts participant at ease – builds rapport H&S not covered Ice breaker, write favourite food. The audience was some distance away and some had their back to you to start with. Structures & sequences effectively for learning e.g. – introduction – main body – conclusion Good introduction and you got the attention of the learners. Main body informative Provides clear aims / learning outcomes No clear aims and objectives. Manages learning activity effectively – uses a range of appropriate training skills Tended to be mostly lecture style with a few questions. – uses learning resources appropriately and effectively Good use of PowerPoints with appropriate images and addresses VAK. – supports learners via questioning and feedback Asked lots of questions but tended to be closed â€Å"does anybody† – uses appropriate formative & summative assessment methods Formative through Q&A, summative Q&A – could have had a quiz. Could have designed a meal. – summarises and concludes the learning and development activity Summarised throughout and reinforced – assists learners to reflect on their learning and identify further needs Via Evaluation form – collects feedback from participants Evaluation form General Comments / Feedback Lukas, An informative session on healthy food. The identified need being to improve the health of employees? The audience were physically distant and you could have brought them closer to you. This could have been achieved after your ice breaker I am aware that you did the presentation in your second language. You tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. You need to plan and prepare in good time. You have the basics of a good session and need to develop it by having SMART objectives and lots of activities. A good effort and you need to consider the Systematic Training Cycle when you reflect in your TMA. Well done. Smart objectives should be: Specific means making a clear statement about the knowledge or skill that the trainee should be able to do and actually demostrate at the end of the course. This includes the level of operation, such as „after the training, te trainee should be able to use the machine safely and efficiently to produce the product at the specified qualityâ€Å". Measurable means that the standard of the trainees performance after the training can be measured in terms of, for example, quality and number of tiems in a specified period of time. Achievable means that it should be possible for the trainee to achieve the objectives in the light of the situation, the practicability, and the intelligence and motivation of the trainee. Realistic means that the objectives should be obviously useful and clearly related to the type of work that the trainee carries out. Time – related means that the trainee should be able to develop understanding, attain concepts and demonstrate skills withing a pre – specified period of time. For example, uou mighy be able to type a leeter perfectly if you took an hour to do it, but not if you only had five minutes.A skilled typist would be able to achive the objective in the shorter time. EVALUTATION AGAINST SYSTEMATIC LEARNING CYCLE 1. Identify training needs There are several ways in which training needs may be identified but unfortunately i did not have a choice to find out the training needs as i met the participants for the very first time. 2. Set training objectives In general, the objective of training is to develop in people the knowledge and understanding, skills and competence that they need to meet required performance standards. I did not concentrate that much on the Smart objectives but for the futher development needs i will need to plan and prepare in good time. 3. Plan the training Bearing in mind the nature of the subject matter in which employee needs to be trained, decisions have to be made about how and where it is to be carried out. There are several choices. Most training, however, falls into one of two categories: On-the-job trainin, which as the term implies, takes place while the trainee is actually working or it could be Of-job-training, which may be external training, when, for example, an individual or a small group is sent to a local college or training centre or to a higher education institution to undertake a professional qualification.I could not decide where was i doing presentation. 4. implement the training There is six training methods such as Lecture, Seminar, Case study, Role-play, Syndicate work, Exercises i decided for seminar which is ideal to discuss a topic or concept. I think it was effective because i introduced the subject and run a group discussion where trainess presented their views on which i could comment. I also used training media PowerPoint and visual aids such as overhead projector and flipchart which i used for the answers to my questions and for laying main points of a talk. It was effective way of learning because people pay enought attention to the powerpoint presentation.Preperation involved working on the detail of the training session and also draft my notes of what i was going to say. I went through each element of the course carefully, drafted a separate set of notes for each element but did not place them in a file which was making me confused and lost. I did not cover Ice breaker but aafter i had a good introduction and attention of the learners. Main sect ions were informative. No clear aims and objectives And tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. 5. Evaluate the course It is a socially interactive process after which the participants should feel  confident that htey have all learned from the experience. Additionally, it should also be effecitve i terms of achieving the trianing objectives which i need to develop by having Smart objectives and a lot of activities. 6. Analysis and review It is rare for a training session that is being run for the first time to achieve every single aspect of every objective. Analysis and review is the final stage of the systematic trianing cycle which helped me to reveal areas that need to be improved and showed me what do i need to work on. 2 RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE MY FUTURE PERFORMANCE: 1. IceBreaker It is very important to get the participants talking to each other and to relax because people can be quite intimidated at courses, especially in front of a big group so more i get them to relax and enjoy it, the more easily they will learn. 2. Running a trainning session In advance of actually running a session, i will need to go through my notes and learn them so well that i will not need to refer to them because it lack energy

Strong Inventory analisys and MBTI Personal Statement

Strong Inventory analisys and MBTI - Personal Statement Example My MBTI test reveals that my MBTI type is INFJ. This personality type is the short form for Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging People who belong to this type are generated Introverted Intuition with Extraverted Feeling. According to Personality Page (2010), â€Å"As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition†. This is to say that we look more to ourselves though we are not selfish. The reason we would look more to ourselves is because we are introverts and do not easily associate with people. Introverts are person who tends to focus on their own thoughts and feelings (EnglishTest.Net, 2011). Instead of making friend with almost everyone who comes their way, we would rather â€Å"direct their energy towards the inner world of thoughts and emotions† (Team Technology, 1995). For this reason, the INFJ personality type thinks and invents a lot. The possibility of dealing with external influence is judged by how we feel about them and how they suit our way of doing things. This is to say that we are not easily influenced. We will do things only because we feel it is right for us to do it. Personality Pages describes INFJs as people who â€Å"are gentle, caring, complex, highly intuitive, artistic and creative who live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities.† It is believed that only 1% of the world’s population has this personality meaning it is the most uncommon. Functional Preference Ordering According to personality page (2010), there are four functional preference ordering for the INFJ which are Dominant (Introverted Intuition), Auxiliary (Extraverted Feeling), Tertiary (Introverted Thinking) and Inferior (Extraverted Sensing). According to Butt (2010), â€Å"Introverted intuitive, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes†. The strength or advantage of this preference ordering lies in the fact that because the introve rted intuitive requires greater clarity of perception, they are deep thinkers and do not take decisions briskly. With the extraverted feeling, Butt holds the view that they â€Å"express a range of emotion and opinions of, for and about people and find themselves caught between the desire to express their wealth of feelings and moral conclusions about the actions and attitudes of others, and the awareness of the consequences of unbridled candor.† The strength in this ordering or preference is that such people are very selfless and put others first. This is seen in their habit of being caring, loving, empathetic and generous. The introverted thinking ordering also has to do with people â€Å"make decisions based on logic, so the introverted thinking function allows a person to categorize and analyze data† (My Personality Info, 2011). The final type which is extraverted sensing also carries a lot of strengths and advantages. Such a person believes in personal experience and cannot be persuaded easily to do something out of his wish. According to My Personality Info, extraverted sensing â€Å"is the ability to be keen to what is seen, smelled, touched, heard and tasted.† Relation of my MBTI to my Career Interests My career interest is in becoming an individual therapist and also to take up careers in teaching and taking to counseling and clergy work. I find this ambition so linked with my MBTI personality type. This is because as per my type, I am visionary, understand people and situation, highly principled, sensitive and compassionate, service-oriented, value authentic relationship and I dislike dealing with details unless they enhance or promote my vision† (Personality Page, 2010). These are traits that are shared in an individual therapist. This is because according to Therapists.Net, an individual therapists help others â€Å"to learn to be more confident in yourself, to make your voice heard through communication, to validate you r own emotions, to learn to love yourself, and to learn better ways of coping with anger, sadness and stress (and not rely on your

The Case of Wooden Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Case of Wooden - Essay Example The employers are neglecting the safety conditions require to dispose of the wooden dust and reduce or eliminate the risk of any unnecessary event from happening. There seems to be less emphasis on the safety precautions and safe workplace environment rules in the company premises. The employees of wooden seem to be concerned about the possible impacts of lack of measures regarding the issue. The employers are, however, neglecting their duty to carefully formulate a strategy where employees may be provided with a safe, clean and secure place to work. The Safety coordinator seems to reject the concerns, which is an alarming situation. The safety coordinator has the duty to perform all the necessary steps to make the workplace safer and better. Rhine is of the opinion that â€Å"wood dust is not explosive†. The claim can be forfeited by explaining the issue to Rhine using different examples where wood dust did cause the explosion. Parse’s statement can be used as supporti ng evidence as Parse explains the devastating explosion in the plant near his place. However, if Rhine does not pay heed to the issue after explanation and further evidences, I still have the duty to report to the member of staff immediately above my rank.

Media Realtions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Media Realtions - Assignment Example Contact info Email: info@shorphanage.org Telephone: Toll Free (800) 000-0000 Public Service Announcement Sweet Home Orphanage announces a virtual family adoption program that will begin with an interviewing session for volunteer couples, which will be conducted on May 21, 2013 between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Hotel Stanford, 43 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 11597. The Agency program will offer a sufficient environment for a healthy upbringing of orphans. It will also improve an emotional between the kids and the adoptive parents. Volunteer couples are invited n this program to fulfill the emotional needs of the orphans. This message is brought to you by the Sweet Home Orphanage Virtual Family Program Campaign. For information send an Email to info@shorphanage.org or make a call to (800) 000-0000. Backgrounder Sweet Home Orphanage is a non-profit organization. Donations received are spent to care for and seek adoptive families for orphaned children in New York. Sweet Home took the i nitial steps in upbringing orphans all over the world New York. We have, until now, housed more than 3,000 of the poorest orphans in our establishment , Sweet Home Orphanage, where they are offered with the highest quality of food, shelter, education and creditable protective care. The U.S. Department of Education normally awards Special Education Scholarships to 200 orphans, for six academic years for private school tuition. From Sweet Home Orphanage’s needs list, well-wishers and philanthropists can choose want they would like to fund for the orphan children in the center. One can, for instance, donate money online and be told precisely where the money has been spent as well as offer frequent updates through the website. Biographies Julie Batten Julia Batten is the Chief Executive Officer, Kent & Melinda Foundation-in that role, she is responsible for fostering a productive relationship between the organization’s trustees and staff. she was the managing director of L ittle Children Adoption Agency in Texas, and the Lyndon Kennedy Foundation in Chicago. Education Batten received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Havard University. In addition, she received a master’s degree in business administration from Havard University. Awards/honors She received the Charities@Work Corporate Excellence Award and- honorary degree (Doctor of Humanity) from the University of Washington. she is a frequent speaker at majority industry conferences she lives in New York with his wife, Michael. She has one son and two daughters. Biographies John Lee John Lee is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City. He is a specialist in temporary care and orphanage assistance-in that role, he is responsible for fostering a productive relationship between the volunteers’ couples, orphans, and staff. He also lead the Virtual Family P rogram. He also works as medical volunteer with Love Without Boundaries (LWB) and as a medical volunteer with United States Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). He has also been a psychological advisors to many local and international organizations. Award/honors The Charities and Excellence in the care and service

FINAL EXAM # 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FINAL EXAM # 3 - Assignment Example The Civil Rights Movement is said to be the basis of Black Power Movement and the Black movement started because the youth section of the black community believed that change through reform was very slow and revolt was the way to attain rapid change. Different theorists believe that there was no Black Power Movement and there only existed a Civil Rights Movement and the rest believe otherwise. Both the movements were quite different from each other but had certain similarities. The main difference between the two movements was that the Black Power Movement aimed at achieving the right for the blacks to determine their own future while the Civil Rights Movement promoted the goal of achieving integration of both the blacks and the whites. Second difference is that the Black Power Movement became a global movement for rights of the minorities and did not remain at the local level as in the case of Civil Rights Movement. The tool that was used to bring change through the Black Power Movement was revolution and in case of Civil Rights Movement the tool was reforms (Ezra 2009, 66). One of the most prominent differences between both the Movements was the Black Power one was violent in nature and the Civil Rights One was nonviolent. The main reason due to which both the movements started was to bring an end to the oppression that was being experienced by the blacks and due to this both the movements were led by black individuals. Both the movements even had the same aim of attaining an end to the discriminatory practices that were being carried out against the blacks (Joseph 2006, 48). The two main outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement was the enactment of the Civil Rights Act as well as the Voting Rights Act which were enacted within a difference of one year (Joseph 2006, 30 & 48). The Civil Rights Act helped the blacks in their struggle as that act restricted discrimination

Managing Conflict in Interpersonal Communication Essay

Managing Conflict in Interpersonal Communication - Essay Example This may not be common to all individuals because of the differences in our beliefs but truly speaking, granting pardon to an individual can really yield great results in enhancing positive communication. It is therefore a very important principle in management as it fosters positive communication. In order to show grace, there is a need to sometimes show willingness to demonstrate forgiveness and excuse the convicts’ actions. It is an act that comes out of an individual’s generous spirit and not out of provocation of rules and societal expectation. Grace isn’t demonstrated because we should but because of the will to grant it unconditionally. To fully understand the concept of grace let’s consider this scenario that two persons agree to share responsibilities and duties and on a particular day, when one of the persons is expected to perform his duties skips doing so because he realizes that he has a lot of work in office. His counterpart however decides t o do all the chores even when it is not his duty to perform. From the above case study the person who decides to take up responsibility when he shouldn’t be doing so in actual sense demonstrates an act of grace. It is worth noting that nothing has compelled this person to do so. He only does so out of will and does not expect a kickback when his counterpart comes back. From the case cited above, grace is said to be appropriately granted. It will however be inappropriate if the worker intentionally and repeatedly misses to conduct his duties with the notion that he will be helped do so. It is also an act of grace when someone foregoes own preferences while giving in to someone else’ preference. Grace also entails letting go of resentment, guilt and judgment about a coworker, friend or companion. When this is done, we release ourselves and others from consequences of guilt and blame. In addition, it is important to note that grace entails totally forgetting the bad sides of a worker, counterpart or companion other than hanging onto hostile feelings of the past that negatively impact on positive communication and management in general. Basically, grace should always comprise of an act of kindness, deferring needs or forgiving a wrong without an expectation of a payback. It is worth noting that showing grace is sometimes appropriate and sometimes inappropriate depending on the situation or problem in question. This is because there is a tendency that if it is always shown it can be easily misused by people who take advantage of kindness. For instance, someone might frequently abuse and upset others with a mind that pardon would be granted. This is out rightly wrong and therefore not appropriate to continue showing grace to the same person. When grace is granted and then exploited, a repeat of the same becomes inappropriate. However, in the event that grace is granted in good trust and another takes advantage, we should not take responsibility ourselv es. Being kind and always willing to pardon are worthy moral principles and therefore those who abuse grace are to take the blame. Ethical principles of self- assertion and self interest are not sufficient in interpersonal relationship and though it is seen as having the ability to create rich interpersonal relationship, grace is equally important. This is because we are all not perfect in what we do, more often we make mistakes, hurt others by what we say, or fail in performance of responsibilities and occasionally do

Managing service resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing service resources - Essay Example Medi-Call as a firm, works with the reception of three main categories of calls from its clients. This include, emergency calls, which would be considered as the most vital of all the firms operations, as they result to having the firms agents being on the phone, for an average time of thirty minutes (Young, 2008, 27). This however goes further to be spread over to a greater number of calls, whereby the customer, the client’s family, or even the neighbors are at times involved in the entire calling procedure. Technical enquiries, as well as reassurance calls, are also part of the buildup that the firm consists and works with. Technical calls normally come from new customers, as they are normally not certain, or rather used to the operation of the equipment in use. Technical calls last to approximately five minutes, as they are brief, and to the point. On the other hand, reassurance calls revolve around the effort of the firm. How exactly is this? Medi-Call advocates for its clients to make a call to the overall call center, with an aim to ensure that their equipment still work accordingly, and in line with what is expected of them. This particular category of calls varies in their time span, with most lasting to approximately six minutes. This is because, some of Medi-Calls clients spend a lot of time alone, and end up using this opportunity to strike long conversations on the phone, letting their bottled thoughts out (Lovelock, 2012, 82 ). Elderly institutions should not be overcrowded as this would be hard for them to have free space and disease that are contagious can be transmitted through various factors such as air that is in low supply. Competition for basic needs such as water and other needs such as towels and washrooms may not be adequate. Large numbers would cause death, as nurses may be unable to account for each elderly person on time. The high number can increase the lack of

Hilton Embraces Collaboration with Information Technology Partners Assignment

Hilton Embraces Collaboration with Information Technology Partners - Assignment Example It was also crucial to embrace collaboration with technology leaders because then, it would be possible to focus more on the company’s core competencies. It is much easier for them to do so without having to worry about things such as systems implementation, research and development practices, and also technological solutions (Webb 1). One of the major problems associated with collaborating with five IT leaders might be their lack of cooperation. It may be hard trying to get these companies to work together and share ideas, and also work through their interdependence (Webb 3). For example; If AT&T and IBM refused to identify each other’s importance, it would be impossible for them to work together for the greater good of the company. Furthermore, it would be a major problem if the IT companies fail to adhere to the governance process that exists in the company. What this means is that, if there is a failure to follow the governance procedures that exist prior to the commencing of the contracts, there might be a loss of contract

Discuss and Examine the Free movement of Lawyers to provide services Assignment

Discuss and Examine the Free movement of Lawyers to provide services and establish a practice in another Member State of the Eur - Assignment Example Heremans (2010) indicated that by ratifying several laws the EU’s actions are geared towards integrating the national systems for legal practice within its jurisdiction. This paper is aimed at assessing the structures guiding the legal practice within the larger European Union. The main challenges facing the regulations and the implications of legal practice within the territory are also covered in this paper. In understanding these issues, the paper analyses the Treaty upon which the European Union is anchored, EU Directives on legal practices within the region, and authorities issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This paper focuses on movement of legal professionals within the European Union to provide services. History of EU Regulations Hill (1995) noted that the establishment of the statutory structures for legal practice within the EU is a process that has lasted for many decades. The issue first arose in 1957 when various countries within the region signed the EU Treaty (Hill, 1995). The then Article 59 provided for the freedom to legal practice within the territory. ... Article 50 also states that without partiality to the letter and spirit of Article 43, which confers upon EU citizens the right of establishment, a legal specialist may briefly render services in another country where the client is based, under the national legal structures of the place of service. Article 43 covers actual carrying out of economic activity in different EU Member States everlastingly by integrating into the economic system of that state (Tucker, 1997). Regardless of its unifying foundation, Giesen (2005) has noted that the EU Treaty is only the universal legal structure guiding the free movement of people and services across states within the EU and falls short of providing the finer details of service provision. In light of the EU legal limits, the invocation of the freedom of establishment is dependent upon secondary laws, which are passed to complement EU regulation of service provision in particular fields (Hill, 1995). ECJ Authorities At first, the issue of wheth er a legal practice needed to be excluded from the universal liberal clauses supporting freedom to offer services and the establishment of one’s self was contentious (Hill, 1995). Notably, the EC Treaty provides for exceptions only where freedom to render services and establish oneself may have an impact on execution of national government policy (Giesen, 2005). But Guild (1999) noted that the activities of legal professionals have no bearing on the implementation of government policy. In light these ambiguities the ECJ has delivered landmark rulings in favour of economic integration. Previous verdicts of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have been imperative in setting aside the legal hindrances imposed by member states on individuals who are willing to enjoy their right to

Culture, Ethnicity, and Health Care Practices Essay Example for Free

Culture, Ethnicity, and Health Care Practices Essay 1. Identify two religious or spiritual practices in which members of the Evans Family may engage for treating hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness. In the text, the Evan’s family is introduced as an African-American family, and members of the Baptist church. Members of this family have been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness, diseases that the family may attempt to treat through religious of spiritual practices. Daily prayer may be a spiritual/religious practice used by the Evans family to treat the mentioned health conditions. â€Å"African-Americans consider themselves spiritual beings, and sickness is viewed as a separation between God and man† (Purnell, 2003, p. 49). In an attempt to get closer to God, daily prayer would be viewed as a positive aspect to accomplish this, lessen the separation between themselves and God, to improve or abolish the sicknesses. God is viewed as the â€Å"supreme healer†, and the Evans family may also be asking God through prayer for healing to improve the illnesses, and restore their health. Another spiritual practice which may be employed by the Evans family to treat the hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness which they are experiencing involves the laying on of hands. African Americans may hold the belief that diseases can be cured when a person of faith gifted with special healing powers touches the afflicted person. This touch is usually accompanied by prayer. Sometimes, it is believed that â€Å"†¦the laying on of hands is thought to free the person from all suffering and pain, and people who still experience pain are considered to have little faith† (Purnell, 2003, p. 50). It is important that the health care provider be aware of these spiritual practices, their potential effect on the health care plan, to provide culturally competent care. 2. Name two dietary health risks for African Americans. Typical diets for African Americans can reflect the regional cuisine, but there are some foods and types of foods that are considered central to the diet. Salt pork, or â€Å"fat back† is a staple ingredient in many African American’s diet, and reflect the tendency of the diet to be very high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. This type of diet is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes; these conditions do occur at a higher prevalence in the African American population. Another diet related health risk involves the tendency to view people of healthy body weight as being underweight and needing more â€Å"meat on their bones† (Purnell, 2003, p. 47). Even in infancy, it is a common practice to avoid underfeeding by feeding newborn infants liquefied cereal mixed with formula and given through a bottle. â€Å"African Americans believe that giving only formula is starving the baby and that the infant needs ‘real food’ to sleep through the night† (Purnell, 2003, p. 47). These views may lead to a tendency to overeat, and be overweight, which is associated with the increased risks for the health conditions listed above. Health care providers can be in a position to give nutritional information, and recommend resources to assist patients to reduce dietary health risks, while maintaining the spirit of traditional cuisine. A magazine published by a health network directed at African Americans encourages healthier, culturally sensitive changes: Dr. Jones stresses that eating healthy doesn’t mean having to give up favorite foods. It just means preparing these dishes in a healthier fashion. That includes traditional favorites, like soul food—one of the oldest and richest cuisines in America. While it’s always been good for the soul, soul food is usually not so good for the heart†¦But soul food doesn’t have to be bad for you. You can continue to enjoy your ages-old family recipes in a new, health-conscious style by changing your cooking methods (Advocate Health Systems, 2007, p. 2). 3. What historical precedence is there for distrust of â€Å"outsiders† in Appalachia? People in Appalachia are characterized as having a distrust of â€Å"outsiders†, and are often unwilling to share their true thoughts and feelings with them. Part of the historical precedence that contributes to this distrust centers on their prior dealings with authority in the form of the large mining and timber companies. The Appalachian people were exploited by having their land taken by these outside business interests, who then subsequently attempted to control the behaviors of the workers for their own profits. There is a strong reliance on family and community; individualism and self-reliant behavior, and reverences for family lineage are highly valued within this culture. Appalachia has been characterized by poverty and isolation, which can result in cultural lag. There has historically been a limited access to education, as well as less of a valuing of higher education, with an emphasis placed upon learning skills necessary to enter the traditional employment fields and earn a living. These factors encourage the continuing distrust of outsiders. Communication styles reflect a general distrust and unease with â€Å"outsiders†. Materials or oral communication presented at a level that is beyond the understanding of the client may lead one to believe that the provider is â€Å"stuck up† or â€Å"putting on airs† and may add to a general feeling of distrust. Traditional Appalachians may value a large amount of personal distance, direct eye contact, and may value silence. They are often unwilling to communicate true needs in an attempt to be polite. Because of historical inequities with interactions with authority figures, including outsider health care providers, traditional Appalachians may not respond well to teach or instruction that is perceived to be an order; they may be much more receptive to hints and suggestions which solicit the client’s opinions (Purnell, 2003, pp. 73, 74). Because of improved technology, transportation, educational and employment opportunities, and more exposure to outside culture, traditional Appalachia may be changing, and the barriers and distrust of â€Å"outsiders† will be lessened. However, an Appalachian educator notes: The mountains have figured into all of it. The mountains kept us so isolated from the rest of the country and from other peoples involvement in our lives that we developed these characteristics: We are very independent, we are very contented with the places that we live, we are very close to nature, we have a deep sense of a belief in God, and we have a deep sense of being friendly and kind to one another and helping one another, and taking care of everyone else in their needs. And we also have a strong sense of whats right and what ought to be and a deep mistrust of anyone whos new, anyone whos a stranger. We dont trust change very well and we dont like change very well (Morgan, 2005, p. 1). 4. What evidence do you see of the â€Å"ethic of neutrality† in this case study? The case study presents a view of the client by using her preferred terms, language, and presents her views in an objective manner. The case study seems to reflect the point of view of Miss Leona, and it respects her unique perspective. The author uses the words of the speaker to explain her reasons for doing things in a way that reflects aspects of the culture. For example, rather than state that Miss Leona may have difficulty reading medication instructions, the author includes the information that she was only educated through the third grade, and states â€Å"She admits not using the salve given to her by Dr. Adi because he told her to apply the salve according to the instructions on the jar† (Purnell, 2003, p. 89). The author does not make any judgments relating to the health related behaviors of the people in the case study. Several elements that illustrate cultural domain concepts are objectively presented. The use of folk medicine is demonstrated, with no evaluation of the home remedies, including the application of a bacon grease poultice to the leg wound. Similarly, the author presents Miss Leona’s own explanations of her illnesses, including her statement that she has â€Å"low blood†, in a subjective manner. The â€Å"ethic of neutrality† is maintained through an objective account of her situation, as experience by the patient alone, within her unique perspective. 5. How might you help Miss Leona eat a more nutritious diet? In the case study, the elderly Miss Leona reveals that she has been diagnosed with a heart disease, which her physician attributes to a high fat diet. She believes that her heart problem is instead related to the recent death of her husband, based in part on the timing of the diagnosis. She has expressed her dissatisfaction with the physician who has diagnosed this condition, because he did not communicate adequately during the visit. Miss Leona reveals that her diet is mainly high fat meat, dairy, and simple starches; she doesn’t mention fruits or vegetables at all. These foods are easy for her to prepare, and readily available. She demonstrates the difficulty in bringing food to her home, because she has to walk up a steep grade and a footbridge to get to her home. She does rely on others to bring her groceries at times, but makes it clear that she values self reliance. In accordance with traditional Appalachian cultural values, Miss Leona would most likely not respond well to being told directly which foods that she needs to eat to stay healthy. Rather, a practitioner would have to engage her in more of an indirect chat that would show knowledge of Miss Leona’s unique situation, and respect her likes and dislikes, and her need for ease of food preparation. The practitioner would also have to address the issue of being able to accept assistance needed to even bring healthy foods into her home, since there are physical barriers present that make carrying heavy groceries up a steep incline, especially with an infected leg wound, and a heart condition, impossible. The practitioner would need to provide the appropriate support needed to help make food choices that Miss Leona would be able to prepare, and enjoy. 6. Describe two taboo views that African Americans may have about pregnancy. Taboos are practices that if done, are likely to result in harm coming to the mother, unborn child, or both in the case of pregnancy-related taboos. There are a few pregnancy taboos regarding photographs that African Americans might have, according to the text. There is the belief that pregnant women should not take photographs, or they may cause the baby to be stillborn. Another cultural belief that may be shared is that a pregnant woman should not have their picture taken, because it captures their soul. There is also a taboo that involves the dangers of purchasing clothing or other items for an unborn baby. This is said to be â€Å"bad luck† for the baby and mother. Baby items are purchased after the child is born to avoid causing harm to or misfortune to the mother or her child. Pregnancy taboos views may be held by African Americans, in addition to other prescriptive and restrictive practices regarding childbearing. The realities of pregnancy are related to many factors. â€Å"African American women usually respond to pregnancy in the same manner as other ethnic groups, based on their satisfaction with self, economic status, and career goals† (Purnell, 2003, p. 48). 7. Identify and discuss views that Dorothy and her parents may have about mental illness and medication. In the case study, Dorothy is a 42 year old African American woman living with her parents who takes medication for a diagnosed of bipolar disorder. African Americans have variations in drug metabolism, particularly of psychotropic medications. They show higher blood levels, experience a faster therapeutic response, and are at more risk for drug side effects. â€Å"Health care professional’ personal beliefs may about a specific ethnic group may account of how the drug is prescribed, and African Americans are at a higher risk of misdiagnosis for psychiatric disorders and ,therefore, may be treated inappropriately with drugs† (Purnell, 2003, p. 48). The Evans family may have seen these medications misused in family members or friends, and may have some negative view regarding the treatment of mental illness. In African American culture, there is a tendency to use medication on an â€Å"as needed† basis; when an illness improves, and the person feels better, she may stop taking the medication. This practice could be very detrimental to medication therapy for bipolar disorder. If Dorothy and her family engage in this practice, she would most likely not have had good responses to medication. Dorothy and her family may therefore have a negative view of the medication’s effectiveness. African Americans often attach a stigma to mental illness, especially since there tends to be a high frequency of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders, leading to a distrust of mental health professionals (Purnell, 2003, p. 50). The Evans are a religious family, and they may have prayed and attempted to achieve spiritual healing for Dorothy. When the illness persisted, they may have judged Dorothy as not being faithful enough to receiving healing. With these cultural factors coming in to play, there is a high probability that Dorothy’s illness presents a great challenge within the Evans family. References Advocate Health Systems (2007). How to make your family recipes heart healthy. Advocate Magazine 3(24). Retrieved 6/12/07, from http://www. advocatehealth. com/trin/info/library/ham/win00/trin1. html? fitness Morgan, K. (2005). West Virginias Appalachian culture. West Virginias Appalachian Music and Literature Resources. Retrieved 6/12/07, from http://www. ferrum. edu/applit/studyg/West/htm/wvcultur. htm . Purnell, L. (2003). Transcultural healthcare: a culturally competent approach. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company.

Nigerian Out Of Wedlock Births Health And Social Care Essay

Nigerian Out Of Wedlock Births Health And Social Care Essay The concept of childbearing, fertility and marriage house constantly been linked together in Nigeria. In the 1990s, out of wedlock birth was rapidly increasing despite Nigerians cultural influence on its population. Nigerians marry to have children, and marriage has meaning only when a child is born or in fact survives (Uche C. Isiugo-Abanihe, 1994). According to Olusanya(1982), marriage in Nigeria is so closely linked with childbearing that a change in the pattern of marriage necessarily influence birth rate and the rate of population growth. Data presented in this report are derived from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Nigeria in 1990. This was done by Federal Office of Statistics, Nigeria, and IRD/Macro International, United States. This survey interviewed 8,781 women aged 15-49. All statistical data and sample in this project was obtained from this article. In this dissertation, we will focus on the high level of unwanted pregnancy and out of wedlock birth occurring in Nigeria as a result of low levels of contraceptive use among women in many parts of the country. This project will reveals wide variation in levels of contraceptive use among married and sexually active unmarried women. Both groups have a significant unmet need for family planning, but the reasons for their need differ. we will use old and previous data and surveys collected and conducted during the 1990s by the Nigerian federal office of statistics to explain and solve theoretically and statistically the purpose of this project which is to explain the out of wedlock birth per woman between 1950s and 1980s in Nigeria. All statistical element of this project will be done using sampling and standard error. Selection from the entire country to determine the fertility, determinants of fertility and fertility regulations that led to an increase in out of wedlock birth during t he 1970s to 1990s. Relatively, little empirical work has been conducted for out of wedlock birth in Nigeria. The statistical used in this project has been conducted by the NDHS(Nigerian Demographic Health Survey) mostly drawn from the National Master Sample for the 1987/1992 National Integrated Survey of Households (NISH) and the 1973 Nigerian census result. There is wide regional variation in the timing of marriage among Nigerian women. More than nine in 10 women aged 20-24 in the North East and North West had married by age 20, compared with half to three fourths of women in the three southern regions (The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2005 series, No4). Nigeria is one of the largest countries in Africa and the most populated Black Country in the world with a population of over 100 million people, nearly twice the size of any other African country. The North East and North West regions are predominantly Muslim, the South East and South regions are mostly Christians, each with its own values and traditions regarding marriage, sexual behaviour, education and childbearing. There are major regional and educational differences in fertility. Women in the north have, on average, one child more than women in the south and women with no education have two children more than women who completed secondary or higher schooling. According to the NDHS survey, the fertility rate of a Nigerian woman between the ages of 15-49 from 1978-1990 moved from 5.9 to 6.0 significantly with an average of 6 children. Source: : Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 1990. Source: : Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 1990. The project reveals a big difference in levels of contraceptive use among married and sexually active unmarried women. Both groups have a significant unmet need for family planning, but the reasons for their need differ. The study directs attention toward far-reaching health policy and program responses that affect birth rate in Nigeria. The numerous ethnic groups found in Nigeria contribute considerable cultural diversity. In 1960s, Many article described the growth in Nigerias out of wedlock birth rate as a brief excitement amongst the Nigerian people that they had achieved independence finally, some presumed it to be illiteracy but a close study proved otherwise (study show that out of wedlock birth was more frequent among the most educated women (meekers, 1994b; Calves2000; Emina 2005), excitement of motherhood amongst teenage girls played a minor role, and also the brief civil war that began in 1967 and ended in 1970 played a bigger role in the whole analysis. The Nigerian ferti lity survey during 1981/82 put the average number of child birth per woman at 6.4 %( mostly out of wedlock). Although the data here suggest a slight decline from in the 1970s rate, the level is still relatively high.(www.onlinenigeria.com). During the civil war, many women were reluctant in getting married to prevent bearing the pain of being widows and war casualties. This effected their judgement and led to more pregnancies among women that are unmarried. According to some data analysed during that period by Donald Jonathan, Approximately 45% of children born among teenage women in Nigeria at that time were conceived outside of marriage; double the level recorded during the same period among women aged 18 and older (Donald 1979). This was a huge jump in the growth of the countries fast growing general population. The World Bank estimated Nigerias annual growth rate was rising during the 1950s. Although other sources differed on the exact figure, virtually all sources agreed that t he annual rate of population growth in the country had increased from the 1950s through most of the 1980s. The government estimated a 2% rate of population growth for most of the country between 1953 and 1962. For the period between 1965 and 1973, the World Bank estimated Nigerias growth rate at 2.5%, increasing to 2.7 percent between 1973 and 1983. Before 1970, the stigma of unwed motherhood was so great that few women were willing to bear children outside of marriage. Total fertility rate for the three years preceding the survey end mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49, by selected background characteristics, Nigeria 1990 Background characterises NDHS NFS Mean number Mean number of children of children Total ever born Total ever born Fertility to women fertility to women Rate age 15-49 rate age 15-49 Residence Urban 5.03 6.01 5.79 4.81 Rural 6.33 6.61 5.98 5.56 Region Northeast 6.53 5.75 5.95 4.34 Northwest 6.64 6.21 6.38 4.49 Southeast 5.57 6.99 5.72 6,53 Southwest 5.46 6.84 6.25 5.30 Education No education 6.50 6.41 6.14 5.45 Some primary 7.17 7,3 6.81 5,99 Completed primary 5.57 6.54 7.59 5.71 Some secondary 5.07 6.44 3.90 4.31 Completed 4.18 5.82 NA NA Total 6.01 6.49 5.94 5.41 Source: : Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 1990. Premarital sexual activity is most common among more educated women, who tend to postpone marriage the longest. In the southern regions, where educational levels are highest and the smallest proportions of young women are married, 41-69% of women aged 20-24 had had premarital intercourse by age 20. This compares with only 6-14% in the North West and North East, where educational levels are lowest and marriage before 20 is most common. The above diagram compares three-year total fertility rates as estimated by the NDHS and NFS. The two surveys, nearly a decade apart, yield almost the same total fertility rates (5.9 for the NFS and 6.0 for the NDHS. Both surveys do indicate that the fertility of uneducated women is fifty percent higher than the fertility of the most educated women. Reasons for increase in out of wedlock birth Three quarter of Nigerian women in the 1990s were married. Age at first marriage differed by region. In the north, women married early, at an average of 15 years of age. In the south, however, women are marrying later in life. Among younger women, the average age at first marriage is over 19 in the southeast and over 20 in the southwest. Women who marry later in life are more likely to have premarital sex which is a clear example of out of wedlock birth. Although the society does not approve of this behaviour, in regions where women stay in school longer and are, therefore, less likely to marry at a young age, premarital sexual behaviour is common. In the Southwest, where a great proportion of women aged 19-49 have completed secondary/ higher education and about one-fourth had not married by age 20, 69% had had premarital sex by this age. In contrast, in the less developed North West region, where only one in five women aged 19-49 have completed secondary/higher education, only a han d full said they had had premarital sex by age 20. These findings illustrate that in the northern regions, where most women in their early 20s have received no more than primary schooling, most sexual activity occurs within the context of marriage. In 1978-1982, Nigerias total fertility rate was 6.4 children per woman. By 1990, it had dropped to 6.0. The distribution of women by number of children ever born within the 1960s to 1980s is presented in the table below for all women and married women. This survey was conducted by the NDHS and documented statistically. The mean number of children ever born for all women increases rapidly with age, so that by the end of her childbearing years; a woman has given birth to almost seven children. The distribution of women by number of births indicates that almost one quarter of teens have already borne a child, and nearly one-third of women age 45 and over have borne nine or more children. Nationally and in all regions of the country, women aged 15-49 are having more children than he want. Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 1990. Rural women have about one child more than their urban counterparts (6.1 vs. 4.9), and women in the less developed northern regions also have more children than women in the south. Yet women in the South South and South East regions have the largest gaps between their wanted and actual fertility rates, while women in the North West are nearly matching their fertility goals. Overall, women living in both rural and urban areas have more children than they want. Contraception Knowledge and Use: in the survey conducted by the NDHS, it indicates that less than half (46 percent) of all Nigerian women age 15-49 know of at least one method of family planning. This means that over half of the women reported that they did not know any method of family planning. Knowledge of methods was slightly lower among married women and higher among never-married. Although the level of contraceptive knowledge in Nigeria is low, there has been improvement over time. In the 1981/82 Nigerian Fertility Survey (NFS), only 34 percent of all women reported that they had heard of any method Thus, in the 10 years between the NFS and the NDHS, the level of contraceptive knowledge increased by 35 percent. There were also large increases in the proportion of women who knew and used specific methods. Contraceptive use among married and sexually active unmarried women aged 15-49 Married women sexually active Unmarried women % using % using a % using % using a An effective traditional an effective traditional Modern method modern method Method method Total 7 6 33 14 Region North Central 9 4 32 5 North East 2 2 10 3 North West 2 3 23 3 South East 12 10 20 27 South South 12 13 35 16 South West 21 11 53 13 Education â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¾7 years 16 11 38 17 Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 2003.Contraceptive Use A small proportion of married women in Nigeria use a contraceptive method as seen on the above diagram. Contraceptive use in Nigeria is rare probably because of the preference for large families. In 2003, only 7% of married women aged 15-49 were using an effective modern method of contraception (implants, IUDs, the pill, the male condom, and female or male sterilization). Another 6% were relying on withdrawal, periodic abstinence, lactational amenorrhea or traditional folk methods. There are wide regional differences in overall levels of Contraceptive use: Only 2% of married women in the North East and North West regions are using effective modern methods, and 2-3% is using traditional methods. In the South West, in sharp contrast, 21% of married women are using effective modern methods, and an additional 11% are using traditional methods. In the remaining three regions, 9-12% of married women are using an effective modern method. It is noteworthy that overall contraceptive use is mo re than three times as high among married women with seven or more years of education as among those with less education (27% vs. 8%).(The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2005 series, No4). Other case of ctraception Contraceptive use is much higher among sexually active unmarried women. In all regions of the country, probably because of widespread societal disapproval of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and births, sexually active unmarried women are more likely than married women to use a contraceptive method (47% vs. 13%-Table 2). In the South West region, 53% of sexually active unmarried women are using an effective modern method and 13% a traditional method, compared with 10% and 3%, respectively, in the North East region. And unmarried women with seven or more years of education are more than twice as likely to be practicing family planning as their less educated counterparts (55% vs. 22%). In addition, 46% of unmarried women who use contraceptives choose condoms, compared with only 15% of married users (not shown). Low awareness, disapproval and uncertain supply keep contraceptive use low. Various factors help explain the low level of contraceptive use among married Nigerian women. Foremost among these is that women generally want large families. Yet low awareness of family planning, conservative cultural attitudes and uncertain contraceptive supply are also important influences. More than 20% of women aged 15-49 have never heard of any method to prevent pregnancy, traditional or modern. The women who are most aware of contraception live in urban areas, have at least seven years of education, or listen to the radio or watch television regularly (about 90% of each group). Even if women have heard of family planning, many do not know where to obtain contraceptives: Of the 78% of women who are aware of any method, only half know where they can get it. In the North East and North West regions, only 28-36% of married women and 24 28% of sexually active unmarried women who are aware of family planning know where to go for contraceptive services. A much higher proportion of a ware women in the South West region know a possible source of methods-77% of married women and 82% of sexually active unmarried women. Low contraceptive use is also partly attributable to the fact that four in 10 married women disapprove of family planning. A data survey conducted by the NDHS shows the reasons for not using contraception given by women who do not intend to use a method. Of the 68 percent of married nonusers who say they do not intend to use family planning in the future, almost half say they do not intend to use because they want children (47 percent). Other reasons given are religion (12 percent), lack of knowledge (12 percent), and fatalism (6 percent), which encompasses responses that imply that there is nothing the woman can do about the number of children she will have. Women under age 30 are more likely to say that they do not intend to use because they want children, while those age 30 and over are more likely to cite reasons such as being menopausal or lack of knowledge. SAMPLE METHOD NDHS sample method used in this project is as a result of a two-stage stratified design, and, consequently, it was necessary to use more complex formulas. The computer package CLUSTERS, developed by the International Statistical Institute for the World Fertility Survey, was used to compute the sampling errors with the proper statistical methodology. The CLUSTERS treats any percentage or average as a ratio estimate, r = y/x, where y represents the total sample value for variable y, and x represents the total number of cases in the group or subgroup under consideration. The variance of r is computed using the formula given below, with the standard error being the square root of the variance: Sampling errors for the NDHS are calculated for selected variables considered to be of primary interest. The results are presented in this appendix for the country as a whole, for urban and rural areas, and for the four health zones: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest. For each variable, the type of statistic (mean or proportion) and the base population are given in Table B. 1. Tables B.2 to B.8 present the value of the statistic (R), its standard error (SE), the number of unweighted (N) and weighted (WN) cases, the design effect (DEFT), the relative standard error (SE/R), and the 95 percent confidence limits (R~SE), for each variable. In general, the relative standard errors of most estimates for the country as a whole are small, except for estimates of very small proportions. There are some differentials in the relative standard error for the estimates of sub-populations such as geographical areas. For example, for the variable EVBORN (children ever born to women aged 15-49), the relative standard error as a percent of the estimated mean for the whole country, fo r urban areas and for the Southeast zone is 1.5 percent, 2.3 percent, and 2.7 percent, respectively. The confidence interval (e.g., as calculated for EVBORN) can be interpreted as follows: the overall average from the national sample is 3.311 and its standard error is .051. Therefore, to obtain the 95 percent confidence limits, one adds and subtracts twice the standard error to the sample estimate, i.e., 3.311+.102. There is a high probability (95 percent) that the true average number of children ever born to all women aged 15 to 49 is between 3.209 and 3.413. 148 Conclusion: According to the NDHS, fertility remained high in Nigeria during the1980s. The total fertility rate may actually be higher than 6.0, due to underestimation of births. This is why out of wedlock birth has constant increased during these periods. In a 1981/82 survey, the total fertility rate was estimated to be 5.9 children per woman. One reason for the high level of fertility is that use of contraception is limited. Only 6 percent of married women currently use a contraceptive method (3.5 percent use a modem method, and 2.5 percent use a traditional method). Levels of fertility and contraceptive use are not likely to change until there is a drop in desired family size and until the idea of reproductive choice is more widely accepted. At present, the average ideal family size is essentially the same as the total fertility rate: six children per woman. Thus, the vast majority of births are wanted. The desire for childbearing is strong in Nigeria. Half of women with five chil dren say that they want to have another child. Another factor leading to high fertility is the early age at marriage and childbearing in Nigeria. Half of all women are married by age 17 and half have become mothers by age 20. More than a quarter of teenagers (women age 15-19 years) either are pregnant or already have children. National statistics mask dramatic variations in fertility and family planning between urban and rural areas, among different regions of the country, and by womens educational attainment. Women who are from urban areas or live in the South and those who are better educated want and have fewer children than other women and are more likely to know of and use modem contraception. For example, women in the South are likely to marry and begin childbearing several years later than women in the North. In the North, women continue to follow the traditional pattern and marry early, at a median age of 15, while in the South, women are marrying at a median age of 19 or 20 .Although fertility rates are declining as modernization is increasing, Many women are still experiencing unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, with consequences ranging from interruption of schooling to health risks and economic hardship, all of which hinder efforts to improve their socioeconomic status. By educating and empowering both married and sexually active unmarried women to make informed and responsible decisions about contraceptive use and their desired fertility, the Nigerian government can improve both the health and the economic productivity of its citizens. BIBLOGRAPHY REFERENCE: Federal Ministry of Health [Nigeria]. 1988. NationalPolicyonPopulationforDevelopment, Federal Office of Statistics [Nigeria]. 1963. Population Census of Nigeria, 1963 Combined National Figures. Lagos, Nigeria Frank Falkner and J.M. Tanner, Vol. 3, 241-262, New York: Plenum Press. NIGERIAN DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY 1990 -federal office of statistics. Lagos Nigeria Unity,Progressand Self-Reliance. Lagos, Nigeria: Department of Population Activities. London, Kathy A., Jeanne Cushing, Shea O. Rutstein, John Cleland, John E. Anderson, Leo Morris, and Sidney H. Moore. 1985. Fertility and Family Planning Surveys: An Update. Population Reports, Series M, No. 8. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University, Population Information Program. Martorell, R. and J.P. Habicht. 1986. Growth in Early Childhood in Developing Countries. In Human Growth: A Comprehensive Treatise, ed. by National Population Bureau [Nigeria] and World Fertility Survey. 1984. The Nigeria Fertility Survey 1981/82: Principal Report. Vol. 1: Methodology and Findings. Lagos, Nigeria: National Population Bureau. National Population Bureau [Nigeria[ and Institute for Resource Development/Westinghouse [1988]. National Demographic Sample Survey (NDSS) 1980: Nigeria National Report. Columbia, Maryland: IRD/Westinghouse. Ransome-Kuti, O., A.O.O. Sorungbe, K.S. Oyegbite, and A. Bamisalye, eds. [ 1989] Strengthening Primary Health Care at Local Government Level: The Nigerian Experience. Lagos, Nigeria: Academy Press Ltd. Rutstein, Shea Oscar and George T. Bicego. 1990. Assessment of the Quality of Data Used to Ascertain Eligibility and Age in the Demographic and Health Surveys. In An Assessment of DHS-I Data Quality, 3-37. Institute for Resource Development/Macro Systems. DHS Methodological Reports, No.1. Columbia, Maryland. REDUCING UNWANTED PREGNANCY IN NIGERIA BY the Alan Guttmacher Institute

Literature Review On Social Networking Media Essay

Literature Review On Social Networking Media Essay The way people live these days is definitely different than the previous, people now tend to share their daily life events, news and even feelings and emotions with others. Social networks site (SNSs) has provided the facility of enabling them to do so. The Social Data Revolution (SDR) is the shift in human communication patterns towards increased personal information sharing and its related implications, made possible by the rise of social networks in early 2000s. While social networks were used in the early days to privately share photos and private messages, the subsequent trend towards people passively and actively sharing personal information more broadly has resulted in unprecedented amounts of public data. Janet Fouts in her book defines the social media as people engaged in conversation around a topic online. (Fouts, 2009). Her definition is a generalization to the whole topic, so there is another definition by (Boyed and Ellison, 2007) that is Social network sites are defined as wed-based services that allow individuals to three main points the first is to construct a public or semi-public profile within a system, the second is to formulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and the third is to view and cutoff their list of connections and those made by others within the system. This definition describes in specific the way people connect through the social network sites, and the nature and classification of these connections may vary from site to site. While we use the term social network site to describe this phenomenon, the term social networking sites also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ the term networking for two reasons: emphasis and scope. Networking emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). The term social network site is interchangeably used with the term social networking site, but they are not the same. The term networking somehow refers to the Or just remove the whole paragraph!! What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between latent ties (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily networking or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them social network sites. While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display a clear list of Friends who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can type oneself into being (Sundà ©n, 2003, p. 3). After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an about me section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profiles look and feel. Others, such as Facebook and twitter, allow users to add modules (Applications) that enhance their profile. The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer may see based on whether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or Friends only. Facebook takes a different approach-by default, users who are part of the same network can view each others profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other. After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site-popular terms include Friends, Contacts, and Fans. Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as Fans or Followers, but many sites call these Friends as well. The term Friends can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (boyd, 2006a). The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friends profile, enabling viewers to navigate the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions. For instance, some MySpace users have hacked their profiles to hide the Friends display, and LinkedIn allows users to opt out of displaying their network. Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends profiles. This feature typically involves leaving comments, although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available. Not all social network sites began as such. QQ started as a Chinese instant messaging service, LunarStorm as a community site, Cyworld as a Korean discussion forum tool, and Skyrock (formerly Skyblog) was a French blogging service before adding SNS features. Classmates.com, a directory of school affiliates launched in 1995, began supporting articulated lists of Friends after SNSs became popular. AsianAvenue, MiGente, and BlackPlanet were early popular ethnic community sites with limited Friends functionality before re-launching in 2005-2006 with SNS features and structure. Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobile-specific SNSs (e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited mobile interactions (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and Cyworld). Many SNSs target people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the sites community. Orkut, for example, was launched in the United States with an English-only interface, but Portuguese-speaking Brazilians quickly became the dominant user group (Kopytoff, 2004). Some sites are designed with specific ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, political, or other identity-driven categories in mind. There are even SNSs for dogs (Dogster) and cats (Catster), although their owners must manage their profiles. While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to separate themselves out by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society (Hargittai, 2008), even if that was not the intention of the designers. A History of Social Network Sites The Early Years The first recognizable social network site launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to connect with their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also joined, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. The first to combine these features was SixDegrees. SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to continue, the service closed in 2000. Looking back, its founder believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication, July 11, 2007). While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting strangers. From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente allowed users to create personal, professional, and dating profiles, users could identify Friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections (O. Wasow, personal communication, August 16, 2007). Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed one-directional connections on user pages. People mark others as Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001, independent of these other sites (see Kim Yun, this issue)*come back to this ref. Likewise, when the Swedish web community LunarStorm refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists, guestbooks, and diary pages (D. Skog, personal communication, September 24, 2007). Ryze.com was the beginning of the next wave of SNSs, it was launched in 2001 to help people control their business networks. Ryzes founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friends, primarily members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June 14, 2007)*revise this ref. In particular, the people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly interrelated personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and Friendster became the most significant, if only as one of the biggest disappointments in Internet history (Chafkin, 2007, p. 1). Figure 1. Distribution of work task interruption Figure 1. Timeline of the launch dates of many major SNSs and dates when community sites re-launched with SNS features That was a brief history of the general SNSs. The following section discusses Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook those are the three key SNSs that has shaped the business, cultural, and research background. The Rise (and Fall) of Friendster Friendster launched in 2002 as a social complement to Ryze. It was designed to compete with Match.com, a profitable online dating site (Cohen, 2003). While most dating sites focused on introducing people to strangers with similar interests, Friendster was designed to help friends-of-friends meet, based on the assumption that friends-of-friends would make better romantic partners than would strangers. Friendster gained trust among three groups of early adopters who shaped the site-bloggers, attendees of the Burning Man arts festival (Who are these?), and gay men (boyd, 2004)-and grew to 300,000 users through word of mouth before traditional press coverage began in May 2003 (OShea, 2003). *find this ref and try to make changes to the prev. paragraph As Friendsters popularity raised, the site encountered technical and social difficulties (boyd, 2006b). Friendsters databases and servers were not well equipped to handle its fast growth, and the site faded out regularly, that caused frustrating users who replaced email with Friendster. ** rephrase this paragraph à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Because organic growth had been critical to creating a coherent community, the onslaught of new users who learned about the site from media coverage upset the cultural balance. Furthermore, exponential growth meant a collapse in social contexts: Users had to face their bosses and former classmates alongside their close friends. To complicate matters, Friendster began restricting the activities of its most passionate users. The initial design of Friendster restricted users from viewing profiles of people who were more than four degrees away (friends-of-friends-of-friends-of-friends). In order to view additional profiles, users began adding acquaintances and interesting-looking strangers to expand their reach. Some began massively collecting Friends, an activity that was implicitly encouraged through a most popular feature. The ultimate collectors were fake profiles representing iconic fictional characters: celebrities, concepts, and other such entities. These Fakesters outraged the company, who banished fake profiles and eliminated the most popular feature (boyd, in press-b). While few people actually created Fakesters, many more enjoyed surfing Fakesters for entertainment or using functional Fakesters (e.g., Brown University) to find people they knew. The active deletion of Fakesters (and genuine users who chose non-realistic photos) signaled to some that the company did not share users interests. Many early adopters left because of the combination of technical difficulties, social collisions, and a rupture of trust between users and the site (boyd, 2006b). However, at the same time that it was fading in the U.S., its popularity skyrocketed in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia (Goldberg, 2007). SNSs Hit the Mainstream From 2003 onward, many new SNSs were launched, prompting social software analyst Clay Shirky (2003) to coin the term YASNS: Yet Another Social Networking Service. Most took the form of profile-centric sites, trying to replicate the early success of Friendster or target specific demographics. While socially-organized SNSs solicit broad audiences, professional sites such as LinkedIn, Visible Path, and Xing (formerly openBC) focus on business people. Passion-centric SNSs like Dogster (T. Rheingold, personal communication, August 2, 2007) help strangers connect based on shared interests. Care2 helps activists meet, Couchsurfing connects travelers to people with couches, and MyChurch joins Christian churches and their members. Furthermore, as the social media and user-generated content phenomena grew, websites focused on media sharing began implementing SNS features and becoming SNSs themselves. Examples include Flickr (photo sharing), Last.FM (music listening habits), and YouTube (video sharing). With the plethora of venture-backed startups launching in Silicon Valley, few people paid attention to SNSs that gained popularity elsewhere, even those built by major corporations. For example, Googles Orkut failed to build a sustainable U.S. user base, but a Brazilian invasion (Fragoso, 2006) made Orkut the national SNS of Brazil. Microsofts Windows Live Spaces (a.k.a. MSN Spaces) also launched to lukewarm U.S. reception but became extremely popular elsewhere. Few analysts or journalists noticed when MySpace launched in Santa Monica, California, hundreds of miles from Silicon Valley. MySpace was begun in 2003 to compete with sites like Friendster, Xanga, and AsianAvenue, according to co-founder Tom Anderson (personal communication, August 2, 2007); the founders wanted to attract estranged Friendster users (T. Anderson, personal communication, February 2, 2006). After rumors emerged that Friendster would adopt a fee-based system, users posted Friendster messages encouraging people to join alternate SNSs, including Tribe.net and MySpace (T. Anderson, personal communication, August 2, 2007). Because of this, MySpace was able to grow rapidly by capitalizing on Friendsters alienation of its early adopters. One particularly notable group that encouraged others to switch were indie-rock bands who were expelled from Friendster for failing to comply with profile regulations. While MySpace was not launched with bands in mind, they were welcomed. Indie-rock bands from the Los Angeles region began creating profiles, and local promoters used MySpace to advertise VIP passes for popular clubs. Intrigued, MySpace contacted local musicians to see how they could support them (T. Anderson, personal communication, September 28, 2006). Bands were not the sole source of MySpace growth, but the symbiotic relationship between bands and fans helped MySpace expand beyond former Friendster users. The bands-and-fans dynamic was mutually beneficial: Bands wanted to be able to contact fans, while fans desired attention from their favorite bands and used Friend connections to signal identity and affiliation. Futhermore, MySpace differentiated itself by regularly adding features based on user demand (boyd, 2006b) and by allowing users to personalize their pages. This feature emerged because MySpace did not restrict users from adding HTML into the forms that framed their profiles; a copy/paste code culture emerged on the web to support users in generating unique MySpace backgrounds and layouts (Perkel, in press). Teenagers began joining MySpace en masse in 2004. Unlike older users, most teens were never on Friendster-some joined because they wanted to connect with their favorite bands; others were introduced to the site through older family members. As teens began signing up, they encouraged their friends to join. Rather than rejecting underage users, MySpace changed its user policy to allow minors. As the site grew, three distinct populations began to form: musicians/artists, teenagers, and the post-college urban social crowd. By and large, the latter two groups did not interact with one another except through bands. Because of the lack of mainstream press coverage during 2004, few others noticed the sites growing popularity. Then, in July 2005, News Corporation purchased MySpace for $580 million (BBC, 2005), attracting massive media attention. Afterwards, safety issues plagued MySpace. The site was implicated in a series of sexual interactions between adults and minors, prompting legal action (Consumer Affairs, 2006). A moral panic concerning sexual predators quickly spread (Bahney, 2006), although research suggests that the concerns were exaggerated. A Global Phenomenon While MySpace attracted the majority of media attention in the U.S. and abroad, SNSs were proliferating and growing in popularity worldwide. Friendster gained traction in the Pacific Islands, Orkut became the premier SNS in Brazil before growing rapidly in India (Madhavan, 2007), Mixi attained widespread adoption in Japan, LunarStorm took off in Sweden, Dutch users embraced Hyves, Grono captured Poland, Hi5 was adopted in smaller countries in Latin America, South America, and Europe, and Bebo became very popular in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Additionally, previously popular communication and community services began implementing SNS features. The Chinese QQ instant messaging service instantly became the largest SNS worldwide when it added profiles and made friends visible (McLeod, 2006), while the forum tool Cyworld cornered the Korean market by introducing homepages and buddies (Ewers, 2006). Blogging services with complete SNS features also became popular. In the U.S., blogging tools with SNS features, such as Xanga, LiveJournal, and Vox, attracted broad audiences. Skyrock reigns in France, and Windows Live Spaces dominates numerous markets worldwide, including in Mexico, Italy, and Spain. Although SNSs like QQ, Orkut, and Live Spaces are just as large as, if not larger than, MySpace, they receive little coverage in U.S. and English-speaking media, making it difficult to track their trajectories. Expanding Niche Communities Alongside these open services, other SNSs launched to support niche demographics before expanding to a broader audience. Unlike previous SNSs, Facebook was designed to support distinct college networks only. Facebook began in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS (Cassidy, 2006). To join, a user had to have a harvard.edu email address. As Facebook began supporting other schools, those users were also required to have university email addresses associated with those institutions, a requirement that kept the site relatively closed and contributed to users perceptions of the site as an intimate, private community. Beginning in September 2005, Facebook expanded to include high school students, professionals inside corporate networks, and, eventually, everyone. The change to open signup did not mean that new users could easily access users in closed networks-gaining access to corporate networks still required the appropriate .com address, while gaining access to high school networks required administrator approval. (As of this writing, only membership in regional networks requires no permission.) Unlike other SNSs, Facebook users are unable to make their full profiles public to all users. Another feature that differentiates Facebook is the ability for outside developers to build Applications which allow users to personalize their profiles and perform other tasks, such as compare movie preferences and chart travel histories. While most SNSs focus on growing broadly and exponentially, others explicitly seek narrower audiences. Some, like aSmallWorld and BeautifulPeople, intentionally restrict access to appear selective and elite. Others-activity-centered sites like Couchsurfing, identity-driven sites like BlackPlanet, and affiliation-focused sites like MyChurch-are limited by their target demographic and thus tend to be smaller. Finally, anyone who wishes to create a niche social network site can do so on Ning, a platform and hosting service that encourages users to create their own SNSs. Currently, there are no reliable data regarding how many people use SNSs, although marketing research indicates that SNSs are growing in popularity worldwide (comScore, 2007). This growth has prompted many corporations to invest time and money in creating, purchasing, promoting, and advertising SNSs. At the same time, other companies are blocking their employees from accessing the sites. Additionally, the U.S. military banned soldiers from accessing MySpace (Frosch, 2007) and the Canadian government prohibited employees from Facebook (Benzie, 2007), while the U.S. Congress has proposed legislation to ban youth from accessing SNSs in schools and libraries (H.R. 5319, 2006; S. 49, 2007). The rise of SNSs indicates a shift in the organization of online communities. While websites dedicated to communities of interest still exist and prosper, SNSs are primarily organized around people, not interests. Early public online communities such as Usenet and public discussion forums were structured by topics or according to topical hierarchies, but social network sites are structured as personal (or egocentric) networks, with the individual at the center of their own community. This more accurately mirrors unmediated social structures, where the world is composed of networks, not groups (Wellman, 1988, p. 37). The introduction of SNS features has introduced a new organizational framework for online communities, and with it, a vibrant new research context. Previous Scholarship Scholarship concerning SNSs is emerging from diverse disciplinary and methodological traditions, addresses a range of topics, and builds on a large body of CMC research. The goal of this section is to survey research that is directly concerned with social network sites, and in so doing, to set the stage for the articles in this special issue. To date, the bulk of SNS research has focused on impression management and friendship performance, networks and network structure, online/offline connections, and privacy issues. Impression Management and Friendship Performance Like other online contexts in which individuals are consciously able to construct an online representation of self-such as online dating profiles and MUDS-SNSs constitute an important research context for scholars investigating processes of impression management, self-presentation, and friendship performance. In one of the earliest academic articles on SNSs, boyd (2004) examined Friendster as a locus of publicly articulated social networks that allowed users to negotiate presentations of self and connect with others. Donath and boyd (2004) extended this to suggest that public displays of connection serve as important identity signals that help people navigate the networked social world, in that an extended network may serve to validate identity information presented in profiles. While most sites encourage users to construct accurate representations of themselves, participants do this to varying degrees. Marwick (2005) found that users on three different SNSs had complex strategies for negotiating the rigidity of a prescribed authentic profile, while boyd (in press-b) examined the phenomenon of Fakesters and argued that profiles could never be real. The extent to which portraits are authentic or playful varies across sites; both social and technological forces shape user practices. Skog (2005) found that the status feature on LunarStorm strongly influenced how people behaved and what they choose to reveal-profiles there indicate ones status as measured by activity (e.g., sending messages) and indicators of authenticity (e.g., using a real photo instead of a drawing). Another aspect of self-presentation is the articulation of friendship links, which serve as identity markers for the profile owner. Impression management is one of the reasons given by Friendster users for choosing particular friends (Donath boyd, 2004). Recognizing this, Zinman and Donath (2007) noted that MySpace spammers leverage peoples willingness to connect to interesting people to find targets for their spam. In their examination of LiveJournal friendship, Fono and Raynes-Goldie (2006) described users understandings regarding public displays of connections and how the Friending function can operate as a catalyst for social drama. In listing user motivations for Friending, boyd (2006a) points out that Friends on SNSs are not the same as friends in the everyday sense; instead, Friends provide context by offering users an imagined audience to guide behavioral norms. Other work in this area has examined the use of Friendster Testimonials as self-presentational devices (boyd Heer, 2006) and the extent to which the attractiveness of ones Friends (as indicated by Facebooks Wall feature) impacts impression formation (Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman, in press). Networks and Network Structure Social network sites also provide rich sources of naturalistic behavioral data. Profile and linkage data from SNSs can be gathered either through the use of automated collection techniques or through datasets provided directly from the company, enabling network analysis researchers to explore large-scale patterns of friending, usage, and other visible indicators (Hogan, in press), and continuing an analysis trend that started with examinations of blogs and other websites. For instance, Golder, Wilkinson, and Huberman (2007) examined an anonymized dataset consisting of 362 million messages exchanged by over four million Facebook users for insight into Friending and messaging activities. Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2007) explored the relationship between profile elements and number of Facebook friends, finding that profile fields that reduce transaction costs and are harder to falsify are most likely to be associated with larger number of friendship links. These kinds of data also lend themselves well to analysis through network visualization (Adamic, Bà ¼yà ¼kkà ¶kten, Adar, 2003; Heer boyd, 2005; Paolillo Wright, 2005). SNS researchers have also studied the network structure of Friendship. Analyzing the roles people played in the growth of Flickr and Yahoo! 360s networks, Kumar, Novak, and Tomkins (2006) argued that there are passive members, inviters, and linkers who fully participate in the social evolution of the network (p. 1). Scholarship concerning LiveJournals network has included a Friendship classification scheme (Hsu, Lancaster, Paradesi, Weniger, 2007), an analysis of the role of language in the topology of Friendship (Herring et al., 2007), research into the importance of geography in Friending (Liben-Nowell, Novak, Kumar, Raghavan, Tomkins, 2005), and studies on what motivates people to join particular communities (Backstrom, Huttenlocher, Kleinberg, Lan, 2006). Based on Orkut data, Spertus, Sahami, and Bà ¼yà ¼kkà ¶kten (2005) identified a topology of users through their membership in certain communities; they suggest that sites can use this to recommend additional communities of interest to users. Finally, Liu, Maes, and Davenport (2006) argued that Friend connections are not the only network structure worth investigating. They examined the ways in which the performance of tastes (favorite music, books, film, etc.) constitutes an alternate network structure, which they call a taste fabric. Bridging Online and Offline Social Networks Although exceptions exist, the available research suggests that most SNSs primarily support pre-existing social relations. Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) suggest that Facebook is used to maintain existing offline relationships or solidify offline connections, as opposed to meeting new people. These relationships may be weak ties, but typically there is some common offline element among individuals who friend one another, such as a shared class at school. This is one of the chief dimensions that differentiate SNSs from earlier forms of public CMC such as newsgroups (Ellison et al., 2007). Research in this vein has investigated how online interactions interface with offline ones. For instance, Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2006) found that Facebook users engage in searching for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they browse for complete strangers to meet. Likewise, Pew research found that 91% of U.S. teens who use SNSs do so to connect with friends (Len hart Madden, 2007). Given that SNSs enable individuals to connect with one another, it is not surprising that they have become deeply embedded in users lives. In Korea, Cyworld has become an integral part of everyday life-Choi (2006) found that 85% of that studys respondents listed the maintenance and reinforcement of pre-existing social networks as their main motive for Cyworld use (p. 181). Likewise, boyd (2008) argues that MySpace and Facebook enable U.S. youth to socialize with their friends even when they are unable to gather in unmediated situations; she argues that SNSs are networked publics that support sociability, just as unmediated public spaces do. Privacy Popular press coverage of SNSs has emphasized potential privacy concerns, primarily concerning the safety of younger users (George, 2006; Kornblum Marklein, 2006). Researchers have investigated th