Analysis of a Media Source’s Coverage on a Research free essay sample

The Wall Street Journal published an article regarding a recent psychopharmacology study on depression done by Dr. Hunter that investigated whether pre-medication brain activity corresponded with treatment outcome. In addition, the article discusses the interesting results garnered from the placebo group v. medicated group analysis. While the news piece does a fair job in representing the study’s findings, the author does delve into extrapolations not statistically supported in the actual study. Fifty-one adults who were diagnosed with major depression were used in the study, and this was accurately reported by the news article (Wang, 2006). Hunter et al. investigated whether there were significant differences in â€Å"demographic characteristics, illness history, baseline illness severity, [and] final response[s],† and finding none, pooled the subjects for analysis (2006, p. 1427). This does give the Journal, who must condense the findings for the public, good reason to fail in reporting this. The study is experimental in nature, also using double-blind and randomized assignment to help rid the results of confounding variable input. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of a Media Source’s Coverage on a Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All of the subjects were given a placebo anti-depressant for a one-week lead-in; after this, half of the individuals were continued on the placebo while the others were given one of two anti-depressants. Electroencephalograph (EEG) readings were taken at the time of enrollment, after the lead-in period, and several times later (over an eight week period). The Wall Street Journal condenses this explanation down, and while the article abandons the jargon of an experimenter, it does give the impression of an experimental method being followed. When the news article explains how the researchers defined their variables they leave out valuable information. The author states that patients with certain brain-patterns â€Å"ended up responding better to antidepressant treatment[s],† but fails to mention how this was evaluated (Wang, 2006, p. 1). A Hamilton depression scale was given to judge improvement, giving reliability to the study’s findings. However, the news piece does accurately report that EEG was also used, in an attempt to find a decrease in prefrontal lobe activity. This study uses a control group, those maintained on the placebo, and compares their EEGs to those of the medicated group, but the main focus of the research was the search for experimental evidence supporting that the commonly used one-week lead-in can predict treatment outcome via brain imaging. The Wall Street Journal article focuses on only a facet of the study, and one that the researcher’s claim to have nonsignificant support for. Wang states that, â€Å"patients who developed this brain-pattern change ended up responding better †¦ than patients who didn’t,† which is misleading to an audience that has not read the actual research (2006, p. 1). While Hunter et al. do find that their EEG scans were a good indicator of treatment success, they also caution that: Although the placebo and medication group analyses yielded different brain regional predictors of outcomes, because of the absence of statistical group interaction we cannot conclude that changes in †¦ [the differing brain regions] †¦ differentially predicted outcomes (2006, p. 430). The news article wrongly insinuates that the study provided evidence for a brain-pattern that is linked to a good treatment outcome in depression. It is certainly true that this study offered outcomes that encourage research in this direction, and that the author also seems to believe that the EEG-pattern found is â€Å"a good indicator† for success, but after reading the actual experiment, Wang seems to have inflated the actual findings. Having critiqued the insinuations of the news piece, the extrapolations made by the author do have some merit. The researchers discovered that both the medicated and the placebo groups had a similar variance â€Å"predicted by the neurophysiological changes occurring during the placebo lead-in phase† (Hunter et al. , 2006, p. 1429). They offered some possible causal factors such as â€Å"pharmacotherapeutic alliance and pretreatment expectations,† these results seem to demonstrate a placebo-treatment effect, which offers even more reason to further investigate how a patient’s treatment induction affects his/her progress (Hunter et al. , 2006, p. 1429). Though not mentioned or referenced in the Wall Street Journal item, the ethical issues surrounding this experiment are noted by Hunter et al. Providing individuals suffering from major depression placebos for eight weeks is risky, using a double-blind procedure makes it even more dangerous. While the IRB board of UCLA did require a 15-25 minute counseling session during each patient’s visit, this is a massive step down from the psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic support offered at the recruitment area (a psychiatric outpatient hospital) (Hunter et al. 2006). Conversely though, this ethical â€Å"patch† does raise an interesting question for further research, lightly touched on by the study’s authors; if this psychotherapy (however minute) was responsible for a pre-treatment neurophysiological shift, and the shifts that were indicatory of better treatment outcomes could be identified, research could be done to more effectively meld psychotherapy and medic al psychiatry. It is understandable why media reports often leave out details of a research study, often the conclusions and discussion by the author/s of the study are of more interest to the public. However, when a media piece merely latches onto a nonsignificant observation or a suggestion for future research found in the study, the true findings of the experiment are overshadowed by the speculation of the piece’s author. When a media source offers information about a study, it is vital to maintain a skeptical and critical mindset towards the findings until they are corroborated by the primary source. It is important to look for information that supports the generalizability of the study’s findings. In the piece presented above, it is worth noting that the study was done on depressed individuals, other psychopathologies may not have any correlation to the results or conclusions provided. The media also commonly jumps from correlation to causation, whether directly or implicitly. While scientific information is the goal of research, sensitization by the media will usually occur to some degree.

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND WORLD WAR II essays

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND WORLD WAR II essays After the First World War everyone wanted peace, even Germany. The Germans had no reason to fight; they had admitted defeat and began to rebuild their society. But the Treaty of Versailles changed all that. It had diminished Germanys land, economy, military, and most importantly, honour. The (arguably) unjustified accusations of the League of Nations were enough to revive the anger of the German people, which eventually gave rise to World War 2. Signed on the 28th of June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was designed after the First World War, when the atrocious experience was still fresh in everyones minds. The diplomats that participated in the event declared that its purpose was to prevent such a battle from ever occurring again. However, some of the dominating powers had hidden agendas. In their discussions, Britain, France and (to a lesser extent) America had decided to place all of the blame of WW1 on Germany. While Britain simply wanted to punish Germany, France wanted to destroy her economy and incapacitate her military forces. The German people felt betrayed from the very beginning. They had accepted the Treaty of Versailles because they were led to believe that it would entail Wilsons 14 points, which Germany agreed with. However, once Germany was signed up these points were, for the most part, ignored by the Allies. She had no choice or say in the matter; if she had not surrendered, the Allies would attack. The objection of the German public can be seen in their quick change of attitude, at first they even refused to sign. They were being unfairly accused of carrying out such a dishonourable act. The Weimar Republic was quickly held responsible for disgracing Germany, and this created the proper environment for groups like the Nazis to take over. Disarmament was also a huge issue. The Rhineland was declared a demilitarised zone and allied troops were sent in to occupy it for 15 years ...

The concept of organizational change within management theory Research Paper

The concept of organizational change within management theory - Research Paper Example Organizational change is a paradigm for addressing the impact of new external and internal forces, changes in culture and structure within an organization (Mills, 2003). Basically, organizational change deals with the change management’s human aspect. A methodical organizational change is favorable when change necessitates all the people in an organization to gain new skills, practices, and knowledge (Poole & Van De Ven, 2004). By appropriately establishing expectations and goals, using instruments to enhance communication and information dissemination and dynamically pursuing means to avoid misunderstanding, stakeholders are more predisposed to accept a change at the onset and remain steadfast to the change despite of any difficulties accompanying it. Meanwhile, if one were to look deeply after monitoring and examining several organizational changes, an array of goals would appear to exist. These goals could be implied or formally stated, or they could be embedded in the deci sions and responses of the management (Kamoche, Cunha, & Cunha, 2002). To the outsider, the general goals can be grouped under such categories as reduced turnover, reinforced innovation, new strategies, enhanced teamwork and cooperation, strengthened motivation, etc (Kamoche et al., 2002). Organizational changes are usually intended for these several common goals. Fundamental to these more apparent goals are generally two underlying purposes: (1) changes in employees’ behaviors and attitudes, and (2) changes in the adaptation level of an organization (Kezar, 2001). The first objective of organizational change, to realize transformations in patterns of behavior, becomes evident if one identifies that the adaptation level of the organization is not strengthened except if a large number of its people behave or act differently with regard to their tasks and their relationship to each other. An organization does not function mechanically; it operates through its people, and every organization possesses distinctive approaches to decision making (Kezar, 2001). Hence, any organizational change, regardless if it will be established through a training course or a new structural plan, is fundamentally trying to encourage employees to accept and implement new behavioral patterns and rudiments for performing tasks and relating to each other. Likewise, organizations are constantly trying to adapt themselves strongly and effectively to their immediate internal and external environment. Due to the fact that organizational management has no power to totally control its environment, particularly the external one, they are persistently obliged to initiate internal changes in the organization which permit them to deal more successfully with new challenges and problems of the external environment, such as difficult social demands, technological advances, heightened competition, and new government regulation (Murray & Richardson, 2002). Organizational changes are normally la unched in ‘response’ to demands from the external environment. Nevertheless, in several instances, changes are initiated in ‘expectation’ of future demands and problems. What Provokes Organizational Change? A fundamental fact of the twenty-first century is that managers and organizations as a whole are confronted with insistent pressures of change. Organizations are ever more

Domestic Violence During Pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Domestic Violence During Pregnancy - Essay Example Domestic Violence during Pregnancy Introduction Like many other problems that people face across the world, there must be a reason to why domestic violence happens in various homes. Domestic violence as amongst serious problem that are common in many homes, leads to the occurrence of other problems, which have negative impacts on family members, especially the mother and children (Hester, 2007). This discussion will consider the causes domestic violence, the impacts of domestic violence on both pregnant women and the unborn or newborn babies, and the prevention measures for domestic violence. Overview People have acknowledged domestic violence as among the most severe problems to the health of married women. However, pregnant women experience more impacts from domestic violence than normal women do because of a number of complications due to pregnancy. According to the Center for Disease Control, domestic violence during pregnancy refers to sexual, physical, emotional violence that p regnant women experience, especially from their husbands (Huth-Bocks, Levendosky, & Bogat, 2010). Research has shown that pregnant women have a higher likelihood of experiencing physical violence from their husbands than normal women do. Domestic violence harms women more than other problems, such as hypertension, diabetes, and other serious health complications do. It has serious effects on both infant and maternal health because injury to the breasts, genitals, and abdomen are common during pregnancy. Therefore, domestic violence is a significant factor that leads to high proportions of perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality. Commonly, domestic violence during pregnancy can lead to fetal fractures, placental separation, prenatal hemorrhage, preterm labor, and rupture of the uterine walls. Domestic violence can indirectly affect the health of the pregnant mother and her unborn baby negatively because the mother can eat well as well or seek antenatal care (Estrellado, 2010). Nursing care considerations related to domestic violence assessment Domestic violence during pregnancy has become a severe problem, which affects both social and public health. Therefore, advanced practice physicians and nurses who help in providing the prenatal care play a vital role in identifying, diagnosing, and treatment for pregnant mothers facing domestic violence. In a number of hospitals, physicians and nurses are screening expectant mothers for domestic violence during the time of delivery, which is usually late for screening because in most cases, domestic violence takes place earlier (Estrellado, 2010). It is significant to for health institutions to implement a plan of screening expectant women during the prenatal visits, and give them necessary interventions. Such interventions include education about domestic violence and providing the expectant mothers with information on local resources like domestic violence centers and shelters. Expectant women should obtain a nu mber of resources, such as shoe cards and Domestic Violence Survivor’s Guide from health institutions (Estrellado, 2010). The shoe cards bear the phone numbers and names of the local agencies that are resourceful to domestic violence victims. These cards also bear information concerning safety measures. Domestic

What is Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is Biology - Essay Example Later, I learned that although this definition is sound, it is not detailed or acceptable. After joining the biology class, I realized that there have been numerous debates and definitions of the subject biology. Indeed, scientists especially biologists have conducted various studies on the subject with an aim of coming up with a universal, acceptable, detailed, and scientific definition and meaning of biology. As a result, scientific research has derived the acceptable definition of biology. The definition entails all aspects of living things. Scientists derived the word biology from Greek words bios, which means life, and the word logos that means study (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2015). As such, research defines biology as the study of the science of life and living organisms that relates to the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of living organisms (Bagley, 2014). Indeed, research establishes various fields of biology that include biochemistry, cellular biology, botany, ecology, genetics, evolutionary biology, molecul ar biology, zoology, and physiology (Bagley, 2014). The history of biology dates back to the ancient times when human beings had to study the animals they hunted and plants they gathered (Bagley, 2014). Aristotle is the first person to practice zoology where he performed detailed investigations of marine life and plants (Bagley, 2014). Theophrastus derived the first botanical terms in 300 B.C with respect to the nature and life cycle of plants. Moreover, German botanist Leonhard Fuchs wrote the first biology book in 1542 while Carolus Linnaeus inaugurated the initial Binomial classification in 1735 (Bagley, 2014). The discovery of microscopes allowed Robert Hooke to examine plant tissue in 1665 and derived the term cells. In the 19th century, botanists and entomologists discovered and described various species (Bagley, 2014). Indeed, Charles

Symbols in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House

Symbols in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Symbols of new beginnings for Nora In A Doll’s House the protagonist, Nora lives in a Victorian society where women are heavily controlled and treated as second-class citizens. The average Victorian women belonged to a stereotype that the women were required to stay home and clean, prepare meals and raise children. In marriage Victorian women lost ownership of their wages, all physical property, including land, and all other cash generated once married. The husband would represent both man and woman placing the husband in control of everything and that including the wife as if she was a piece of property. This was Nora before her new beginning. The playwright employs a variety of literary techniques and symbolism to convey the transition from a traditional Victorian woman to the image of her seen at the end of the play; an embittered yet sophisticated, intelligent, and newly empowered woman boldly escaping the infantilizing clutches of her old life. Amongst the symbols employed throughout the play many were one s in which represented a new beginning for Nora. From the point of act one she played the submissive, seemingly selfish, foolish wife refusing to acknowledge the strength that she was building. From the Christmas tree to the macaroons to the Tarantella to New Year’s day are very important symbols which are Nora’s loves, they are what helped her to obtain her new beginning, these symbols conveyed to the reader the beginning a new for her. Christmas is favored holiday for Nora, the level of happiness is exponential, but part of the reason why she is so happy is the joy that she has when playing the role of a wife and mother. The toys that she chose for her children suggests that she is fine with the status quo of Victorian society, girls being nurturing and growing up to be a homely wife and mother while boys grow up to be strong and powerful. Though during this stage her action of wanting to buy something for herself implies that she wants to make a decision for herself going against the status quo. At this point though unaware she starts to think of independence as if the thought of it was in the back of her mind. Though Torvald does not allow her to do so, the fact that Torvald will not trust her with money to buy herself a present demonstrates a major imbalance of power. We see her during the play ordering the Christmas tree and then decorating it, secretly acting independently an implication of growth of strength to be an independent woman growing, edging towards a new beginning. During Christmas Eve Nora believed her marriage to be one that had little to no issues. At the beginning of the second act, the tree has been stripped and the candles burned out; stage directions dictate that is should look â€Å"bedraggled†. This represents the end of Nora’s innocence and foreshadows the Helmer family’s eventual disintegration, the tree represents the family and its unity, the stripping of the tree foreshadows Nora stripping from the family unit and her becoming her own person and reaching her new beginning. She is starting to change significantly at this point. Though the first implication of a strength that was beginning to grow was in her little act of eating a macaroon. The macaroons was a treat that Torvald had forbidden Nora from eating. Nora claims that she â€Å"would never dream† of doing anything that Torvald did not want her to do, but this is disproved in the very opening of the play when Nora eats macaroons while she was alone in the living room. The macaroons come to represent Nora’s disobedience to Torvald, as this was her first act of disobedience seen by the audience. The macaroons show that Nora is the perfect little â€Å"pet† that Torvald views her to be. The macaroons function in the play was to demonstrate that although that some families and lives seem picture perfect, most of the time it is not true, as proven by Nora’s need to hide the bond and macaroons from Torvald. Ibsen’s use of symbolism in using such a minor pleasure impacts the story in a huge way by subtly showing the audience that Nora’s lifestyle is not as truthful, happy and dependent as it seems, an independent act can lead t o more and such implies her growing strength. After giving a tempestuous performance of the tarantella Nora asks that the macaroons be served at dinner, indicating a relationship between the macaroons and Nora’s inner passions, the tarantella and the macaroons can be said to be two of Nora’s loves which help to show the audience the truth of who she really is. The tarantella symbolizes a side of Nora that is fiery and passionate she could express her true nature in this dance. The Tarantella was a wild southern Italian dance, generally danced by a couple or line of couples. The dance was named after the tarantula spider, whose poisonous bite was mistakenly believed to cause tarantism, an uncontrollable urge for wild dancing. The cure prescribed by doctors was for the sufferer to dance to exhaustion. Pyscologists reason that the only form of expressing passion to its fullest, was the Tarantella. It is the fiery, passionate dance that allows Nora to drop the faà §ade of perfect mild-mannered Victorian wife it is the catalyst in which Nora is able to demonstrate a repressed side of herself, her true self. Ibsen’s placement of the Tarantella in the third act is an foreshadowing element which implies the breaking out of Nora. Her new beginning, is clearly seen in this dance something that is not controlled. Throughout the play Nora uses performances to please Torvald, and the tarantella is no exception; he admits that watching her perform makes him desire her. However this is only under controlled circumstances, and Torvald seems to enjoy that the performance impresses other people more than anything. But she can be only controlled to a certain point such can be said when Torvald was trying to give instructions â€Å"slow down†, trying to control her as he watched her practice before the actual event. Though this seems to be only done to please her husband with a performance, what drives her to perform is the underlying aspect that she can demonstrate her emotions to the fullest uncontrolled. New Years day is traditionally viewed as a new beginning and such can be said to be the Helmer family’s view, they are looking forward to this new beginning. Torvald starts a better paying job at the bank at which he works, Nora is almost free if not already free of her debt by New Years day. By the end of the play Nora has definitely made a new beginning for herself though not as expected; without her children and her husband. As the secret about the debt is found out by Torvald and she has reached an epiphany because of this that she â€Å"existed merely to perform tricks† blaming him and her father for treating her like a spoilt child and a plaything for their own entertainment. They wanted her to be ignorant and helpless, and thus far she has only tried to please them and in turn missing out on any opportunity to educate and improve herself. All the times she subtly rebelled or disobeyed or rather she was the one in control behind the scenes but now she is seen clearly, no more deception. Nora’s submissiveness to Torvald is no longer seen. She shows herself no longer as a child but as an adult woman these symbols that the author has employed has shown her development over time. Especially when Torvald fails to provide the strength that she needed, because of that she can truly say that she no longer loves him. Her realization that she wants to pursue her independence is not so much a transformation but an awakening to a strength that she had possessed all along and with this strength she can begin a new.

Socratic Citizenship as Salve to the Antinomy of Rules and Values :: Plato Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Socratic Citizenship as Salve to the Antinomy of Rules and Values It is not inconceivable that Plato would view the enforcement of rigid laws as a â€Å"noble lie† (Rep112)—noble as a guarantor of order in a just city, but misleading in its pretense of infallibility. The Crito, the Apology, and the Republic capture the tension in Plato’s work between a commitment to substantive justice and to formalist legal justice. In a system of substantive justice, rules are flexible and act as â€Å"maxims of efficiency† (Unger 90), proxies of justice and virtue. The system of formalist legal justice secures order and stability with rigid rules while risking miscarriages of particularity. This paper, then, is about Plato’s noble lie. Roberto Unger’s Knowledge and Politics provides an invaluable lens for examining Plato’s discussion of law and justice in the Republic, the Apology and the Crito. In the Republic, Plato sketches the outlines of a just, ordered city-state. The Apology presents Socrates’ defense against an unjust accusation before the court of law. The Crito sees Socrates accept his unjust sentencing to death and defend the rule of law. Unger’s work helps distill from these Platonic works a coherent platform of substantive justice and a critique of a formalist theory of adjudication. Moreover, while Unger’s arguments arrive in the context of a critique of liberal political theory, Plato nevertheless offers a response to Unger’s main critique of substantive justice, the â€Å"antinomy of rules and values† (91). The idea of Socratic citizenship, gleaned from the Apology and the Crito, seeks to resolve this antinomy. Roberto Unger examines substantive justice in Knowledge and Politics in the context of legislation and adjudication. Unger defines substantive justice as a mode of ordering human relations which determines goals and, independently of rules, decides â€Å"particular cases by a judgment of what decision is most likely to contribute to the predetermined goals, a judgment of instrumental rationality† (89). In the Republic, Socrates evokes the principles of substantive justice in his verbal creation of the ideal Greek city-state. In book IV, Socrates locates the ends of the ideal city-state in the four virtues: courage, temperance, wisdom and justice. Books I and II of the Republic deliver a scathing indictment against a formalist theory of adjudication. Formalist legal justice assumes that it is â€Å"possible to deduce correct judgments from the laws by an automatic process† (92) without reference to the purpose or end of the law.