This paper focuses Thomas Kuhn's essay: "The Nature And Necessity of Scientific Revolutions" in which Kuhn contends that the majority of scientific knowledge is in fact not of a cumulative nature.
Abstract The writer of this paper ponders the question as to whether or not science is in fact cumulative. This paper analyzes Thomas Kuhn's essay: "The Nature And Necessity of Scientific Revolutions" which focuses on the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge as the central issue of consideration. This paper details Kuhn's two interpretations concerning what it means for science to be cumulative. The first definition contends that for science to be cumulative, old and new theories would out of necessity be compatible. In the second definition Kuhn proposes that were science to always move from some methodological lower to some higher type would result in a cumulative effect.
From the Paper "Proving that science is cumulative does not in any way require one to also prove that old paradigms are compatible with their newer counterparts. What we need to show, rather, is that paradigms do in fact build upon one another. If this can be shown, the cumulative nature of science will in turn become apparent (hopefully). Given the acceptance of a paradigm, a number of other developments follow. Within the structure of normal science one attempts to utilize the given paradigm in order to advance science. By applying the paradigm, scientists attempt to develop further theories within its framework. From there these theories will eventually lead to either technological or social advances (depending on the science under consideration). In this pursuit of applying the paradigm, we eventually encounter anomalies which cannot be resolved within the given framework. Simply because these anomalies exist does not make it necessary to overthrow the current paradigm. Rather, these anomalies do not become a problem until a specific group of scientists find it necessary for them to be explained."
Abstract The paper discusses the need for predictors of a successful licensure in the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The paper discusses indicators such as cumulative GPA, course grades, SAT and entrance examination scores as well as proprietary standardized tests such as the NLN Achievement Test and Mosby Assess Test. The paper also looks at the HESI Exit Examination that has a high positive predictive value.
Outline:
Brief History of NCLEX-RN
Literature Review
In-Depth: HESI Exit Examination
Recommendation
From the Paper "The NCLEX-RN originated from a combination of novel applications of statistical models, the need for a more precise indicator of nursing graduates' professional entrance competencies in terms of theory, clinical knowledge and skills and a need for a quality index of nursing education. In 1982, The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) became the new name for the State Board Test Pool Examination (SBTPE) (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. [NCSBN], 2005). The major changes included shifting the test reference from one that was norm-base to that of a criterion-based test and using Rasch's one parameter logistic model (NCSBN, 2005). This test model is more suited to examinations that wish to measure a number of competencies which the test candidate must possess rather than merely measure the ability of candidates to answer questions correctly in order to attain a passing score."
From the Paper "Science can be broadly defined as the development of knowledge about the physical world. The history of science is the explanation of the development of this knowledge. Science is often viewed as cumulative and progressive by its nature. Such views, however, can have profound implications because not all scientists or theorists follow the cumulative view. Scientists use both deductive and inductive reasoning to hypothesize the possibility of a useful theory. They also seem to be able to decide or discover more easily which theories are false rather than which theories are true. While the proving or disproving of scientific theory plays a vital part in the growth of science and scientific inquiry, the way that the actual progress or creation and discovery of new ideas and paradigms of thought is at the center of scientific research. Does science move forward in a cumulative and progressive manner or does it move forward in leaps and bounds? "
A paper which discusses the concept of mandatory overtime for nurses, studies its effect on them and their patients and how it is linked to the insurance industry.
Abstract The author of this paper discusses the cumulative effective of poor health on the patients of overworked and overstressed nurses. It illustrates how mandatory overtime is disadvantageous for all in the end and ties this in with the whole insurance debate. The paper takes an individual case to asses and illustrate the points raised in the paper.
From the Paper "In the particular case of the Maryland nurses, we can see how the interests of health care professionals and patients can in many ways be seen to be in opposition to the interests of insurance companies. While the bill was supported by the Maryland State Board of Nursing and the Maryland Nurses Association as well as by a number of patients' rights and consumer groups, it was opposed by hospitals and insurance companies and HMOS."
Tags: health, care, hospitals, sick, Maryland, General, Assembly, Fair, Labor, Standards, Act, Wages, and, Hours, Act
Abstract "Masters' and Johnson's Human Sexual Inadequacy is a cumulative descriptive account of the operation of the clinic for the treatment of human sexual dysfunction at the Washington University School of Medicine since 1959 and its continuation at the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation after 1964
From the Paper "Masters' and Johnson's Human Sexual Inadequacy is a cumulative descriptive account of the operation of the clinic for the treatment of human sexual dysfunction at the Washington University School of Medicine since 1959 and its continuation at the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation after 1964. The authors report in detail on the development of their therapeutic format and then discuss the evolution of therapeutic approaches to a dozen of the major types of sexual dysfunction presented by patients. Both parts of the book are written in a direct, clinical--but forcefully clear--manner that is free of therapeutic jargon. This makes the volume as much an invaluable handbook as an introductory text. It is also, however, an important historical document since it is a record of the emergence of the original, and the most influential, model for ..."
Abstract Discusses the arts since 1945. Wide-ranging styles of artists. Innovative and creative breakthroughs. Emergence of concept of social relativity and a pluralistic society. How the Postmodern world and plurality have redefined the role of the artist. Pluralism of art styles reflecting society. The New Realism as a cumulative creative systhesis. The pluralistic way contemporary artists engage in with their audience.
From the Paper "The picture of the arts since 1945 is extremely complex with trends toward fragmentation on one the side and multimedia unifications on the other. Radical changes have come about in science, technology, politics, economics, and the arts. Social relativity and the pluralistic society are replacing absolute values and uniformity; and artists are working in styles that vary from wide-ranging freedom to strict formalism, from imaginative abstraction to stark realism, from detached objectivity to passionate expressionistic involvement.
All this has shown that no one approach, solution, attitude, technique, or..."
Abstract This paper examines how during 2003, Toronto's tourism and hospitality industry was significantly hampered by four major crises: An outbreak of SARS, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow disease and an electrical blackout. It discusses how although every individual within the Greater Toronto area (GTA) was affected in some manner, the tourism industry was the most radically influenced and how the cumulative onslaught of the aforementioned events drastically reduced the number of visitors to the once thriving metropolis and threatened the livelihood of the city. It details the issues encountered by Toronto's tourism industry during 2003 and the recovery methods that were instituted in order to endorse the city as an attractive tourism destination.
From the Paper "In order to regain the trust of travellers, positive advertising campaigns were initiated through mass mediums to the general public to highlight the positive elements that Toronto had to offer. The majority of the campaigns launched throughout the city were aimed at promoting Toronto through two key marketing concepts. These included (1) product bundling - offering a complete package to consumers at a reduced rate, and (2) reduced pricing - discounts placed upon specific offerings of the tourism sector. These concepts were based upon a loss-leader marketing strategy, whereby a very low price is charged for a product or service to entice customers into subsequently purchasing higher cost items. Mirvish Productions initiated one of the first examples of product bundling."
Abstract This paper explains that Southwest's 4th quarter in 1994 was the cumulative effect of several factors: conversion of the recently acquired Morris Air Corporation to Southwest operations, competitors' persistent use of fare sales that Southwest was forced to match, and the airline-within-an-airline initiative by Continental and United. The paper examines each alternative by presenting advantages and disadvantages of each factor and determining the best alternative. The author recommends that, to meet the line competition, the recommended alternative is to concentrate on retaining and building share in existing markets before venturing into United's strong hub of San Francisco. Tables.
Table of Content
Problem I
Analysis
Alternatives
Recommended Alternative
Problem II
Analysis
Alternatives
Recommended Alternative
From the Paper "While it is true that Southwest does not offer any service in five of the city pairs served by United, it must be noted that in an effort to maintain its stronghold in California. Southwest had already employed additional aircraft to the California market to boost flight frequencies on competitive routes and by mid-Jan 1995, Southwest had deployed 16% of its total capacity (in terms of ASMs flown) to the intra-California market and 13% of Southwest's total ASM capacity overlapped with "Shuttle by United" by late Jan. 1995. Any further redeployment of existing aircraft would mean reduced frequency or closing down of other routes, involving loss of market share and revenue from other markets and thereby further weakening Southwest's market and financial position. Therefore, the question really is, as to whether any alternative existed for Southwest, which could enable it to compete with Shuttle on the five routes where it was not present, without affecting its other operations. In assessing these lacunae in Southwest's route network, it must be noted that all five routes are out of San Francisco, a major hub of United."
Abstract This report examines the roots of terrorism and the changes that came in the wake of the September 11th attacks. It provides an interesting perspective upon how aviation security was structured before and after the attacks. With the threat of terrorist activity increasing, the interest of many citizens is geared towards the actions taken to enhance security, both foreign and domestic. Great measures in airport security can be found in Section 4 of the report. In it, many of the post-September 11th, hi-tech gadgets are outlined. With terrorism constantly changing to counteract security measures, the need for follow-up investigations is vital. With the cumulative knowledge of past strategies of terrorism and precedent security changes, analysis of that research allows for the formation of conclusions. These conclusions can, in turn, be related to policy.
From the Paper "One huge international aviation organization is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). "This is the aviation wing of the United Nations. With their head quarters in Montreal, Canada, the ICAO is the forefront of international aviation rule-making" (Wilkinson 83). "When airborne terrorism started becoming an issue, ICAO was the first to create standards and recommend practices to deter a terrorist threat. The ICAO is comprised of a tiered committee structure" (Jenkins 84). It is made up of 185 member states and was born in Chicago after the appropriate number of states ratified the treaty. The aviation security panel actually is the body which publishes international standards (mandatory) and recommended practices that all member states to put into effect within their respective airlines."
Abstract Sir Arthur Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur" presents, in one volume, a cumulative and syncretic vision of knighthood. A knight has several roles, and his worth depends on how well he fulfills them. Malory's knights are primarily defined by martial success, although the knights of the Grail Quest have a separate set of standards to live up to because of the spiritual component of their quest. This paper describes the defining characteristics of a Malorian knight and addresses apparent inconsistencies in the text. The knights' characteristics are prowess in feats of arms, lack of caution, courtesy and devotion to the fellowship and, by extension, to the state. Relationships with women are usually conducted along the lines of courtly love. The ascendancy in Book VI of "pure" knights like Galahad does not indicate inconsistency on Malory's part, but rather a change in the Arthurian world, a need for a new kind of knight for a new kind of quest.
From the Paper "Many knights disobey some of the guidelines for knightly conduct, but the sympathetic ones usually have a reasonable excuse. Arthur orders young boys killed to avert the prophesy of his death but this is not strongly condemned. Tristram cannot ride to the aid of Lord Segwerdes' abducted wife until her husband has tried to free her or it will be too obvious that Tristram is having an affair with her. Lancelot shamefully rides in a cart because he is in a terrible rush to reach Guinevere. Tristram technically commits treason by cuckolding his king, but a chapter heading within the tale of Tristram de Lyones is entitled "Here Begynneth the Treson of Kinge Marke That He Ordayned Agayne Sir Trystram." Of all the knights, Sir Gareth is probably the one who lives most in accordance with the chivalric ideal."
Abstract This paper examines how variances in race and color, controlled, confined and humiliated native South Africans for almost a century. Decades of oppression took their toll on black South Africans and they eventually resisted against their oppressors. It looks at how the cumulative resistance of oppressed South Africans and sympathizers from other countries ultimately triggered the downfall of the apartheid-enforcing government.
From the Paper "The black citizens of South Africa, who were subjected to innumerable atrocities under the government of the Afrikaners, were forced into reluctant but violent protests. The majority groups within South Africa formed several organizations in hopes of peacefully obtaining the liberties to which they were entitled. These organizations, quickly banned and dissolved by the Apartheid government, included the African Political Organization, formed in 1902, the 1923 South African Indian Congress, and the African National Congress (ANC) of 1912. The African Political Organization was created in order to protest the injustices of the present government toward the oppressed people in general, while other organizations were created to protect only the rights of certain races or groups of people. The South African Indian Congress was such an organization."
Abstract This paper is an incomplete presentation of a series of monographs for carcinogens. All carcinogens chosen were chosen based on being carcinogenic components of cigarette smoking. Two Group One carcinogens - Benzene and Radon were chosen, two group two carcinogens - formaldehyde and acrylonitrile were also chosen. Each were discussed in this paper based on chemical use, derivation (natural or synthetic), safety levels, results of acute exposure and results of cumulative exposure.
From the Paper "The following monograms are all cancerous agents from Group 1, Group 2 and Group 2B carcinogens that result from tobacco smoke ("Tobacco smoke, 1999). Group 1 - Benzene, CAS# 71-43-2 Chemical uses. Benzene is used in many industries as a solvent and chemical additive, ranging from the rubber and oil industries to shoe manufacturers and chemical plants ("Benzene," 2006). Benzene is also a component of many consumer goods, primarily as a solvent, such as glues, art supplies of varying kinds, glues, paint strippers as well as various detergents and other cleaning supplies ("Benzene," 2006). How developed. Benzene is a colorless, highly flammable liquid formed from natural processes such as forest fires and volcanoes ("Benzene," 2006). For over 150 years, however, benzene has been produced commercially from coal and more recently petroleum."
Abstract Untangling the economic, political, cultural, technological, political and social forces that allow companies like McDonald's to prevail is a complicated task. This paper argues that the success and continuing growth of fast food companies is the consequence of advanced capitalism with broad international and domestic implications. Support for this argument is drawn from the consequences of the pro-corporate bias in legislation, agribusiness, cultural imperialism, privatization, unfair labor and trade practices. The paper concludes that the only hope for thwarting these cumulative consequences is a shift in public consciousness.
From the Paper "Food is not merely a commodity to be exchanged, but it is a cultural tradition (Jameson 57, Ritzer 87, and Schlosser 240). However, culture is largely shaped by those who are in power, and in an American-style capitalist economy money is power. Though I applaud Greenpeace activists Helen Steel and Dave Morris for making the world take note of fast food's evils when McDonald's sued them for libel, it is simply not enough (Klein 387-391). Revolution is the only adequate concept to describe the magnitude of social consensus in and within all nation-states that will be required to reign in fast food giants. American fast food corporations and their multinational kin are archetypal capitalists, exploiting the proletariat at home and abroad through dehumanizingly routinized and poorly compensated labor, cultural erasure and the destruction of the land which raises its beef (Ritzer 88). "
Abstract This paper examines Marcel Danesi's "Adesso! A Functional Introduction to Italian, Second Edition" in light of current theories in second language acquisition (SLA). The paper also analyzes how the text would function in a general classroom context. The paper relates that if "Adesso!" is evaluated in terms of meeting its stated objectives and in terms of the current theoretical models regarding SLA, then it clearly passes evaluation as a useful classroom textbook. The paper concludes that it can be highly recommended as a textbook for teaching Italian.
Outline:
Introduction
Organization Based on Interesting Topics and Cultural Contexts
Provide Activities for Students to Talk in Open-Ended Exercises
Inputs, Strategies and Tasks
Grammar and Vocabulary
The Question of Culture
Comparison of English and Italian Languages and Cultures
Opportunities for Further Exploration and Assessment
Cumulative Evaluation and Recommendation
From the Paper "The organization of chapters and themes around their frequency of usage in everyday Italian speech is, admittedly, a rather arbitrary way of designing a text. After all, it is unclear how Danesi has determined what situations will be most frequent or functional. This being said, the range of everyday situations explored in the text is diverse and there is a level of progression through the text with succeeding chapters building upon, and referencing, previous ones."
"The text does contain some dialogues that allow students to converse with each other. These are sometimes open-ended, comprising of "interviews" in which one student may ask another student questions with no fixed answers (Danesi 82)."
A discussion of the content of "Statistical Procedures and the Justification of Knowledge in Psychological Science," written by R. Rosnow and R. Rosenthal, analyzed through three readings of the article.
Abstract This paper presents three readings of the article, "Statistical Procedures and the Justification of Knowledge in Psychological Science," written by R. Rosnow and R. Rosenthal. It provides a quick overview of common problems in the first reading, discusses the problems that they highlight in the second reading and discusses the suggestions that they propose in the third reading.
Table of Contents:
First Reading
Second Reading
Third Reading
From the Paper "On a positive note, Rosnow and Rosenthal offer a number of suggestions for improving academic research. First, they claim that meta-analysis is needed in order to determine the true relationships behind data, and not just new interpretations. The process for this is outlined as one in which researchers check each other's work and run new quantitative analyses on the same data in order to determine whether the data is in fact valid. The effort here should be to further research, not to nit pick. They point out that researchers should "cumulate data not conclusions." In doing so, they argue, researchers will improve the general condition of the professional approach to data because they will be forced to justify their own data in stronger terms (as others will be checking them). They also conclude that researchers will have to do their own legwork in compiling the reviews of literature and presume that this will help further the field as a whole because researchers will not rely on surface analysis and narrative reviews, but will instead apply more rigorous methods of analysis."
Tags: interpretations, academic, quantitative, cumulate, data
