Effort Estimation Model

Effort Estimation Model Effort Estimation Model for each Phase of Software Development Life Cycle Information Technology Abstract Assessment of main risks of software development discloses that major threat of delays are caused by poor effort / cost estimation of the project. Low / poor cost estimation is the second highest priority risk [1]. This risk can affect four out of total five phases of software development life cycle i.e. Analysis, Design, Coding and Testing. Hence targeting this risk alone may reduce the over all risk impact of the project by fifty percent. Architectural designing of the system is great activity which consumes most of the time in SDLC. Obviously effort is put to produce the design of the system. It is evident that none of the existing estimation models try to calculate the effort put on designing of the system. Although use case estimation model uses the use case points to estimate the cost. But what is the cost of creating use cases? One reason of poor estimates produced by existing models can be negligence of design effort/cost. Therefore it shall be well estimated to prevent any cost overrun of the project. We propose a model to estimate the effort in each of these phases rather than just relying upon the cost estimation of the coding phase only. It will also ease the monitoring of project status and comparison against planned cost and actual cost incurred so far at any point of time. Key Words: Effort estimation, software development life cycle, Risk Mitigation, Project Planning. Section 1:Back Ground and Motivation Existing estimation techniques such as Functions point estimation and use case estimation rely upon the artifacts generated in earlier phase. These artifacts (i.e. Use case diagrams, class diagrams, sequence diagrams, activity diagrams, state chart diagrams etc) depict the architectural design of the entire system. These diagrams are not generated out of a blue or are not instantly available without putting any effort. Standard task set and the percentage of work duration associated with it decomposes the ratio of effort put in each phase. Activity Standard Work Effort% Definition Phase Business Requirements 6% Functional Specifications 10% Delivery Phase Detailed Design 14% Code and Unit Test 40% System Testing 20% User Acceptance Testing 10% Total Effort 100% Table 1 Standard Task Set Work Duration %age [4] It is evident in Table 1 that although major ratio (i.e. 40%) of work effort is put in code and unit test phase. The rest 60 percent effort is put in different areas of the project development life cycle. Hence this signifies the importance of estimating cost for these phases of software development life cycle. Usually the effort estimation is done after the analyses phase when the project reaches into coding stage. The cost / effort is measured in terms of line of codes for each functionality to be incorporated into the software. Therefore it is very clear to understand that only 40 % (i.e. as shown in table 1) of the total software development effort is estimated. Whereas this estimation is delayed until all the analyses and design has completed. We have adapted a different approach and suggest that effort estimation shall be carried out for each phase of the development process. We propose this model to avoid the risk of low cost estimation as earliest as possible in the development process. Current software cost estimation methods first try to know the size of the software to be built. Based upon this size the expected effort to be put is measured. Estimated effort further is utilized to calculate the duration (i.e. Time required) and cost (monetary/human resources) of the project. Calculating the size of project is the foremost logical step to be taken in order to estimate the effort. If we do not know the distance to be travelled we can not estimate the cost and duration per mileage. Therefore we also first measure the size of the entire project. We know that there are mainly three categories of software projects i.e. Organic mode: These are relatively small, simple SW projects (application programs e.g. Thermal analysis program) Embedded mode: System programs which are developed within tight HW, SW and operational constraints (flight control SW for aircraft). Semi-detached mode: An intermediate level (size and complexity, utility programs) SW projects with mixed experience, mixed requirements. It can be mixture of organic and embedded software as well. Therefore these categories of the software project would effect the estimation of each phase. We propose the modular approach to be adapted for the development efforts so that even large scale enterprise information systems can also be decomposed into a mix of several modules of organic, semi detached, and embedded system. Therefore the focus can be put in individual module accordingly. Following are the sections which individually discuss the methods to estimate the expected effort to be put in each phase of software development life cycle. Section 2: Measuring the Size of each project We do not try to measure the size of the project as a whole rather focus on measuring the size of each phase i.e. Analyses, design, coding and testing phases. This can provide us different milestones in the road map of project development. Our main objective is to suggest the estimation methods for analysis, design and testing phasing. We do not focus much on coding phase, as we would refer to the already done work for this phase. We estimate the size of each phase based on the artifacts and project products which are produced in that particular phase. E.g. the analyses phase produces the detailed user requirements document (use cases etc), design phase produces the class diagram, database Model i.e. E-R diagram, Sequence diagrams, activity diagrams etc. based upon these deliverables in each phase the time and effort to produce these are estimated. Figure 1 shows the step wise flow chart of entire project planning process. After the identification of project scope/objectives, characteristics and infrastructure, the identification of all the activities is done. This identification of activities at early stage may provide the strong basis to estimate the size of each individual phase of software development process. As this involves the work break down structure to be defined and can identify the product / deliverable of each phase. Figure also shows that based on this identification of each activity the cost and risk are estimated for each activity. As this is part of project planning. Therefore we can obtain this information in the most earliest phase of project planning and do not need to wait for longer duration as have to wait in existing cost estimation models to estimate the cost of construction of the software. Hence early stage activity identification can help us to estimate the cost/effort for each phase i.e. analysis, design, coding and testing. Figure 1. Step wise Project Planning [3] Moreover the responsibility of the analysis and design of the system goes to the systems analyst. Generally system is viewed in terms of a collection of sub systems therefore each sub system analysis and design is the responsibility of any individual analyst. Hence the human resource need is very clear for analysis and design phase. But when team work is done in coding and testing phases then more stressed has to be put to estimate the required human resources. Bruegge defines the following work products to be generated in each phase of software development life cycle. Figure 2 Software Life Cycle Activities. [6] Bruegge describes and decomposes the overall system model and design into three types of design models i.e. Analysis model Object Design model Behavioral model Section 3: Requirement Elicitation Analyses Phase Size and Effort Estimation In earlier phase of the development process the scope is defined. This may also provide an intuitive vision of project size to the experienced project managers. Unified Process for software development defines the work products in different phases. [2] During the analyses phase we propose Inception points to be identified and estimated. Inception points refer to the points which must be analyzed about in context of the interest of each stakeholder. As use cases represent the points of some business operation or systems functionality, which needs to be clearly understood and modeled therefore we call them inception points. We must know the accurate number of inception points and the effort needed to develop those points. Unified process for software development describes the following main work products in Inception phase. Definition of the problem Identification of all stakeholders Identification of Functional / non functional requirements Validation of requirements [2] Therefore all the main inception points can be clearly identified. Inception point will mainly focus around the identification of the users / stakeholders (possible actors functionality needed) and requirements. The size can be estimated for this phase by estimating the requirements. This can further be utilized to estimate the cost to build the use cases for each requirement. We suggest that the elicitation of requirements may consume effort / cost relevant to the number of requirements and user present. No of Requirements No of Users Project Size Less than 25 1-10 Small 25 50 11-50 Average 50 above 50 above Large Table 2 Project size based on no of requirements. Table 2 can signifies the need to enumerate each requirement, moreover each requirement will produce a use case and would also identify all its possible actors. Hence this can produce the effort needed to build those use cases which need to be documented in the software requirement specification document. Use cases can also be weighted to measure their complexity. So that the size can be determined and the time taken to create those use cases can be determined. No of Processing Points No of Actors No of > Use case Time taken to develop No of Person 1-3 1-2 1-2 3 Hours 1 4-5 3-5 3-5 5 Hours 1 5 + 5 + 5 + 7 Hours 1 Table 3 Use Case Types We have categorized the use cases based upon the number of processing points. actors, and the extension use cases which emerge from that particular use case. We conducted a survey to get the opinion from experienced software engineers and project managers in different software houses. We had distributed the questionnaire which primarily contained the questions to ask about the time needed to develop different types of use case as described in the table 3. We have processed the survey data and have obtained the average time for each category of the use case. Hence we can sum up the total number of inception points and can multiply them by the number of hours required for each type of use case. Summing up the time required in hours for each type of use case can then further give us the total number of hours required to build inception points. Section 4:Design Phase Size and Effort Estimation Object design model and behavioral model are produced during the design phase. We can estimate the size of each model alone and can sum the effort to obtain the total design phase effort. We can identify the Design Points, therefore we can add the weight associated to each design point and hence can measure the size and effort of that particular design point. This gives the lower level granularity to perceive the effort and size of each possible system feature to be designed. Hence further gives us tighter grip on the project progress. Following can be the possible design points: Entity classes Boundary classes Control classes System decomposition System integration Aggregation / composition of objects Generalization / specialization of objects Object interaction Interfaces Application logic 4.1Object Design Model Size and Effort The main artifact of the Object model is class diagram. Class diagram is comprised of several entity, control and boundary classes. If Entity Relationship diagram has already been produced then the effort can be lessened as persistent object are already been identified. Further more each type of classes need to be designed very carefully as control classes depict all the processing and interaction responsibilities among the classes. Where as boundary classes are responsible for the interfacing with either other system components, users, or external system for electronic data interchange. We declare each class to be a design point. A class in the system primarily depicts a systems object which interacts with other objects in systems environment. Hence a class does not dangle into a void but have solid connections and interactions with other classes that must be very accurately and rightly designed. Therefore we can categorize the class based on the complexity of their design. A class would be difficult to design if it has many associations , aggregations, generalizations, functionalities, overloading, overriding etc. Table 4 depicts the parameters to judge the complexity ratio of any class to be designed therefore the effort would be relevant to the complexity ratio. Complexity Ratio No of Associations No of Interactions No of Methods No of Interfaces Time Required (Hours) Low None None 1-5 1 2 2 Medium Single Single 5-10 2 5 5 High Multiple Multiple 10-20 5 10 8 Table 4: class categories for design complexity Our conducted survey tells us that based upon the complexity ratio any class can take 2, 5, or 8 hours for designing. Remember that this time is for design of the class but coding can take extra effort in the coding phase. Therefore if we can obtain the total number of design points and multiply them with the hours required to get the total hours required for the entire class diagram. 4.2Behavioral Model Size and Effort Behavioral model comprises of different diagrams which depicts the state, interaction of different classes with each other and the sequence of activities performed in the system to achieve any objective or perform business function. These diagrams are sequence diagram and state transition diagrams mainly. We declare each of these diagrams to be the design point as it is very essential to trace the possible states of the system so that a good design can be obtained. Whereas the sequence diagrams is the most sophisticated diagram that shows the complete step by step functionality and participating classes. But if the functionality of the existing system has been well understood then creation of sequence diagrams become easier. Our surveyed data reveals the facts that each of these diagrams can be different in complexity level i.e. low, medium, high. Parameters involved for determining the complexity level are summarized in table 5 below. Complexity Ratio State Chart No of States No of Transitions / Events No of Activity of State No of Actions associated with states Time Required (Hours) 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 3 5-10 5-7 5-7 5-7 5 10-15 7-10 7-10 7-10 8 Sequence Diagram NO of Classes No of Actors No of Events No of Control, boundary Entity Objects Time Required (Hours) 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 3 5-10 5-7 5-7 5-7 5 10-15 7-10 7-10 7-10 8 Table 5 Complexity parameters for behavioral model diagrams We perceive each of such diagrams as design point and can sum up the total number of hours required for each to obtain the total size and effort estimate to develop behavioral model. 4.3Data Model Size and Effort Mainly an objective is set to achieve an Entity Relationship diagram to depict the over all database design for the entire software system. E-R diagram itself involves several steps to be carried out. The size of database model itself may relate to the type of software project. Embedded software may not be using any large data base but may work using few files available in the read only memory. Whereas organic and semi detached software projects may require the data to be accessed from large databases. Complexity further increases when database has to be distributed. For the time being we do not discuss about distributed databases and leave it for our future work. Therefore we aim to estimate the size of conventional database to be built. The following table 4 summarizes the parameters that would affect the size of the database. Complexity Ratio No of Entities No of Relationships No of Aggregations Normalization Degree Query Joins Low 10-20 5-10 1-5 1-3 10-15 Medium 20-35 10-20 5-10 1-3 15-25 High 35-50 20-40 10-20 1-5 25-50 Table 6: Complexity parameters and Ratio to develop E-R Model The larger the number of entities to be designed, larger the database size increases. It is time consuming task to identify the persistent objects (i.e. entities) in the system. Then to design its attribute set. Different types of attributes i.e. composite, derived and multi-valued attributes are difficult to design and to decide that which entity would be the best suitable place for any particular attribute. Based upon the complexity ratio we had conducted a survey to know that how much time and personnel is required to build the E-R model. We have analyzed the data and got the average time and no of personnel required to develop E-R model. Complexity Ratio Days Required Personnel Required Low 7 10 1 2 Medium 10 25 1 3 High 25 40 1 5 Table 7: Required Effort for E-R model We have considered the flexibility range in the commencement of the activities as well, therefore have concluded the time and personnel requirement in to range of lower and upper limit. Section 5.Coding phase Size and Effort estimate Much work has been done to focus at the code phase effort and size estimation. Mainly Constructive Cost Model and Use case Point method strive hard to achieve this objective. But still there is room for the refinement. But as our main objective was to talk about the other phases e

Psychological and Presentational Realism in Moll Flanders by Daniel Def

Psychological and Presentational Realism in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe The Eighteenth-century literature is popular for its peculiar style of writing that gives the readers an insider’s view in the novel. By combining the two aspects such as Psychological and Presentational Realism, authors have created works of pure masterpiece such as Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. Defoe illustrates Moll, the protagonist’s psyche by writing the narrative in the first person to imply it as an autobiography. This allows psychological realism to work at its finest since the readers can feel a personal relationship to the character. The two important instances that occur with this type of realism are when Moll realizes that she is married to her own brother and her meeting with Humphrey, her son. In addition, Defoe also uses Presentational Realism to describe Moll’s initial career as thief with her first episode at the apothecary’s shop and later stealing a gold necklace from a child. The manner in which the setting is described gives the reade rs a sense of feeling of being there and at the same time experiencing her escape from the scene. Amongst Moll’s several relationships, she is married to a plantation owner, who owns property and has mother and a sister in America. The couple decides to move to Virginia to be with the family (Defoe 77). Moll’s describes that she lives in marital bliss and also enjoys the company of her mother-in-law. She exclaims â€Å"†¦I thought of myself the happiest creature alive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  until her world is shattered as she portrays herself being â€Å"†¦most uncomfortable in the world† (78). As she is listening to the story of her mother-in-law being a transported felon to Virginia from Newgate prison in London and sudden... ...hough she may not have kept in touch with her son. She is overjoyed by meeting him, which gives the reader a sense of hope that the story will end on a positive note. On the other hand, presentational realism is shown through Moll’s darker side when she turns into a thief to support herself and live lavishly. Her description of her deeds and exact account of what she acquires amazes the readers. The reader can connect to her by being a thief and at the same time passing moral judgments upon her. Some may congratulate her on being slick enough to steal from an apothecary shop while others may criticize her for robbing a little innocent child. Regardless of various opinions, Defoe’s narrative style involves the reader in the story, which makes it interesting to read. Works Cited Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. New York: Signet Classic Penguin Books USA Inc, 1996.

Essay --

diamalkan pada hari ini, masyarakat Islam sebenarnya masih tidak dapat lari daripada menjadi mangsa urusniaga berteraskan riba. Ini adalah kerana dasar ekonomi global adalah dimonopoli oleh kaum bukan Islam. Inilah cabaran yang telah mewujudkan jurang yang ketara dari segi ekonomi di antara komuniti di dalam Tamadun Islam berbanding komuniti lain. Selain itu, faktor sejarah juga telah meletakkan bidang ekonomi sebagai suatu cabaran dialog antara pelbagai tamadun yang terdapat di Malaysia pada hari ini. Kesan daripada penjajahan British di Tanah Melayu telah mewujudkan perbezaan sektor ekonomi antara kaum. Penjajah British melalui Sistem Kangany telah membawa masuk buruh dari India Selatan bermula pada tahun 1890 sehingga 1938. Mereka telah ditempatkan untuk bekerja di ladang-ladang getah. Sementara itu, menjelang tahun 1820-an, buruh-buruh Cina pula telah di bawa masuk ke tanah Melayu. Mereka ditempatkan di lombong-lombong bijih timah. Oleh kerana sikap gigih dan sanggup bersusah payah untuk maju, kaum Cina telah berjaya membeli dan menguasai sebahagian besar lombong-lombong biji...

Consumers Markets and Culture Essay

Compare and contrast the changing experiences of consumers from the year 1900 until present day. How do the theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber help to explain the changing consumer experience and the emergence of contemporary consumer society? â€Å"Until the eighteenth century the word consumption meant waste†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Williams, 1976) As consumers our experience of consumption today is exponentially different from that at the turn of the twentieth century in the recently urbanised and industrialised modern nation. Consumer culture is traditionally described in terms of the arrival of mass consumption as a counterpart to mass production as a result of the Fordist system (Miles, S). Choice is one of the biggest factors of the changing experience for consumers, during the 1950’s after the austerity years the now aging baby boomers were part of large scale changes to consumption patterns. For example as women began to enter the work place leaving less time to run the home, products were being developed to ease the burden of housework, washing machines, fridges and vacuum cleaners were among these products; the ever-growing use of hire purchase to enable consumers to afford these luxury products, combined with Fordist methods of mass production reducing the manufacturing cost of the products allowed the economy to grow strong once again. As television grew in popularity advertising was increasingly utilised by businesses to sell their products creating a far more impersonal environment while shopping for products. From this time the standard of living has been increasing up until present day (The Economist, 2008) with the aspirations of society increasing further still. Marx presents his theories as a materialist understanding of society, explaining capitalism as an unequal system based on the exploitation of the lower class (Abercrombie N et al, 2006), a system based on surplus value being extracted, the capitalist’s entire aim is to maximise the gap between value produced and value paid for (Slater D, 1997). Which a hundred years  ago meant using Fordist methods of production to bring down costs and reducing the skill required of workers which in turn reduced the compensation needed for workers. The Fordist method of production first seen around 1911 (Cohen and Kennedy, 2007), Alienated workers from the act of production. In his theory of Alienation Marx describes human essence as being realised through labour (Abercrombie et al, 2006) and working as an alien activity that offers no intrinsic satisfaction as the worker has no control over what is produced; this loss of ownership and loss of control over the workers own life due to managem ent organising and enforcing the labour. Where during the early twentieth our working classes were exploited and Alienated, now capitalists in the quest towards decreasing wages and widening the gap between value produced and value paid for are increasing looking to less economically developed countries where costs of production, epically workers are much lower. The counties known as BRIC economic group (Brazil, Russia, India and China). By indiscriminately consuming as a society, this encourages the expansion of exploitation of foreign working classes. Bauman proposes post-industrial societies are governed by ‘aesthetics of consumption’ rather than ‘ethics of production’ (Cohen & Kennedy, 2007). Organisations such as Apple, Nike and similarly Primark are guilty of this system, the former two retailing premium priced products produced at the lowest cost possible cost, by attaching symbolic meaning to the products. Primark produces clothes at the lowest cost possible which are retailed for the lowest cost possible; consumers buy into this system with no feelings of guilt, as these products allow consumers to display possessions acting as social glue possibly due in part to the increasing Alienation of workers as society is increasingly detached from production with the service based economy we ‘enjoy’ today. Durkheim’s concept of Anomie is similar to Alienation, discussing Anomic suicide due to people no knowing how they fit in with society where possessions are used as social glue allowing consumers to display their beliefs and social groups. It is harder to relate Marx’s definitions of the class system as the proximity to production is becoming increasingly distant for most of society. â€Å"Every capitalist is trying to decrease the wages and consumption of their own workers and entice everyone else’s workers to consume to their limit and  beyond.† (Slater, D 1997) Marxism, as other modern economic theories believe, that the production and consumption of products is intrinsically connected, in the sense that incomes from production and consumer buying power are two sides of the same coin.’ (Slater, D 1997). This theory is particularly relevant now due to the current economic climate. As the recession began in 2008 many workers lost their jobs or suffered significant cuts in wages this resulted in a widespread reduction in consumer spending as a result society ended up a cycle of ever decreasing demand where the government had to intervene to stimulate spending. Of the stimulus the VAT reduction had an impact by reducing the cost of products, to reduce ever growing back up of cars as they still needed to be produced to keep the workers in employment the car scrapage scheme was introduced temporarily (Lloyds, 2009). In this scheme two thousand pounds was offered if a old car was scrapped in exchange for a new car. Capitalists driven to mass production, not by greed but conditions of capitalism (Edwards T, 2000), if not competing, competitors will capture markets through lower prices. This practice discussed by Marx leads to situations like the above were supply far exceeds demand. A good example of over production can be found by searching for any random product on a supplier listings website, Alibaba.com have over 64,979 different belt buckles available. Durkheim predicted that modern industrial societies would over-emphasise the importance of individuality which would erode social stability and solidarity (Schmidt, R 2010), consumers are sold their own individuality through advertising campaigns a few examples are: Dell’s ‘Yours is here’, My Yahoo. Products are increasingly customisable, mobile phone cases are a hugely popular consumer item. ‘Durkheim argues that people can only be happy when their wants are proportionate to their means. Left to themselves, human desires are boundless†¦ together with necessarily limited recourses, creates great unhappiness or ultimately suicide’ (Abercrombie et al 2006). Society controls the problem of unattainable goals by restricting desires through values aimed at permitting only goals which have some chance of attainment. The X-Factor is currently the most popular television program (Plunkett, J 2010) as dreams of mostly unattainable goals are being realised for a lucky number of consumers. This  is a stark contrast to the 1940’s where society was based around family values, working together to repair Britain where jobs were expected for life. Anomie describes the situation when this framework breaks down, goals again outrun means and suicide rate rises (Abercrombie et al 2006). Weber predicted that society would experience unprecedented inner loneliness of the single individual (Cohen & Kennedy, 2007), this is a very accurate description of the contemporary experience, more than ever consumers are looking to the symbolic meaning of products to identify with their desired social groups and status. Social media is an interesting way to examine the inner loneliness experienced, taking facebook where consumers might have several hundred ‘friends’ who are merely acquaintances, with few solid friendships, while there is pressure to appear to have acquired huge numbers of ‘friends’ on social networks. To explore further into the loneliness of individuals, one in three households now have just one member compared with one in five in the 1970’s (BBC, 2004) this is known as the ‘meal for one’ society, more than half the meals eaten in the UK are now eaten alone. Traditional family unit is also becoming less common, with predictions indicating that in 2011 more than sixty percent of marriages will end in divorce (BBC, 2004). Weber discuses formal rationalisation of society as it becomes more industrialised and that this rationality is inevitable, the greater calculability required for rationalisation has affected greatly the consumer experie nce (Cohen & Kennedy, 2007), consumers – save for the wealthy classes, have an impersonal consumption experience. Self service check outs are a perfect example of this, once a shop keeper in the local store, would ring through and bag up your products now in the national and often multinational store, consumers ring through and bag up their own shopping. The systematic measured approach to contemporary life has created a predictable almost emotionless society, the consumption of university is a relevant example to the author, students are recognised by their identification number only, few if any university staff will know student’s names, no individuality between the students leaving students to display their personality and attachments through the conspicuous consumption of goods with symbolic meaning. Whereas the baby boomers will remember university involving debates with friendly tutors, with little care about appearances. This system creates greater efficiency, economic growth and  control of nature, the ‘iron cage’ describes this situation. However it does lead society towards the theories of Anomie and Alienation by Durkheim and Marx respectively. Calculability becomes an organising principle in the overall personality where ever more of our behaviour is informed by consistent logical expectations of human beings and of the environment. Spontaneity and surprise are experienced less and less in society, with calculability everything becomes increasingly predictable, unexpected events are planned for and avoided through policies and rules. The commoditisation of adventure is a good example of the disenchantment of society, Disneyland and all it represents takes the excitement out of spontaneity due to the ‘iron cage’ of functionalism and rationality. Weber sees class defined by income, (Cohen & Kennedy, 2007) explaining that classes form around market positions, amongst people who share similar life chances which is relevant to the differences seen in society today from that at 1900, social mobility much more fluid with government actively perusing policies pulling people up the class system. The theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber are relevant to society today; Weber the youngest of the theorists has accurate concepts relating to the bureaucracy experienced in the post-industrial age which explain well the changing experiences of consumers. Durkheim’s theories on Anomie in relation to individualism and the breakdown of society while religions stability isn’t the answer are partially interesting in explaining how society consumes conspicuously, using products as social glue to find a place in society. Marx’s idea on Alienation of workers, as Anomie explains aspects of the consumer mindset today. The globalisation of business taking the class struggle Marx discuses around the world. The current economic climate demonstrates that capitalism has failings even if the least of these is disconnecting individuals from a more intrinsic and meaningful existences within society. â€Å"Capitalism simultaneously produces more goods and less effective demand to pay for them.† (Slater, D 1997) References Abercrombie, N (2006) Penguin Reference: Dictionary of Sociology. 5th Ed Pengin, London. P 235| Abercrombie, N (2006) Penguin Reference: Dictionary of Sociology. 5th Ed Pengin, London. P 360| Abercrombie, N et al (2006) Penguin Reference: Dictionary of Sociology. 5th Ed Pengin, London. P 14| Abercrombie, N et al (2006) Penguin Reference: Dictionary of Sociology. 5th Ed Pengin, London. P 18| Alibaba.com (2010) Search for Belt Buckles [Accessed on 19/11/2010] Available at: http://www.alibaba.com/Belt-Buckles_pid3391301| BBC News (2004) Portrait of the ‘meal for one’ society [Accessed on: 25/11/10] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3445091.stm| Buttler, C (2007) The Industrial Revolution. Flow of History.com [Accessed on: 22/11/10] Available at: http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/eme/17/FC0121| Cohen, R and Kennedy, P (2007) Global Sociology 2nd Ed. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire. P 300| Cohen, R and Kennedy, P (2007) Global Sociology 2nd Ed. Palgrave Macmill an, Hampshire. P 81| Cohen, R and Kennedy, P (2007) Global Sociology 2nd Ed. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire. P 94| Desmond, J (2003) Consuming Behaviour. Palgrave, Hampshire| Edwards, T (2000) Contradictions of Consumption: Concepts, practices and politics in consumer society. Open University Press, Buckingham| Lloyds.com (2009) Unsold cars face storage exposures [Accessed on: s19/11/2010] Available at: http://www.lloyds.com/News-and-Insight/News-and-Features/Market-news/Specialist-2009/Unsold_cars_face_storage_exposures| Miles, S (1998) Consumerism – as a way of life. London, Sage.| Plunkett, J (2010) Gardian.co.uk: X Factor steals the show with 13.6m viewers. [Accessed on 29/11/2010] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/29/x-factor-tv-ratings| Schmidt, R (2010) Functionalism and Consumption Lecture Notes. I know sorry, I just really liked the sentence.| Sekora, J (1977) Luxuary: The concept in western though. Eden to Smollet, Balimore. As quoted by Slater, D (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press. P 176| Slater, D (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press. P 175| Slater, D (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press. P 176| Slater, D (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press. P 181| Slater, D (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge,

China’s One Child Policy is said to have created a generation of ‘Little Emperors’. Assess the consequences of most families having only one or two children Essay

China’s one-child family policy has had a great effect on the lives of nearly a quarter of the world’s population for a quarter of a century, after it was introduced in 1979. One of the effects is often referred to as â€Å"Little Emperor’s Syndrome†, which is when the only child received excessive amounts of attention from relatives causing a â€Å"spoilt brat† generation to occur. This puts both social and economic pressures on the families and children. By only having one child per family it allows the family to solely use its resources on that child; thus allowing the child to often fulfill their potential, as English lessons, music lessons and an additional range of extracurricular activities are normal. Although this has positive outcomes such as a rise in the number of Chinese children going to university, it has still mainly had the negative effect of the â€Å"Little Emperors† having large expectations of everyone else, with the government now being worried about a slump in the economy, being one of the many reasons why China may drop the one child policy. One of the main issues with the one child policy is that 336 million abortions in the time of the policy have taken place, which has caused a few moral issues throughout the world, with many people questioning the policy. Although many people in China have said that it has been a positive as a way to maintain the resources in the country and stop a large increase in the population. The number of abortions is paired with the issue of gendercide in China being at an all time high, people want a â€Å"Little Emperor† and not â€Å"Little Empress† due to traditional preference, this again presents a moral issue with the policy and may lead to future problems. Over 20 million girls are aborted each year and with over 50 million Chinese girls currently missing, there is a problem brewing in that there will be a shortage of women in comparison to men which may see the population and economy of China drop. The one child policy is also a costly program for the Chinese Government with over 400,000 people currently working for the policy and annually costs $708.8 million. This is not helped by the fact that the one child policy is creating a generation of youngsters that is not as good a working force compared to the current one; this is due to the fact that the â€Å"Little Emperors† are spoiled and do not expect to work for themselves (especially in urban areas, where there are wealthier families). It is thought that with the population (Fig 1) stagnating the economy may stagnate also, due to a smaller working force and one that is less willing to work, an example of the â€Å"Little Emperor’s Syndrome† is that there has been a doubling in the number of platinum jewelry sales in China, an expensive gift usually given to children. Although the parental expectations are high, only 2% of Chinese children are able to go to university, which many Chinese scholars suggest may be a sign of the future of the stagnation of the Chinese economy. This all shows that the one child policy may not be aiding the economy that has currently been one of the fastest growing in the world, causing a few people in China to question it. The policy has also affected the children themselves, as surveys have suggested that children born during the one child policy are significantly less trusting, less trustworthy, more risk-averse, less competitive, more pessimistic, and less conscientious individuals. All these characteristics are due to the fact that many of these children are born as an only child, and they now have present implications for the nation. These consequences include the number of criminal incidents to increase by 7.2% in the past 3 years and over $17 billion being spent on illegal drugs; this is because many young people create groups or gangs as close relationships in the place of ones with their siblings; but also due to the fact that a surplus of men has caused an increase in violence due to the increase in young males not marrying and becoming restless. This is not going to be beneficial for the country as it is causing youngsters to be misled into crime and will also be expensive for the government to try and expel from the country. It is also a thought that in the future there will be fewer people of a working age to support a growing number of elderly dependents, meaning that China has an ageing population. (Fig 2) Unfortunately, ageing populations have significant social and economic effects on countries, and with China’s fertility rate being predicted to be as low as 1.5 [a 2.1 fertility rate is needed in China in order for sustainability] the long term effects of the One-Child policy are likely to have detrimental effects for the future; including a stagnating economy. This is made worse by the fact that there are 60 million more men than women in China, which, is only going to lead to more social problems, such as a decrease in population in the future. (Fig 1)Which is shown by a recent census, China’s population grew 5.8% since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion — a significant difference from the previous census, which indicated a rate of 11.7%. (Fig 1) Finally, a positive effect of the one child policy is that it has severely reduced the population of the China by roughly 400 million. This has created an abundance of resources for China, which was under some pressure for necessities such as drinking water. However, China has dealt with that through projects such as the Three Gorges Dam, but also through the one child policy allowing for the surplus resources to exist due to the decline in population growth. The lack of 400 million people has also helped reduce global warming, because, by stopping these births China has averted over 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Overall, it is clear that there are many negative consequences that have occurred or that will occur due to the one child policy, which is why it is thought that by 2020 the one child policy will no longer exist and that it will become the two child policy. The problems are economic and social problems that revolve around the idea of an ageing population that will need financial support from a spoiled generation; yet, the only environmental factors are positive- with global warming being reduced and the resources in China lasting longer and there being surplus. However, it is obvious that the â€Å"Little Emperors† are going to have to support China in their time of need, which is due to the one child policy, and it is whether they can do it or whether they have been spoiled to the extent that they are unable to run one of the biggest economies in the world. Lastly, the one child policy has probably been good for China itself, but the way that other nations now perceive China after the â€Å"brutal† one child policy, may cause them future problems.

Geopolitics and globalization Essay

Geopolitics is a field of study that is responsible for analyzing history, geography and social science with a special reference to spatial politics through patterns of various scales, ranging from state to international levels. It gives a critical examination of economic and political issues in relation geographical frontiers. In this context, geography is defined in terms of function, size, location and relationship of resources and places. Traditionally, geopolitics indicates causal relationships and links between geographic space and political power. It is seen as a concrete line of thought used to essay specific and strategic prescriptions that lay their basis on the relative significance of sea power and land power in the history of the world (Gearnoid, 1998, pp. 33). The consistent concerns of the geopolitical tradition included the relationships between terrestrial and naval capabilities, the identification of international core areas and the geopolitical correlates of power in the world of politics. Geopolitics were conducted through a geopolitical system, that was seen as an ensemble of relations between the interests focused to an area, international political factors, ways, geographical elements and space. Geopolitics is a branch of political geography concerning the assessment of reciprocal relations between politics, geography and power as well as the interactions that arise from their combination. It is therefore a scientific discipline with a basic science nature (Klauds, 2000, pp. 12). Radically, contemporally use of geopolitics deviates from the original use in the 19th century. Originally, geopolitics served as a reflection of international affairs under a strong influence by social Darwinism. Under this, there was a limited significance of international law, global norms and multilateralism all of which signaled realist view of international affairs cynically. The concept currently denotes interplay of geographic space, strategic dominance and natural resources. In connection to earlier usage of the term, its growing use brings on board the need to reflect on the rise of multipolarity in the early 21st century and the renaissance of great power rivalry (Neil, 2005, pp. 23). As the world is changing, there has been great pressure upon traditional or old systems of societal governance and operation. This has been a movement towards globalization, a state where different social setups, economies, technocrats and political affiliates interact, share ideas, problems, challenges and experiences. A globalized society understands, anticipates and advocates for freedom and rights. Globalization encompasses the preaching of rights, justice, freedom, and peace continued support of masses and majority rule to citizens in promoting their own morality related believes. Through interaction, global community has become one society with commonalities in political, social, economic, cultural and technological beacons. Through the process, ideologies of many communities have been alignment towards the same point in both material and non material concerns of life. This change has influenced the original interpretation and applicability of geopolitics limiting the role it initially played (Agnew, 2003, pp. 45). Globalization is therefore premier buzzwords in 21st century, referring to a world which is stretched, interdependent, integrated, shrunk, interwoven, connected and less territorially segmented into various cultural and economic zones. Due to the above description, it is seen as shorthand towards economic liberalism spontaneously adopted by governments of the world, as a social modernization scaled up from national to whole world status with time and also as an economic technological process through the compression of time and space, highly challenging geopolitics (Gearnoid, 1998, pp. 34). Since globalization and geopolitics aspects show some degree of compatibility regardless of the time factor, globalization is of late seen to replace geopolitics. Geopolitics was seen as an issue concerning great powers and empires imposing territorial control to various boundaries whereas globalization is a world that knows no boundaries. This means that globalization has geopolitical roots. Globalization represents a stark break of the geopolitics of the cold war (Brunn, 2004, pp. 20). The free world economy was started during the cold war, through the mantra of the new globalizing economy. Globalization has initiated a new regime of market access through a revolutionary process by international organizations including WTO, GATT, World Bank and IMF. These institutions have aided in departing from geopolitics through enforcement of radical economic liberalism. As a result a new economic geography has emerged, characterized by tension towards continued regulation of economic activities and a world economy with organized flow of goods and capital in locations that are widely scattered. Therefore as geopolitics decay in the current society, there is significant aspiration towards a higher level of global economic development. (http://www. informationclearinghouse. info/article11747. htm) Through globalization, the geographical logic of the world has changed by addressing the disparities between the territorial and interactional modes of capitalism organization. Globalization does not only reshuffle geopolitics in its nature of globality, but through the combination of global networks and localized territorial fragmentation. Geopolitics era structured the world economy into territorial entities such as colonial empires, states and geopolitical spheres of influence (Greer, 2000, pp. 30). In another perspective, globalization is not seen to mark the end of geopolitics but reform it. The main novelty today is the role of economic prosperity, underdevelopment of cross-border flows, networks linking nation to hinderlands and the increased differentiations between regions and localities because of the existing biases along the spatial channel. This clearly shows that globalization has no marked the end of geopolitics, but entails its reformulation from an economic mapping based on territories to a more complex mosaic of states, localities, global city regions and regions differentially integrated into the global economy. This means there exists geopolitics of contemporally globalization concerning the operational and originality structure. To indicate that globalization has not marked the end of geopolitics, social and political boundaries have not disappeared but are in a process of reconstitution along and across long established ones (Larrabee, 2003, pp. 12). Geopolitics was hegemonic in nature. For many years, geopolitics has been known to limit political and economic influence of many countries through dividing the world into territorial empires and trading blocs. The limitation was facilitated through enactment and enforcement of powerful strains to minimize the involvement in political affairs and foreign economic affairs. Geopolitics was highly supported by the autarkic dogmas of soviet communism and competitive trading blocs which were partly blamed for the great depressions of the 1930s. After the Second World War, a strong internationalist American agenda was brought in to counterpoint the effects of the communistic societies by sponsoring international investments, currency convertibility and free trade. This effort towards a free world order provided the groundwork to internationalization of global activities. According to this explanation, we can say that geopolitics laid down the groundwork to globalization. On the other hand, Globalization can thus be said to be a kind of geopolitics that has undergone transition within time and spatial dimensions (Heymann, 2005, pp. 67). Twentieth century economic globalization has been linked to two issues that indicate the linkage between geopolitics and globalization. These issues were both political and economic because they aimed at promoting as realization of continental expansion and later to global expansion in political, economic and social spheres. First, expansion of market was viewed as a necessity towards social well being and national political well being. Second, economic liberty or independence was viewed as the foundation for freedom per se. these views opened a new page as far as geopolitics is concerned (Buqajski, 2002, pp. 43). Early in the 21st century America underwrote continental expansion but stimulated foreign market for their commodities. However, the power of the government to control private economic activities was limited by federal subunits and the divisions of power between the branches of federal government. Such branches included the congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court. This system depicts how firm and conservative geopolitics was. On the other hand it shows how globalization was challenged by the system of governance before starting to grow. Globalization was experiencing a pull apart scenario from tiers of government and federal branches. Down the years, the country and other several nations have extended their powers beyond continental to global frontiers. This means the role of geopolitics in modeling the system of governance is decreasing with time, but it shall not bet forgotten that it serves as the bottom line for change, the change being renamed as the globalization (Herd, 2002, pp. 65). For globalization to be completely explored, it is necessary to assess the role played by geopolitics in its structuring. This is because of the commonalities the two concepts have. Such process will involve comparison between hegemonic power against democracy or devolution. The regime makers in this changing world determine the speed, scope and nature of globalization, regarding how far they are free from geopolitics. The roots of geopolitics indicate the reforms in markets, concentration of political and economic power and hegemony (http://www. informationclearinghouse. info/article11747. htm). To show the current scenarios in issues of globalization and geopolitics, many media commenter, IPE scholars and policy makers criticize de territorial threats from Middle East on the failure to adjust and embrace globalization. This has forced United States of America to use force and bring Middle East to globalization through a slogan that disconnectedness defines a danger. The Middle East is claimed to lie centrally to a vast region that is disconnected to global flow of security, capital and people to sustain mutually assured dependence. Americans have claimed to be fighting geopolitics in the Middle East region. It is said that geopolitical imaginary in the Middle East is blind towards networks of transnational mobility across the region. The study and consideration of geopolitics in the region gives the micro foundations of globalization in the area. It is also widely believed that the rate of globalization is inversely related to extend of geopolitics (Gearnoid, 1998, pp. 35). Areas with high rate of geopolitics are thought to have low rates of globalization and vice versa, but none completely outdoes the other. This means both concepts are important for the involved elements around the globe to intermingle efficiently. This is built on pluralistic theory of globalization, stating that transnational processes and diverse global processes are heterogeneously shaped by agents and networks of alternative geopolitical imaginaries (Agnew, 2006, pp. 16). Specifically the way to globalization can be evaluated by considering the geopolitics of tourism since 2001 in the Middle East region. As opposed to many, tourism has significantly developed since then. Public and private sectors in tourism that initially focused on tourism from industrialized nations have redirected their efforts towards both domestic and regional tourist flow paving way to new, more regional and stylish tourist development. Today, new and emerging forms of regional Islamic tourism and Arabic tourism, propelled by oil income expansion and consumer behavior shifts have remapped globalization meaning in the region. Firms, states and various actors across Middle East are seeking negotiation on own interaction with global economy, promising to assert manipulation of their local spaces and territory and therefore define their itineraries of globalization (Klauds, 2000, pp. 19).

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz Essay

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Essay Example In this novel, Oscar is a character that can not maintain a physical relationship with a girl because of his obesity. (Diaz) has emphasized that sex is the fundamental element that an individual must exhibit in order to be a Dominican male. Dominican male in the novel has been described as an individual that has charm, physical attraction, and virility. All of these qualities have been replaced in Oscar’s persona by his obesity. Other characters in the play like Yunior and Rudolfo are able to make girlfriends and maintain a physical relationship with them because they are smart, and have captivating looks. Thus, Diaz has placed a lot of emphasis upon the significance of looks of men. When Oscar’s mother, Belicia reaches puberty and develops large breasts that appeal to all the boys around her, she chooses to date nobody but the most handsome boy in the school named Jack Pujols. The fact that this happens between the year 1955 and 1962 reinforces the concept that menâ₠¬â„¢s beauty has not just recently gained importance, but has been of significance for a long time in the past. Clare Spurrell has expressed the consequences of obesity on the physical relationship in her article Obesity and relationships. Spurrell supports the notion that people have been weight conscious for long. â€Å"Since the 1960s the population as a whole has become more sedentary with greater hours spent in front of the television, and an increasingly automated lifestyle† (Spurrell 1). ... The idea compares well with the issue of obesity in the present age. Proponents of obesity control programs are of the view that obesity lowers an individual’s confidence level and may put the individual into social exclusion. In a society that stereotypes obesity as a symptom of sloth, overindulgence and a lack of self-control, sufferers are often left with feelings of social exclusion and isolation. Even more so in a relationship, the psychological implications of the 'fat stereotype' can be equally disruptive. (Spurrell 1). Diaz and Spurrell have both maintained that obesity has negative effect on people’s physical relationships, though Diaz has gone a step further by not letting Oscar make love with anyone because of his obesity whereas Sara and her boyfriend, do make love with one another, but their relationship is complicated by the obesity that both suffer from and eventually, they part ways. Oscar develops several affairs in the novel by Diaz, though the intimac y never grows up to the physical level. First, Oscar finds Ana Obregon in the SAT preparation class. He finds her attractive and the two make friends with each other. However, Ana is taken over by Manny because he is physically intimate with Ana unlike Oscar, who is only good in conversing with her. Later, Oscar finds Jenni Munoz, a Puerto Rican girl. He does the same to her what he did to Ana i.e. kill the time speaking to her and never making love. Because of that, the end of their relationship is also like before. Jenni finds a boyfriend and breaks all ties with Oscar. Once again, Oscar is left alone. Break up of Ana and then Jenni with Oscar as well as the breakup of Sara with Jonathon essentially tells that sex is fundamental to the survival and sustainability of a relationship.