Discuss the Claim Made by Some Sociologists That in Modern Societies Religion Is Losing Its Social Significance Essay

Secularisation is the process of the decline of religious beliefs. Secularization can be measured in two ways. Firstly, there is the institutional approach that deals with church attendance and the societal approach which deals with the decline of people’s beliefs. Of course which method one chooses depends on how you define religion. Some sociologists such as Comte, Durkheim and Weber as well as others all believe that religion is indeed losing its social significance in modern societies. They believe that with industrialization, people would turn to rationalization. However, there are others that don’t agree that religion is losing its significance. Firstly Comte believes that society would go through three (3) stages. The first stage is the metaphysical stage where everything is controlled by abstract forces, the second stage is known as the theological stage in which philosophy would explain society and the final stage, the positive stage is where science dominates the society. As such, he didn’t see the existence of religion at all in society. In addition, Durkheim believes that with industrialization and the introduction of science and technology, religion would lose its social significance. People would be more concerned with the material aspects of the world such as ‘partying’ and going to ‘fetes’. In addition, with the demands of a hectic life, people would not see the need to. On the other hand, Weber believed that with industrialization, people would turn to rationalization. That is, they would turn to science and as such religious beliefs and practices would decline. An example of this is where people opt to go to the doctor rather than have a ‘bush bath’. Shiner also believed that there would be a decline in religious thought and action in the society. Also people would start to question the scriptures and religious techniques. In addition, Wilson used statistics to prove that religion is indeed losing its social significance. Finally, Marx foresaw the decline of religion when the economic structure of the society had changed. On the other hand, there are sociologists that believe that religion will not lose its significance. Martin criticized Wilson’s view on religion by using statistics. He believed that this was not an appropriate way to measure secularization since it says nothing about people’s beliefs. In addition, Marti n believed that secularization is a myth and does not exist. Glasner also believed it is a myth and that it cannot be measured. Jose Casanova, although he believed in the concept of secularization does not fully believe that religion will lose its social significance in society but that people would turn to rationalization. Steve Bruce also noted that secularization is an illusion and it cannot be measured accurately. However, in today’s society religion does play a significant role in the lives of the people. Many persons try to go to church and take part in their religion. However, there are others who do not go to church. May people are caught up with their hectic life and do not have time to go to church. There has also been a decline in religious thought and action due to science. Despite this, a number of measures could be put in place to help people see how important religion is. Parents, community leaders as well as the religious leaders must play their part and set better examples. In addition, youths should be given more respo nsibilities in the church and as such they won’t feel alienated. Hence we must do whatever we could to ensure that religion continues to play a vital role in our society.

Management Strategies and Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Strategies and Practices - Essay Example This paper explores methods available for today’s managers to assist in attracting, motivating, and retaining employees to make a more productive organization. Finding the right individual who can fit the culture of the organization, according to Greengard & Byham (2003), involves hiring based on attitude and the candidate’s perceived ability to relate to customers in a positive manner. The authors further suggest that using this behavioral approach to assessing potential employees can be time consuming, offering the need for multiple interviews in order to make the right assessment. This tends to suggest, despite the efforts required of the hiring manager, that the outcome of these extended efforts will produce the best employee for the job. In actual business practice, research suggests that many managers simply do not have the time to invest in lengthy, multiple interviews due to the demands of a competitive business environment (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2005). However, it might be a logical assessment that making the effort, despite the difficulties due to increasing business pressure, would far outweigh any minor interruptions to regular business operations when the outcome is a quality employee who may remain loyal to the firm for years. Of interest to the concept of motivating employees is recognizing a theory of management proposed by Douglas McGregor: Theory X and Theory Y. Offering a brief definition, Theory X basically proposes that people are lazy by design, thus without management intervention they would not accomplish their tasks (Gallas). Theory Y, in opposite accord, suggests that employees, if they are nurtured to succeed, will work diligently toward assisting the organization (Gallas). Companies which direct employee activities using the Theory Y approach, in most instances, will likely receive a better end

Farming societies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Farming societies - Essay Example In simple farming societies economic activities are not separated from religious, political and social aspects (Walrath and Prins 51). The economic system of a farming society largely depends on production, distribution and consumption of goods. However, there many types of economic systems which include: traditional and modern, industrial and non-industrial, and small scale and large scale economies. In the small scale societies that are non-industrial, land and other valuable resources are usually controlled by groups of related people and individual ownership of land is rare to find. The division of labour is done according to gender and age of the members of the society. Simple farming societies also practice specialization of arts and crafts, although, production is carried out only for the quantity required at that moment. Most of the goods produced are consumed by those in the group that produces them. This is different from the economic organization of large scale industrial and post industrial societies (Walrath and Prins 59). ... The exchange of goods and services is also done as a ritual or for prestige purposes (Walrath and Prins 86). This is where distribution of goods is done by the governments or the religious elite who collect and allocate resources. Locations of exchange of goods and services are designated in certain areas. Here, people meet friends and strangers, find entertainment and trade goods. However, in industrial societies, exchange is indirect, impersonal and mediated through money or capital assets in form of shares and stocks. Moreover, in the digital age, trade can be conducted on the internet with personal contact. The major characteristic among farming societies is Cooperative work groups regardless the society’s industrial capability. For instance, in cases the work group involves the whole community a festive mood permeates the work. In most societies, cooperation basically starts at the household level. Through cooperation, farming societies are able to allocate duties of prod uction and distribution, as well as, allocation of goods and resources. There is great diversity in the types of specialized tasks that are performed. However, although specialization has increased in the farming societies, modern technologies have influenced them such that division of labor on the basis of gender has become less relevant. In modern farming societies, each member is knowledgeable on all aspects of work although specialization is still maintained (Walrath and Prins 43). According to Walrath and Prins, Simple farming societies are firmly rooted in the cultures of people in their communities (101). This culture is passed on from the older generation to the younger generation. By doing this, the younger members of the farming society,

Stem Cell Legislation in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stem Cell Legislation in the US - Essay Example Since 1998, when the scientists in University of Wisconsin isolated cells for the first time from the inner cell mass of the early human embryo, called the blastocyst, and developed the first human embryonic stem cell lines, an enhanced research is being done to understand therapeutic potential of stem cells. Moreover, the interest of scientists is increasing in regenerative medicines so that the stem cell therapy can be brought to clinics. Research efforts have focused on spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and other diseases or conditions. Scientists hope to use specialized cells to replace dysfunctional cells in the brain, spinal cord, pancreas, and other organs. The stem cells are obtained from 2-8 days old embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF), 5-9 weeks old foetuses aborted by elective abortion, embryos created by IVF or somatic cell nuclear transfer for research purposes and from adult tissues like bone marrow. U sually the concern is over the removal of stem cells from early stage embryos, because the embryo is killed to extract these cells from their inner cell mass. These cells have the highest potential to give rise to any cell type than the adult stem cells. Prior to President Bush's stem cell announcement in 2001, federal law had prohibited HHS from funding human embryo research. No federal funds were given to support research on stem cells derived from human embryos. Research was done through private funding. Bush announced that federal funds would be available to support limited human embryonic stem cell research (HESC). A detailed history of 107 to 111 Congress House Bills and Senate Bills are summarized in the table below. Congress Bills Description 107 House 1. HR 2059-The Stem Cell Research Act, 2001 2. HR 2096-The Responsible Stem Cell Research Act, 2001 3. HR 2747-To codify Clinton Administration's guidelines governing research using human pluripotent stem cells 4. HR 2838-To require NIH to conduct human embryonic stem cells (HESC) and repeal the human embryonic research ban contained within the labour HHS, and Education Appropriations Act 5. HR 2863-To require the establishment of an additional FDA advisory committee to make recommendation on the field of cell development, including HESC and therapeutic cloning Senate 1. S 723- HESC generation and research 2. S 1359-To maintain a stem cell donor bank containing stem cells derived from adult tissue, placentas and umbilical cord blood 108 House 1. HR 534-Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 2. HR 801-Cloning of Humans (to prohibit reproductive cloning but allow therapeutic cloning) 3. HR 916-Human Cloning Research Prohibition Act of 2003 4. HR 938-Human Cloning Prevention Act of 2003 Senate 1. S 245-Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 2. S 303-Human cloning ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2003 109 House 1. HR 162-Use of Federal Fund to Research an HESC 2. HR 222-Prohibition of Federal Funding for Research on the Cloning of Humans 3. HR 810-The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 4. HR 1357-The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 Senate 1. S 471- Stem Cell Research

Project Management Module Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Management Module Coursework - Essay Example The cost information that would be necessary would be in terms of the length of the project, the total costs of the project, the efforts of the staff that is Person: Days Ratio. The cost information could be obtained from the use of the standards and measurements sections. We can ensure that costs are in line with the estimates by making frequent comparisons with the actual costs with the estimates. The aspects of standard costing could also be established with respects to costs, recoveries and efficiency studies. Question 1C: The choice for selection of project manager is being considered, In this connection, it is necessary to appoint a person with IT background, since it is nowadays, a crucial aspect of project management, and IT is very much necessary for application in industry situations. Moreover, it is also seen that effective business solutions, especially in the areas of Project Management, is inextricably linked with IT, Question 1D: The Baseline metrics could be seen in terms of Development productivity, unit costs and lapsed time/unit. .In terms of development productivity, it measures one unit of effort could result in how many products. The unit costs could measure the amount of cost needed to produce one unit of product. The lapsed time per unit would be in terms of the time taken to produce one unit. Question 2: A: The activity on arrow is a simple and easily understandable diagram which is also amenable to corrections. Even a non-technical person could follow these diagrams and understand the path of the network. It is also seen that the major achievements are easily marked and even in cases where there are multiple relationships between processes, the AoA diagrammatic representation is easier to understand. Question 2 B: A dummy activity is one which is representative of a dependency but which has no time allotment, that means it could be carried simultaneously with another activity and therefore has 0 duration. The

Checklists and Rating Scales Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Checklists and Rating Scales - Assignment Example Checklists provide a list of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that may be demonstrated by the individual, and may be filled in by either an evaluator or may be reported by the person themselves. Most checklists provide the symptoms associated with some kind of challenge (Gregory, 2004). Each symptom that is demonstrated is marked and once the entire list is completed, the total number of symptoms is totaled. Checklists are thus called additive methods of evaluation (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). These are objective and easy to understand, and do not require as much time or expertise as interviews. They are also comprehensive, and allow the evaluator to identity less visible symptoms that could be missed during observation (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). The main issue with a checklist is that they do not allow one to estimate the magnitude of the symptom. While one person may exhibit the symptom rarely, another may exhibit it almost every day. At such times rating scales provide an advantage over checklists in that each selected item is also rated on a 3 point or 5 point scale ranging from never/rarely to always/frequently (Gregory, 2004). Thus, each symptom is provided with a weighted score all of which may be added to get a composite score. Rating scales are algebraic in nature, and the value assigned to each item provides a detailed understanding of the experience of the person (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). Checklists are valuable screening instruments that help in identifying person’s who need help; while rating scales are useful when trying to understand which symptoms are more dominant for a particular person (Gregory, 2004). Both these instruments are objective and easy to use, but are unable to provide the meaning associated with the symptoms by the individual. The validity of the responses depends on the honesty of the responses and it may become

Dove, the Brand to Beat Essay Example for Free

Dove, the Brand to Beat Essay Dove is a brand under the many products of Unilever. It was in the 1890s when William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Bros popularized cleanliness and hygiene with his introduction of the Sunlight Soap in Victorian England. The Sunlight Soap led the advocacy â€Å"to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life ay be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products†. (www.dove.com) For three centuries, Unilever has proven its success over economic booms, depressions, world wars and the changing lifestyle of its consumers as the world advanced through technology. Dove is the leading skin care product since 1957. It is clinically proven and has been noted to be good for dry sensitive skin which half the women in the world has. And since the 1980s, Dove has launched more supporting products to the soap bar such as moisturizing body wash, deodorants, body lotions, facial cleansers, shampoos and conditioners. All of these products are aimed to solve skin needs comprehensively bringing out the true inner beauty of women. Dove is boasts of its number one in the race of cleansing brands with double-digit growth data. Sales in over 80 countries are over â‚ ¬2.5 billion a year. They estimate that over 1 billion showers are done using Dove products each year in the US alone. The success is due to the brands keeping of its clinically proven promises and understanding of its real market. Studies show that only 12 % of women are very satisfied with their physical attractiveness. 2% of women articulate themselves as beautiful. 68% knows that media almost always sets unrealistic standards of beauty and the 75% hopes that media would better itself in portraying diversity in women’s physical attractiveness that includes size, shape and age. â€Å"Dove is actively trying to address the root of the problem of negative self-image. Dove has founded the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, which funds programs to raise self-esteem in girls and young women. In the US, it’s working through the Unilever Foundation to sponsor a partnership with Girl Scouts, called uniquely ME! It also supports the BodyTalk education program for schools in the UK and Canada.† (www.dove.com) The Dove Self-Esteem Fund has come along way since consumers saw that water alone was not enough to clean oneself. American consumers of the new millennium are more demanding than ever and value minded. Dove consumers pay a higher price for Dove due to its after sales value. The target market of Dove are the people who can afford to put a premium for added market values compared to cheaper alternatives such as Ivory. â€Å"According to Soap, Cosmetics, Chemical Specialties, aging baby-boomers were looking for milder, less irritating products. Soaps using vegetable-based fats, with no animal fats or animal testing, were also in demand. Other popular items included loofahs, oatmeal products, and chamomile leaves. In general, customers demanded performance and value in all their soap, shampoo, and detergent products, which were the driving factors behind the soap and detergents industry at the turn of the century.† (Thompsons, 2006) All these added value makes Dove cost more than the average bath product. Value leaders attempt to offer the best product at the cheapest price. These products cannot compare on quality and in the short term, competes for the value of each dollar. Ivory products advertise themselves on the price pitch that does not happen to Dove products. Each Dove product commercial does not mention price. this kind of advertising strategy may increase Ivory income by selling more quantity but soaps such as Dove and Dial remain successful as well by selling more expensive and keeping loyal customers at lesser volumes. â€Å"The bar soap market, which had grown at an average rate of about 4.1 percent annually in the early 1980s, entered the 1990s with a growth rate of about 4.9 percent. Beauty bars comprised the fastest growing segment of the bar soap market, with sales increasing at a rate of about 7 percent per year. Later in the decade, however, bar soap began to lose some ground to shower gels. In 1998, bar soap sales grew only 1.5 percent in value and slipped 4.5 percent in unit terms, while shower gel sales increased dramatically. However, even with their 18.1 sales gain in 1998, the shower gel market, with total sales of $450 million, remained slightly less than a third the size of the bar soap market, which totaled $1.4 billion in value in 1998.† (Thompsons, 2006) Dove has been successful in its campaign to increase and sustain loyal consumers due to its steadfast supporting of its timeless belief in their original product. Compared to the rest of the competition, Dove remained the soap that held on to its ‘added moisture’ selling point. From that, Dove has evolved and widened its strategies in cornering a wider and global market. For one, it’s campaign-promoting self-esteem in women cuts above the rest. The ‘campaign for real beauty’ ad that models larger than average smiling women in white underwear has sent advertisers of other soaps amok. The message of this ad is a statement against the usual advertisers that project the beautiful woman with impossibly physical proportions. This strategy of using controversy for advertising worked so much for Dove. â€Å"The women in these photos appear to love who they are and the way their bodies look. Sue Ontiveros of the Chicago Sun-Times says, Its the joy on their faces that I really like. Theres just so much happiness in their smiles that I feel as if these women are saying this is the real me and I like her. Boy, is that rare and just the message Id like females to get and embrace. Just because your booty cant fit into a size four doesnt mean youre not sexy. The joy and confidence of the Dove models allows them to look sexy without having to wear seductive facial expressions.† (www.campaignforealbeuty.com) The challenge that lies on the Dove self-esteem campaigns is to make sure that they do not get caught playing two sides. A teener realizes that the big women ad was sporting big tight thighs. Dove was getting the most of this because their thigh-tightening product was being launched. A critic also realized that letting women with underwear pose on camera was still diminishing respect for women even if they were all size large. The most significant challenge that advertisers faced was fueled by the growing global concern of consumers over environmental issues. Consumers demanded that products like Dove have to be manufactured and marketed using ‘earth-friendly’ products and processes without sacrificing quality. Dove’s dishwashing liquid leads their earth-friendly products. Using the dishwashing liquid leaves the hands moisturized, the plates squeaky clean and the rivers unpolluted Another important strategy for Dove products to stay in the lead is using technology to further their market reach. The website of Dove and its dealers are well-made and very user friendly. Buying online is very convenient. Using the internet as part of the marketing efforts, Dove can ensure the existence of its loyal customers who pays more to buy Dove soap. The prices below gathered from the websites show comparisons in prices of different common leading bath soaps. Dove fits in the middle of the price war as it is appreciated by the market as the soap that has more value compared to the usual everyday common soaps such as Dial and Coast but not too expensive like the signature and specialty soaps like Cetaphil or Neutrogena. Price Comparisons Dove   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.08 Dial   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.99 Ivory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.89 Cetaphil   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4.09 Neutrogena   Ã‚  Ã‚   3.95 Coast   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.20 Table 1. User ratings between Dove competitors Product name Pears Soap Imperial Leather Original Soap Palmolive Original Soap Bar Dove Extra Sensitive Cream Bar Lux Milk Honey Beauty Soap Oilatum Soap Bar Camay Classic- Toilet Soap Overall user rating: Recommended by 100% (13 Reviews) Recommended by 95% (19 Reviews) Recommended by 50% (6 Reviews) Recommended by 86% (28 Reviews) Recommended by 100% (1 Review) Recommended by 100% (2 Reviews) Recommended by 33% (3 Reviews) http://www.ciao.co.uk/product_comparison.php?Pid=1%2C10%2C10534%2C15372%2C5015455%2C5231365IDs%5B%5D=70462IDs%5B%5D=70445IDs%5B%5D=70457IDs%5B%5D=70440IDs%5B%5D=70450IDs%5B%5D=5628139IDs%5B%5D=70438Compare=Compare   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The table above shows user ratings from the ciao website. Recommendations between Dove competitors are tabulated. Though Dove Extra Sensitive Cream Bar had an 86% recommendation ratings, it had the most number of reviews totaling 28 as compared to Imperial leather Original Soap that seconded the list with 18 reviews, a far ten reviews short of Dove. This short sampling will show that there are more Dove users who connect to the internet as compared to the other products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dove moves forward in its goal to build a strategic global ‘master’ brand. Backed by Unilever’s expertise in product branding, Dove with its good quality material for hygiene and beauty preservation will continue to focus on making their brand lead by promoting the value of their brand as against the price of the soap.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Dove was an instant hit, generating $55 million in sales its first six months, per Information Resources Inc. This year, sales climbed to $79 million for the 52 weeks ended April 22. Doves current market share stands at 4.7%, equal that of Procter and Gambles Old Spice. PGs Secret brands still collectively dominate the $1.6 billion category, but have been losing share to Dove. Total Secret sales were $229 million as of April 22, down 8% from $248 million for the year ended Sept. 10, 2000, per IRI.† (Ward, 2003)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have personally using Dove for the past ten years and have been more than twice tempted to try other brands. Though I did try out one or two other brands during such time, I always went back to using Dove because of its simplicity, truthfulness and mission to add social value to a common daily commodity. In a world where brand names are easily communicated with visuals only technology knows how far will go, Dove will remain as a trustworthy partner in my personal health care. References: U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Industry and Trade Out-look 99.   Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1999. U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. 1997 Economic Census. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1999. Van Arnum, Patricia. Consumer Product Majors Soak in a Renewed Outlook. Chemical Market Reporter, FR3-5. Ward, John. 2003. Does Market Share Really Apply to Apple? http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/2003/opinion/0306.html www.ciao.com www.dove.com www.answers.com Doves extension into deodorant is a prime example of Unilevers long-term strategy to build a set of global master brands with new products and heavy marketing support. The launch was backed by more than $30 million in media spending, a level usually reserved for new brands. Dove marketers also wanted to develop a product specifically for women. While a number of existing brands are gender neutral (Ban, Sure) or targeted to men (Brut, Right Guard, Old Spice), not since PG introduced decades-old Secret has a manufacturer captured the collective attention of the female audience. Preferred language style: English(U.S.) †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Dove Soap (brand I want researched on)†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Think about a product you love, that you use all the time. In this first part of the assignment, your goal is to uncover as much research about the brand and it competitors as possible. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨You`ll want to know the history of the brand, the characteristics of the people who buy/use the brand, and everything else possible about it. But don`t forget to look into the competition. What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? 5 pages 4 sources History Characteristics of its market Competition status What they are doing right? What they are doing wrong?