Quantitative Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Quantitative Methods - Assignment Example In this problem, where what influences the prices of a second hand car is determined; confounding variables could be colour, style, fuel, mot and condition. The main dependable variables could be the age, mileage and engine size. There are two methods to manage confounding, by analysis and design (Gravetter and Forzano 2012). By design comprises inclusion, randomization and exclusion decisive factors; by analysis comprises stratified and matched testing. Matching is more proficient to control confounding when the sample range is small. In this case, Inflation could be an unwanted factor that affects prices and it is hard to avoid (Richardson 2011). Y denotes dependent variable, indicating a quantity that differs from entity throughout the sample, and is the key focus of interest. X1... Xk are independent variables, which also differ from various entities, and are contemplated to be correlated with Y. Lastly, ÃŽ µ is the residual expression, which denotes the composite impact of all other kinds of individual variances not explicitly recognized in the model (Black 2012). In this regression, looking at age alone, it cannot provide explain much explanation though it shows correlation of second hand cars prices dependency (Richardson 2011). Looking at mileage only, it can explain more of the observed car prices variation in buying and selling costs. However, variations in mileage and age jointly can explain a bigger percentage of the variation in prices. The reason they can clarify more jointly than the computation of what they can elucidate individually is that mileage masquerades the effect of age in this data set. When both are incorporated in the regression model, the impact of mileage is alienated from the impact of age, and the latter impact then is observed (Richardson 2011). In business, to be competitive, there must be a design quality into processes and products. Business must allow a process of

The Kite Runner Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Essay The Kite Runner focuses on the life of Amir, a cowardly young boy part of the ruling caste of Pashtuns, and the son of a wealthy merchant residing in the outskirts of Kabul. At his side we see Hassan, his servant and best friend who is a member of the Hazara caste, a cultural group long persecuted in Afghanistan. As Amir tries to meet his father’s demands, we see the close relationship between the boys diminish, as ethnic and political tensions arise in Afghanistan. One day, a savage yet preventable attack is bestowed upon Hassan, an act that could have been prevented had Amir stepped in. Overcome with guilt and shame, Amir convinces his father to get rid of Hassan and his father, as he finds it almost impossible to confront them. Upon the beginning on the Soviet invasion, Amir and his father leave for America, leaving Hassan and his father behind. Years later, Amir is finally beginning to loose his feeling of guilt when he receives a call from an old friend residing in Pakistan. The dying wish of this friend requires Amir to go on a mission to Afghanistan, a mission which will finally allow him to face his demons and overcome his guilt once and for all. This book was written by Khaled Hosseini, a 40 year old Afghan American writer. Born in Kabul, his family moved to France in 1976 where his father worked in a government position. Hosseini’s family was suppose to return to Afghanistan in 1980, but was weary about the Soviet invasion. Instead, they requested political asylum and moved to the United States. Hosseini completed medical school at the University of California in 1993 and has kept a job as an internist since. The Kite Runner is loosely based on his life and his direct experiences with Afghan culture. Modern World Nations: Afghanistan Modern World Nations: Afghanistan is an informational text that covers the different cultural, social, political and historical aspects of the nation. In the book, we learn of the different racial groups that reside in the country as well as the different conflicts that arise within them. Different languages are explored such as Dari (a language that derives from Farsi) and Pashtun, a native language exclusive to Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The book also shows an in-depth look into the politics of Afghanistan, discussing the fallen monarchy of the past and the pro-Islamic policies of the Taliban of more recent times. The book concludes by covering the last two decades, primarily the Soviet Invasion and the rule of the Taliban, along with the horrors and harsh conditions they afflicted on Afghanistan. Jeffrey A. Gritzner, the chairman of the Department of Geography and the Asian studies program at the University of Montana, wrote this text. He is also an active member of the Association of American Geographers and has a great interest in world religions as well as global traditions and customs. B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The Kite Runner The writing style of The Kite Runner is truly amazing, as it makes the reader feel as if they are witnessing the events firsthand. Written in first person, the reader joins Amir on his many journeys throughout his childhood and adult life. This point of view is particularly effective in this novel since Amir often has personal thoughts that we may not be aware of normally. For example, Amir is very fond of writing and story telling, a hobby that his father looks down upon. As result, Amir keeps his hobby a secret and writes his stories privately. In my opinion, the first person perspective is especially effective when a novel wishes to focus on its main character in detail and tries to reveal more then we would normally know. It is also effective when reflecting on how Amir feels about a particular event or situation as we can directly observe his inner thoughts and reactions which give us a more clear reflection of his personality. Another interesting technique used in this novel is the use of foreign words. In many conversations throughout the book, we see many of the characters speaking Farsi or using a Farsi word during a conversation or when referring to someone. In fact, Amir refers to his father as â€Å"Baba† throughout the entire novel (the equivalent of â€Å"dad† in Farsi). This technique is useful as it gives the reader a more realistic view on the story since all of the events are occurring in a foreign country where English is not the native language. Amir travels to a variety of places throughout the book and comes into contact with different ethnicities and cultures so it gives us a feeling of realism when we see the portrayal of accents or foreign words, since English is not the first language of many of the characters. Modern World Nations: Afghanistan This informational text is presented in a very clear-cut, direct manner. This is a positive attribute of such a book since it allows the reader to comprehend the facts without being sidetracked by colourful language or fancy terms. The author uses many statistics and graphs, along with maps and pictures to give the reader a true understanding of the cultural, geographical, and political aspects of Afghanistan. The book is written in a third-person perspective, the way most informational texts are since the author’s information in the book are not based on his first hand experiences. D. BOOK REVIEW AND PERSONAL RESPONSE * Since my non-fiction is an informational text, I was not able to find a review for it. As result, I will be doing a personal response on 2 articles for the Kite Runner. Article 1 The author of this review explains the happy beginning of Amir’s childhood, one where he and his friend and servant Hassan live together in harmony despite racial and socioeconomic differences. He goes on further to say that the book is very straightforward, since there are few plot twists and little use of complex language. I agree with this statement and feel that in the case of the novel, direct language allows the reader to focus more on the horrendous and tragic events that occur to not only Amir and his close family, but also the Afghans as a people. The review goes on to say that the contrast of pre-Soviet Afghanistan and the post-Soviet Afghanistan is an important and dramatic change. I agree that this distinction is a very important part of the novel since it demonstrates the vast changes that can occur due to a damaging and dominating political rule. The review also explains how the power of racism can affect children of young ages and tear apart long-term friends. Social pressures and a cultural attitude towards certain ethnic groups can poison a child’s mind at an early age and the novel does an excellent job of demonstrating the scars that are created due to these beliefs. Overall, I found this review to be insightful and interesting however, I think the author should have emphasized that the reader will learn a great deal about Afghan culture and traditions from reading this book rather than solely the tragic events that occur. It is important to note that since it gives the reader not only an interesting story, but an educational aspect as well. Article 2 The reviewer of this article, Tim Miller is a former history professor. As result, he includes the fact that this novel depicts the exotic and mystical culture of Afghanistan pre-Soviet invasion, which I think, is an essential point to mention. Another important thing he does is give a little background history on the author, Khaled Hosseini which is interesting to observe since the reader of the review will now have a better understanding of the author’s history and how and why he chose to depict the events in his novel. The reviewer goes on to explain a plot summary of the book without giving too much detail or information to spoil it for the reader which I think is an important skill when writing a book review. The style he wrote his review in is excellent as he makes the novel seem lively and interesting. Overall, I think this is a quick, insightful article that will get the reader interested and eager to pick up The Kite Runner. The fact that he explained the cultural aspect o the book alongside with a quick biography of the author is what makes this article better and more informative than the first E. LITERARY ESSAY The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an epic tale that covers a variety of unforgettable and shocking events. The story begins with Amir, a well-off Pashtun boy who spends much of his childhood with his friend and servant Hassan, a boy of Hazara heritage. The boys are happy and the land of Afghanistan is happy; life is safe and prosperous for many Afghans. Amir’s father runs several successful businesses along the country and despite the difference of social class and ethnicity, the boys remain good friends. After the fall of the Afghan monarch, things begin to change. Pashtuns and Hazaras are beginning to act in violent conflict and the ways of Kabul become vulgar and grim. As cultural and political tensions grow in Afghanistan, Amir and his friend begin to grow apart. As a result of the deterioration of their relationship, Amir his father seek refuge in the United States upon the Soviet invasion, leaving Hassan and his father to fend for themselves in Afghanistan. Many of the events within the novel are the result of many realities that took place within Afghanistan during this time period. A prominent theme we see in both books is the contrast of life before and after the destructive Soviet invasion. Before the invasion of Russia, many Afghan residents were happy and the cultural differences between the Pashtun and Hazara people remained limited. After the Soviet’s began full-out war on the country, many Islamic groups recruited soldiers to fight in the war, excluding young men of Hazara descent. This form of isolation certainly can be seen as a cause for the discrimination against Hazaras since many Pashtun boys were brainwashed by their military leaders. Furthermore, many of the foot soldiers remained unaware that the Hazaras were not allowed to help join their groups and as result, felt that the Hazara were depending on them to save the country without contributing any form of help of their own. This issue is addressed differently in The Kite Runner since we do not see Amir or Hassan being faced with a situation that requires them to take part in any war. In the Kite Runner, a boy named Assef (who ironically, later becomes a Taliban leader), attempts to brainwash Amir into disassociating with Hassan. This is a different method of portraying how many Pashtuns pressured and brainwashed others into mistreating people of the Hazara race during and after the war. Another central theme that is dominant in both books is racism, and the negative impact racism within a society can have even among a very close-knit community. To understand that nature of racism in Afghanistan, it is important to understand the origin and physical traits of the two dominating ethnic groups in Afghanistan: the Pashtuns and the Hazaras. According to the informational text â€Å"Modern World Nations: Afghanistan†, the Pashtuns are a people of Indo-Iranian stock who reside in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The Pashtuns tend to have Aryan features which include high cheek bones, pointy nose, and round eyes. The Hazara however, are of Mongolian heritage and have Oriental-like features. In addition to the differences in physical appearance, Pashtuns tend to be Sunni Muslims while Hazaras tend to be S’hiat. The racism also derives from the fact that Hazaras traditionally tend to be poorer and are considered a laborer class of people. We see how The Kite Runner demonstrates this fact by having Hassan and his father work as servants for Amir’s family. The Soviet invasion did not discriminate on these ethnic groups but upon the Russian’s depart; the Taliban took over the nation. Almost immediately, speakers within the Taliban government began to make outrageous statements against the Hazara people, claiming they are not â€Å"real Afghans†. The Taliban implemented a mass genocide of the Hazara people and ethnic cleansing went through with little intervention from outside sources. This historical genocide was portrayed in the Kite Runner, as Amir returns to the country years later to find the Hazara village Hassan was living in had been massacred. Overall, The Kite Runner is an accurate portrayal of life in Afghanistan during this time period. We see the many of the central characters in the novel torn apart by hate and bigotry, an unfortunate and true reality that has plagued modern day Afghanistan. We see the negative effects that a war has on a people and the harsh realities it can have on a nation and people. Brainwashing and negative propaganda can tear apart even the closest of friends and companions, a lesson that is thoroughly taught yet forgotten in history. Both novels also show how poverty and socioeconomic class can also influence the way we treat our fellow man. If the Afghans could have looked past the question of religious and cultural differences and unified during times of war, perhaps the nation could have pulled through and been one of success, rather than what it is today.

Essay --

SooJin Lee Period 2 Mr. Ajlouny Feb 6, 2014 The Metamorphosis Essay Prompt: How is Gregor’s transformation into a bug a representation of an existentialism crisis? Existentialism is known to be a dangerous philosophical theory that makes us question ourselves the purpose of our lives, and makes us feel isolated from the world that can even lead to accepting death. In his short story The Metamorphosis, Kafka represents the horror of existentialism through Gregor’s transformation of a bug. Kafka empathizes that existentialism is so dangerous that existential attitude occurs without even a person realizing until something changes in that person’s life. For example, Kafka creates a character name Gregor, a traveling salesman who works very hard to over provide for his family, to show how he does not realize how tired and overworking man he is until he transforms into a useless bug. Because Gregor over works for his family and is always out in business trips, he is a lonely man. Gregor is used to being alone and even â€Å"formed the cautious habit.. of locking all his doors at night†(13). His routine for a day is simple: work and sleep like a bug. He does not meet with any woman, go on a vacation, or even rest peaceful at home because he is so â€Å"condemned to work for a firm where people immediately conceive the greatest suspicions at the smallest sign of negligence† (15). He’s isolation from the world even before he becomes a bug already shows his existential attitude. However, Gregor does not realizes this until he turns into a beetle who no longer can work, but to stay in his room. Kafka uses Gregor to represent that existentialism can not be seen until something physically happens. Although Kafka presents Gregor as an indif... ...simply â€Å"clears out that trash† into a dumpster(51). Instead of being buried and have a funeral for Gregor, he is thrown like a dead bug on the grade. Until the end, Gregor’s family does not show their love for Gregor, but shed some tears at the end; half of it because they feel sad and the other half it because they feel free. The way how Gregor’s family treated Gregor play a big role of danger of existentialism. Through Gregor’s transformation as a bug, Kafka represents how people around Gregor and himself place Gregor into a greater danger of existentialism. He shows the reader how horrific existentialism is and that this can be one of the reasons why deaths occur in this world. He warns the reader to be able to maintain the limit and the ability of how much a person can work, so that we don’t have to be like Gregor who only works for living like a bug would do.

Body Paragraphs Essay

There have been thousands of studies done on the effects of television on children. Most of these studies have leaned toward the negative effects that television has on children. According to a study by the University of Michigan, even though television can have positive effects it can also affect the health, behavior and family life of children in negative ways. Also while studies have been done on the effects that television has on children under the age of two there has been no clear evidence on the effects. Some studies have shown that it may lead to learning and attention problems, but not the experts have agreed this is true. Children are seeing more and more violence on television every day. Even in G rated movies children are subject to violent acts. All we have to do is look at some of the Disney movies over the years. While Snow White was a positive upbeat person that was nice to everyone, she was still killed by the wicked witch. The movie the Lion King shows children how Scar plotted the death of Mufasa and it shows Simba coming back for revenge. Then you have cartoons like The Simpsons and Family Guy. These show play up the use of foul language, violence, and disrespecting everyone, especially your parents. The characters on these shows have become idols. Bart Simpson and Stewie have become idols to children. They talk like them and act like them. They think that when they are violent or they curse or when they disrespect their parents it is funny and something that they should do. An average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV by the age of 18 (www.med.umich.edu). This viewing of violent acts are desensitizing are children to violence. They are becoming less aware of violent acts or just don’t care that much when they happen right in front of  them. There is a research report that was written in 2009 by Brad J. Bushman and Craig A. Anderson called â€Å"Comfortably Numb The Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others. This research shows the how violence in movies and on television desensitizes people to violent acts or the plights of others around them. They are also their fear of the world is increased. They are seeing that not only the bad guys are violent but the good guys are extremely violent and that they get away with the violence. Children are not sure who they can trust or who is good. Some even see that by becoming the â€Å"good guy† you can get away with more bad behavior. According to KidHealth.org, TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, these same characters are reinforcing gender-role and racial stereotypes. I know that our doctor told my daughter to watch Teen Mom. This show may show the downsides to teen parenthood, in my opinion it has kids thinking it would be cool to have a child and then maybe they could get on television. I have spoken to several different people from my daughters parenting class and I have talked to my daughters Family First specialist. They have agreed that shows like these are not good models for teen moms. Yes, they may show the difficulties that these girls have but they also show these girls still having sex, disrespecting their parents and fighting. Also all have agreed that too much television and television that is not supervised can be harmful to children. According to KidsHealth.org children who spend too much time in front of the television are more likely to become overweight. Children are spending more time in front of the television which is making them less active. They do not go outside and play sports or socialize with other children. Children are more likely to constantly snack while watching television. These are not always healthy snacks. They are things like cookies and chips. They see the commercials for these and their minds tell them that they want them. By limiting the time that your children are watching television you will be able to help them become more active and more sociable. On the reverse side of this situation, though, is that some of the negativity  can be reduced as long as parents limit the amount of time that children spend in front of the television. It has been suggested that no more than 2-3 hours a day of television for older children and 1-2 hours of television for younger children. Also parents need to supervise and be aware of what their children are watching. Television can be a learning experience as long as parents take the time to talk to their children about what is being watched on television. Parents can also be a positive role model for their children by limiting the time they watch television. They need to watch more positive programs when they are watching television with their children. If there is something bad on the show they need to take the time to explain to their children the behavior that they saw on the television program was not appropriate and why it wasn’t appropriate.

Play a View from the Bridge Essay

This play a View from the Bridge raises many complex issues. Like the fact, that Beatrice’s cousins maybe found out by the immigration services and the fact that Eddie is overprotective over Catharine but Beatrice wants her to grow up. In addition, the way Eddie objects to Rodolpho’s appearance and manner. The biggest problem Beatrice has is that there seems to be no romance in there sex life no more. She feels that there is no sex life.  It becomes clear from the very beginning that Eddie has worries about his wife’s visitors from Italy. He fears that Catharine maybe putting her self out too much for her guests which maybe be a little true. The reader can tell he has these concerns when eddies says â€Å"Beatrice, all I’m worried about is you got such a heart that I’ll end up on the floor with you and they’ll be in our bed† Act One Pg 8  This statement shows that he is not just worried about his own well being he also worried that his wife maybe to kind to notice when people are taken advantage of her.  Beside that, he is worried about his reputation in his local community. He wishes to be seen as a local hero around his community, but I think as soon as he realized that his new guests maybe a threat to reputation for two reasons. The first being that Rudolph is courting Catharine and Eddie feels that inappropriate because in courting Catharine, Rudolph is drawing the wrong kind of attention to himself. This worries Eddie that the immigration may find them out and arrest him. Therefore loosing his reputation as the rock in the community. The other worry on eddies mind is that Catharine is growing up to fast and is very overprotective over her. In everything, she does, he is always protesting and making things difficult an example of this is when he asked her why she was all dressed up and where she is going. In addition, he shows his overprotective nature when Rodolpho decides that he has sexual feelings towards Catharine. He was doing everything in his power to prevent there wedding or there progression of there relationship. He made arguments. For example in act one tried to teach Rodolpho how to box just to pick a fight with him. He even went to extremes and kissed him to prove that Rodolpho was gay. As if that was not enough he also kissed Catharine, which showed his love and caring nature towards her, but it may also show that he may have more sexual feelings than a parental love for her.  Eddie is a very old-fashioned man he believes that men should dress and act in a certain manner. To Eddie Rodolpho does not act in that manner. Eddie has his own theory that Rudolph is a homosexual. Tries to prove his theory many times. Every time failing to prove his point. Much to his embarrassment in the end, it provoked him to try to stab Rudolph and Marco. The biggest problem is that the romance between Beatrice and Eddie do not have that much romance in there life. In the beginning of the play there is barley any romance between the two by the end the pair have no love for each other at all. The main wedge between them is Catharine. She has become a wedge between them because Eddie through out the play developing feelings for Catharine romantic and otherwise. Making Eddie grow ever more distant from Beatrice. This probably made Beatrice feel unwanted and a little bit jealous. She had hostile feeling toward Eddie when the hostile feeling should be towards Catharine. The only thing she had to say to Catharine is that she has to grow up. Whereas when she confronted Eddie about it, he just shrugged it off with â€Å"it’s complicated†. This statement may have made Beatrice feel alone and unwanted.  In conclusion Eddie drove him self to a state of madness and drove his family to a point of hatred. He has forced his family to despise him. To the point of wanting to cause him, harm. Even though the main two women in his life still love, him they may feel over protected and to controlled.

Physics and Albert MIchelesen essays

Physics and Albert MIchelesen essays ysics is a powerful word- this single word embodies everything that the universe encompasses- and everything even beyond this point. Excelling in the field of optics and broaching the topic of light, Albert Michelsen was a man who had made an important mark in this area that would make an everlasting impression in the world of physics. During Michelsens long career, he was able to explore the world of physics with a greater depth, due to the abundance of knowledge he had received in the area of physics by both learning and teaching it in his career- he initiated his career as earning the position as an instructor in physics and chemistry at the Academy. Later, in 1879, Michelsen was posted to the Nautical Almanac Office, Washington. He also visited the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, College de France and Ecole Polytechnique. In 1883 Michelsen returned to America and became a professor of physics in the Case School of Applied Science. In 1890 he accepted a similar position at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts and in the year1892, Michelsen became the highly prestigious and distinguished role of the Professor of Physics and the first Head of Department at the new University of Chicago (nobel.se/physics/laureates/1907/michelson-bio.html). During his lifetime, Michelsen accomplished a great deal in the physics world. Michelsen contributed a great deal in the area of optics, experimenting with some rather crude, but respectable versions, at that time, of approximating the speed of light (Gary Waldman, Introduction to light: the physics of light, vision, and color, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1983, p. 221). These rough sketches led to the invention of a new apparatus- the interferometer. This device was designed to split a single beam of light into two different beams of light. After the divergence has both beams in two lines, perpendicular to one another, they are brought back together onc...

Derivation Principle of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria The WritePass Journal

Derivation Principle of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria 1. CHAPTER ONE Derivation Principle of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria 1. CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION2. CHAPTER TWO2.1.   INTRODUCTION2.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brief History About the Principle of Derivation in Nigeria2.3. What is Expected3. CHAPTER THREE3.1.   Current Percentage Derivation3.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems and Dissatisfaction with the Current System4. CHAPTER FOUR4.1.   Advantages and Challenges4.2.   Advantages4.2.1.  Ã‚   Economic Diversification4.2.2.  Ã‚   Human Capacity Development4.2.3.  Ã‚   Investment and Job Creation4.2.4.  Ã‚   Proper Development4.2.5.   Reduction of Hostility4.3.   Challenges4.3.1. Political and Capacity Problems4.3.2.  Ã‚   High Dependence on Oil Proceeds  Ã‚      4.3.3.  Ã‚   Legal Regimes4.3.4.    The Game with Fiscal Federalism in Nigeria5. CHAPTER FIVE5.1.   CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONSBIBLIOGRAPHYRelated 1. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Revenue allocation in Nigeria has been one of the most intractable and controversial issues. Particularly, the `principle of derivation’ has been highly contentious in the country’s fiscal federalism since oil discovery in 1958. The derivation principle seeks to allocate natural resource (say oil and gas) revenues accruable to the federation’s account[1] on the basis that is perceived to be equitable, given particular consideration to the resource-producing states and regions. Since the introduction of the principle by the then colonial administration, the formula underlying it has undergone numerous retrogressive alterations, following a pattern that has concentrated revenues with the central (federal) government. The percentage revenue due to producing states has declined from the initial 50% share to 1% in the 1990’s, and subsequently was increased again to a currently 13% share which does not reflect full offshore derived revenues. This has been considered unfair and unacceptable by the producing states especially Akwa-Ibom and Ondo states whose oil is virtually 100% offshore, which technically limits their benefits from the principle of derivation. This has resulted to the continuously seen agitations by these states for equitable share of her God given natural endowment for its effective development. The equitability proposed by the derivation principle in its original sense is of great importance because it is an instrument that can promote diversification of revenue generation streams for the country and support economic development as well as reduce the hostility in the Niger Delta and any other resource rich region in the future. States and regions with natural resource endowments other than oil and gas will now be compelled to develop these natural resource(s) and hence, benefit from the principle. Unfortunately, the principle has been highly compromised by various political and ethnocentric factors, leaving the producing states (minority) with very low percentage derivation. This paper seeks to explore this interesting subject as it analysis the derivation principle with respect to the actual expectations from it, and then present the advantages and challenges. . Chapter two defines and explains the derivation principle and the expectations that are associated with it; Chapter three presents the problems and dissatisfaction of the current derivation percentage; Chapter four presents the advantages and challenges (including the Peruvian example) of the actual principle, and Chapter five concludes. 2. CHAPTER TWO 2.1.   INTRODUCTION The principle of derivation is a component of fiscal federalism and ensures that a region or state retains a certain percentage from oil tax revenues derived from the exploitation and extraction of natural resources (like oil and gas) in its territory. This revenue is calculated based on the direct contributions from a natural resource state. As it was originally practiced, after deduction of the percentage derivation, the remainder is sent to the federation’s account for onward sharing among all states. Unfortunately, today the case is different. 2.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brief History About the Principle of Derivation in Nigeria The principle was first open to discussion in 1946 by the Phillipson commission who regarded it as a way of making regions with natural resources benefit from their God given endowment based on contribution to the central revenue pot (Adebayo, 1988). The principle of derivation became the major basis of revenue allocation between 1954 and 1957 due to the dominance of Nigerian’s export market by the three main ethnic groups[2] especially with cocoa from the West (Anugwom, 2001). From the period of oil discovery in 1958, the percentage derivation due for mineral producing states began to decline. This trend called for concern when recommendations made by the Binns commission of 1964 rejected the principle as part of the revenue allocation formula. When the military took over power in 1966, it set up an interim committee (Dina committee) that again recommended the derivation principle due to its relevance. The committee argued that the rent from the onshore oil exploration be fully given to the state from which the extraction was made, while 10% of the royalties be shared on derivation (Ekpo, 2004). However, the military government rejected the committee’s recommendations and then enacted Decree 13 of 1970, which adopted a revenue allocation formula on the basis of 50% on equality of states and 50% on population, retaining derivation only on onshore exploration. This favoured the non-oil producing states (majority) than the producing minority. By this t ime oil contributed about 70% of the total revenue accruing to the federation’s account. The principle has continued to undergo retrogressive changes as different administrations took over power. 2.3. What is Expected Considering the evolution of the principle of derivation and the rationale behind its applicability prior to the discovery of oil in Nigeria, it is expected in a fair sense, and in the absence of true federalism in Nigeria that the principle bequeathed to us by the founding fathers be maintained. Different bodies and groups have continued to call for the original 50% derivation used in the era when groundnut from the North and cocoa from the West dominated the country’s export market. For Example, The Kaiama declaration[3] of 1998 lamented the declining trend of the percentage derivation since the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, and called for a reverse of the principle. This is what the oil rich Niger Delta region continues to ask for, since federalism in Nigeria has become a politically manipulated practice by the power dominant majority, creating a serious barrier to the resource control agitators. The expected percentage derivation should be able to reflect positively on the citizenry under normal circumstances (checks and balances). 3. CHAPTER THREE 3.1.   Current Percentage Derivation Fiscal federalism in Nigeria is a system that is practically shallow compared to the actuality of the system. When juxtaposed with practices in some federal states like Canada, Australia, USA etc, it can be rightly said that the Nigerian Practice is far from rigorous. In the above mentioned states, constituent tiers of government have exclusive (full) control over natural resources in their respective territories, but pay necessary taxes to their central (federal) governments. However, Nigeria has adopted a system many now refer to as fiscal centralism (where revenue allocation and fiscal policies are left to the central government) and not the fiscal federalism (decentralised and devolved revenue allocation and fiscal policies) it so claims to practice. Despite Nigeria’s developing state, it would have been possible to maintain the expected principle, especially now that the local work force has improved. However, political sentiments have been applied in administering the percentage derivation due to natural resource producing states. This practice has indeed fall short of its expectation due to this political manoeuvring of reaping revenues to the central government; where the ethnic majority and non-oil producing states have higher control of power, and in return providing the minority and oil rich states with a token of compensation for playing host to the central government’s joint ventures with oil companies. This has become possible b ecause the 1976 constitution vest all mineral rights exclusively to the control of the federal government. The application of the principle since the country’s independence has failed to encourage and attract the development of other abundant natural resources other than oil and natural gas, as percentage derivation due to mineral producing states continue to decline. Currently, it is set at 13%, which is still insignificant, unfair and unacceptable to the agitators of resource control (Niger Delta). Although, there is an increase compared to the immediate past 1% derivation. 3.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems and Dissatisfaction with the Current System A vital problem with the present percentage derivation is the lack of sound technical basis or traceable mathematical derivation formula. Rather, it is a politically imposed type of compromise between ethnocentric parties. For Example, the current 13% derivation is a mean agreed value of a political negotiation in a constitutional conference held in 1995 between propositions by dominant 8% and opposing 18% parties (Ikpatt and Ibanga, 2003). Another problem with the current percentage derivation is a constitutional one, and can be traced back to the Supreme Court ruling in 2002, where the federal government filed a suit against the littoral states at the Court requesting a resolution of the seaward margin of a littoral state within the federal republic of Nigeria for the purpose of calculating the amount of revenue accruing to the federal account directly from any natural resource obtained from that state in pursuant to Section 162(2)[4] of the 1999 constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria. In its ruling, the apex court did sustain the plaintiff’s submission, declaring that for the purpose of calculating revenue accruing to the federal account directly from any natural resource obtained from a littoral state pursuant to section 162(2) of the 1999 constitution, the seaward margin will be the low-water mark of the land surface thereof or in specific cases (like in Cross River State) with archipelago of Island s, the seaward margin will be that of the inland waters within the state. This judgement created a total dissatisfaction to the littoral states of the Niger Delta region especially Akwa-Ibom and Ondo states whose oil resources are virtually 100% offshore (probably beyond the low-water margin and inland waters within the state), thereby tactically sidelining them from offshore derivation benefits accruable to the federation’s account. However, a Bill abolishing the offshore/onshore dichotomy ruling of the Supreme Court was signed into law by then President Obasanjo in 2004 after approval from the National Assembly. As this controversial magnanimity created applauses to the president from many Niger Delta political elites, some activists and professionals raised possible concerns about the new law (still in place). For Example, Ledum Mitee, president of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people (MOSOP), considers the law as a scratch on the surface of the numerous problems facing the oil-rich region, as core issues like environmental degradation, marginalization and the right of self determination and natural resource control has failed to be addressed by the new law. Furthermore, the Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Mr Douglas Oronto called for clarification on the meaning of the 200 meters depth Isobaths provided by the law as the new seaward margin for a littoral state. In the sam e vein, a onetime president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr O. C. J. okocha (SAN) questioned the ambiguity of the new margin and in his view; it may likely make no difference from the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court in 2002 as it concerns offshore derivation to littoral states.   Finally, Professor Ben Nwabueze, one of the country’s leading authority in constitutional law faulted the new law, saying what was (and is still) needed was (and is) a constitutional amendment, not an Act of parliament (Ojameruave, 2004). Another salient dissatisfaction is the too much concentration of revenues at the central level with no positive impacts on the citizenry. Since the country gained independence in 1960, revenue allocation has continued to skew in favour of the federal tier of government, which has benefited as high as about 60% and as low as 40% of oil dominated revenue shared among the three tiers of government. This high concentration has promoted wasteful spending and encouraged corruption by the politically privileged elites at the central level. In Nigeria, the federal government has hijacked responsibilities traditionally should have been under the state control, all with the aim of concentrating greater revenues at its control. Examples include responsibilities like the police, public transport, etc. Unlike Nigeria, in the Australian federation, responsibilities are well shared with the federal level responsible for taxation, defence, foreign affairs, postal and communication and the powers to make laws over states/territories. It remains a fact that the federal government of Nigeria lacks basic plans for transforming resources into meaningful developments. This explains the reasons for its political system being classified as a â€Å"do or die affair† (Awolaja, 2011). The gap between the federal government and the citizens is a major barrier on citizen’s demands for concrete development. In addition the weak and corrupt representation both in national and state levels exacerbate the condition. Increasing state derivation may help reduce dependence on the federal government’s monthly allocation; an exercise now considered a ritual that must be done. This change could likely increase the chances of accountability as government will be closer to the people, who in turn will stop at nothing to ensure their resources are rightfully channelled for equitable and meaningful development.    4. CHAPTER FOUR 4.1.   Advantages and Challenges    4.2.   Advantages There exist numerous benefits both to the federal and state tiers of government as well as local governments when the principle of derivation is implemented in its original sense. In the previous chapters, I have been able to highlight on some of the advantages. However, the expected principle may lead to: 4.2.1.  Ã‚   Economic Diversification It is an obvious fact that the principle of derivation will encourage diversification of the country’s economic activities and increase revenue generation as well as reduce the prevailing revenue sharing ritual that has eating deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian system. This will only be possible when percentage derivation to mineral producing states become attractive. This could also compel non-oil producing states that are now highly dependent on the Niger Delta wealth for sustenance to develop the natural resources within its territory. 4.2.2.  Ã‚   Human Capacity Development The cornerstone of a country’s economic success depends on how developed is the human wherewithal and competence. An economic diversification powered by the expected principle of derivation can fuel the development of human capacity of a nation, as the training and exposure of skilled professionals in the various industries which are technology driven and highly challenging, will become a necessity. 4.2.3.  Ã‚   Investment and Job Creation Also, rapid diversification will undoubtedly lead to investment opportunities and the creation of jobs for the increasingly high rate of unemployed Nigerian youths and possibly reduce crime level in the society. 4.2.4.  Ã‚   Proper Development The present percentage derivation has failed to reflect the needs of the local people and its governance. State and local governments should be able to handle development according to their felt needs and priorities, and not being constrained by lack of finances. Applying the derivation principle in its original sense may increase the chances of implementing programmes according to the needs and priorities of the people. For example, the Niger Delta region has continued to call for the remediation of its polluted environment whose damage came as a result of oil exploration; rather, the federal government has invested in what is not considered top priority. 4.2.5.   Reduction of Hostility Despite the fact that the oil producing Niger Delta region has long been agitating for resource control, a fair percentage derivation will reduce the agitation turned hostility especially on oil installations in the region and any other region in the future. 4.3.   Challenges Despite these numerous advantages, there exist various challenges to the actualization of a favourable percentage derivation. Some are: 4.3.1. Political and Capacity Problems The highly competitive but fragmented political system in Nigerian (like in Peru) coupled with the lack of checks and balances pose a major challenge to the implementation of the expected derivation principle. In terms of capacity, we believe Nigeria has come of age, but the influence of the former tends to weaken the latter. Today, we have seen some sub-national governments performing well above average in Nigeria. This is possible because these governments decided to invest in human capacity development in order to strengthen their local labour force. Unlike Nigeria, the Peruvian fiscal decentralization policy based on the system of automatic transfers to mineral producing areas failed because it never took into consideration the strength of its human capacity at the local level before implementing the policy.   Despite its longer period in the mining business, conflicts with neighbouring countries on territorial issues and political interests at the local level, and short-term p olicies contributed to the failure of this fiscal policy. 4.3.2.  Ã‚   High Dependence on Oil Proceeds  Ã‚      It is a well known fact that oil contributes over 90% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings, and also its national budgets are predicated on the basis of yearly crude oil production and price. These dependences continues to sustain its importance and attract high political actors and interests, and also explains why oil is considered now in the country as a natural resource for all unlike the periods when groundnuts and cocoa dominated the export market. In other words, upholding the expected percentage derivation may be perceived as unleashing financial threats on the federal government and the non-oil producing states. 4.3.3.  Ã‚   Legal Regimes The challenge posed by the country’s legal regime which is under the federal government’s control is indeed worrisome. For instance, the 1976 constitution vests mineral rights exclusively to the federal government’s control, the land use Act of 1978 and 1993, and the petroleum Act of 1969 are also legal regimes in favour of the federal government as it concerns natural resources. Repealing these repugnant laws has been faced with political manipulations from the federal government. This has always given the federal government the greater powers when it comes to the percentage derivation issue. Correcting these anomalies is highly necessary. This could explain why violence and hostility seems to be a favourable option. 4.3.4.    The Game with Fiscal Federalism in Nigeria If true federalism that reflects on fiscal policies is allowed to thrive in the Nigerian polity, the problem of unfair or too much derivation as conceived by both the dominant and opposing parties will be a thing of history. This is a major challenge facing the country at this stage of its development, and correcting this will mean reducing developmental barriers and increasing the chances of attaining sustainable economic stability. 5. CHAPTER FIVE 5.1.   CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS    The research has been able to establish the derivation principle currently in operation, and that which existed during the periods when groundnut from the North and cocoa from the West were the main sources of foreign earnings for Nigeria. It was found that the principle has been under the influence of political and ethnocentric factors, creating the much seen problems and dissatisfactions in the system. Also, analysis of various revenue allocation commissions’ recommendations prior to oil discovery in the Niger Delta indicated 50% as percentage derivation to natural resource producing regions and states. Unfortunately, this declined to a languishing 1% in the early 90’s, and currently stands at 13%. The major problem with the current system is the lack of technical base or any form of mathematical calculation. The paper has also been able to present some of the advantages and challenges of the expected percentage using Peru as an example. Finally, I consider the expected derivation principle (as opposed to resource control) as not presenting the best option for Nigeria’s economic success, but however, provides an opportunity or a pathway to getting there, especially as it can support developments in non-oil producing states and not turning them into a dependent variable as can be seen today. In order to reduce this dependence, the government should apply for a start (say 3 to 5 year term) a derivation of not less than 25% of direct revenues gotten from the exploration and the exploitation of natural resources of a producing state, with no first line charge of any kind from the federal government. At the expiration of the proposed term, a review can be made to ascertain the level of success achieved before further steps are taking. However, the country’s main focus should be on establishing a true federalism that reflects fiscal autonomy and independence of the constituent tiers of government, while the federal government concentrates more on its tax functions. This I believe will open the doors for rapid economic development in Nigeria.    BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES 1976 and 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria SECONDARY SOURCES BOOKS Adebayo, A. G; (1988) â€Å"Revenue allocation: A Historical Analysis of the Nigerian Experience† In: Olaniyan, R. O; (ed) Federalism in a Changing World (Nigeria). (Lagos, Nigeria: The Presidency)    INTERNET SOURCES Aluko, M. E; (2002) â€Å"Revenue Allocation and the Nigerian State: Of Derivation, Dichotomy and Debt Issues† at dawodu.com/aluko16.htm (last Visited on 28th June, 2011) Anugwom, E. E; (2001) â€Å"Federalism, Fiscal Centralism and the Realities of Democratisation in Nigeria: The Case of the Niger Delta† at unesco.org/most/crossroadsedl.htm (last visited on 28th June, 2011) Arellano-Yanguas, J; (2008) â€Å"A Thorough Modern Resource Curse? The New Natural Resource Policy Agenda and the Mining Revival in Peru at ids.ac.uk/files/Wp300.pdf (last visited on 25th July, 2011) Arowolo, D; (2011) â€Å"Fiscal Federalism in [emailprotected] Theory and Dimension† at http://onlineresearchjournals.com/aajoss/art/64.pdf (last visited on 28th June, 2011) Awolaja, A; (2011) â€Å"Nigeria and Challenges of Fiscal Federalism, In: Nigerian Tribune of 19th May, 2011† at http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/politics/22172-nigeria-and-challenges-of-fiscal-federalism (last visited on 28th June, 2011) Centre for the Future State; â€Å"How do Natural Resource Revenues Affect the Quality of Public Spending in Developing Countries? at dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/FutureState/CFS_resource_revenues_and_fiscal_governance.pdf (last visited on 24th July, 2011) Ejobowah, J. B; (2000) â€Å"Who Owns the Oil? The Politics of Ethnicity in the Niger Delta of Nigeria† at jstor.org/pss/4187306 (last visited 27th June, 2011) Ekpo, A. H; (2004) â€Å"Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: The Nigerian Experience† at ffc.co.za/conf/papers/nigeria-igfr.pdf (last visited on 29th June, 2011) Ikpatt, C; and Ibanga, N. H; (2003) â€Å"Nigeria’s Mineral Resources: A Case for Resource Control†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   at nigerdeltacongress.com/narticles/nigeria_mineral_resources_a_case.htm (last visited on 1st July, 2011)    Ojameruaye, E; (2004) â€Å"The Offshore/Onshore Oil Dichotomy Abolition Act- Matters Arising† at nigerdeltacongress.com/oarticles/offshoreonshore_oil_dichotomy_ab.htm (last visited on 27th June, 2011) Ojo, E. O; (2010) ‘The Politics of Revenue Allocation and Resource Control in Nigeria: Implications for Federal Stability’ at http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:fVOo0BDFwDMJ:scholar.google.com/+The+Politics+of+Revenue+Allocation+and+Resource+Control+in+Nigeria:+Implications+for+Federal+Stability%E2%80%99hl=enas_sdt=0,5as_vis=1 (last visited on 29th June, 2011) Tuodolo, F; and Kaiser-Wilhelm, T. O; (1998) â€Å"The Kaiama Declaration† at unitedijawstates.com/kaiama.html (last visited on 14th July, 2011) Uche, C. U; and Uche, O. C; (2004) â€Å"Oil and the Politics of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria† at http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:6XmkQeNCqdEJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi%3D10.1.1.135.3436%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+oil+and+the+politics+of+revenue+allocation+in+nigeriahl=engl=ukpid=blsrcid=ADGEESi2zBl_n5yX0t76JotakM73xR4TWkn1y5k9adXeo7u2gLWBwjb6xtE_ZB63ZlnYRdd79rvvorofWlQB8PU_B-2piuX1eiJOt3ge6WFJZ5h9B2TzNs0SnMi06erq9LLBm8xPd1h4sig=AHIEtbQ30QoHjmLsMe4wf05fVfKwDTVcFw (last visited on 30th June, 2011) World Bank; (2001) State and Local Governance in Nigeria at http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/5783/State_and_Governance_Nigeria.htm (last visited on 27th July, 2011)

Coca (Cocaine) History, Domestication, and Use

Coca (Cocaine) History, Domestication, and Use Coca, the source of natural cocaine, is one of a handful of shrubs in the Erythroxylum family of plants. Erythroxylum includes over 100 different species of trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs native to South America and elsewhere. Two of the South American species, E. coca and E. novogranatense, have potent alkaloids occurring in their leaves, and those leaves have been used for their medicinal and hallucinogenic properties for thousands of years. E. coca originates from the montaà ±a zone of the eastern Andes, between 500 and 2,000 meters (1,640-6,500 feet)  above sea level. The earliest archaeological evidence of coca use is in coastal Ecuador, ca 5,000 years ago. E. novagranatense is known as Colombian coca and it is more able to adapt to different climates and elevations; it first up in northern Peru beginning about 4,000 years ago. Coca Use The ancient method of Andean cocaine use involves folding coca leaves into a quid and placing it between the teeth and the inside of the cheek. An alkaline substance, such as powdered wood ash or baked and powdered seashells is then transferred into the quid using a silver awl or pointed tube of limestone. This method of consumption was first described to Europeans by the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who met coca users when he visited the coast of northeastern Brazil, in AD 1499. Archaeological evidence shows the procedure is much older than that. Coca use was part of ancient Andean daily life, an important symbol of cultural identity in ceremonies, and used medicinally as well. Chewing coca is said to be good for relief of fatigue and hunger, beneficial for gastrointestinal illnesses, and said to ease the pain of dental caries, arthritis, headaches, sores, fractures, nosebleed, asthma, and impotence. Chewing coca leaves also is believed to ease the effects of living in high altitudes.   Chewing more than 20-60 grams (.7-2 ounces) of coca leaves results in a cocaine dose of 200-300 milligrams, equivalent to one line of powdered cocaine. Coca Domestication History The earliest evidence of coca use discovered to date comes from a handful of preceramic sites in the Nancho Valley. Coca leaves have been direct-dated by AMS to 7920 and 7950 cal BP. Artifacts associated with coca processing were also found in contexts dated as early as 9000-8300 cal BP. What is the AMS dating method?What does cal BP mean? Evidence for coca use has also been from in caves in the Ayacucho valley of Peru, within levels dated between 5250-2800 cal BC. Evidence for coca use has been identified from most cultures in South America, including Nazca, Moche, Tiwanaku, Chiribaya and Inca cultures. According to ethnohistoric records, horticulture and use of coca became a state monopoly in the Inca empire about AD 1430. The Inca elites restricted use to the nobility beginning in the 1200s, but coca continued to widen in use until all but lowest classes had access at the time of the Spanish conquest. Archaeological Evidence of Coca Use Nanchoc valley sites (Peru), 8000-7800 cal BPAyacucho valley caves (Peru), 5250-2800 cal BCValdivia culture (3000 BC) of coastal Ecuador (may represent long-distance trade or domestication)Peruvian coast (2500-1800 BC)Nazca figurines (300 BC-AD 300)Moche (AD 100-800) pots illustrate a bulging cheek, and coca leaves in gourds have been recovered from Moche tombsTiwanaku by AD 400Arica, Chile by AD 400The Cabuza culture (ca AD 550) mummies buried with coca quids in their mouths In addition to the presence of coca quids and kits, and the artistic depictions of coca use, archaeologists have used the presence of excessive alkali deposits on human teeth and alveolar abscesses as evidence. However, it isnt clear whether abscesses are caused by coca use, or treated by coca use, and results have been ambiguous about using excessive calculus on teeth. Beginning in the 1990s, gas chromatography was used to identify cocaine use in mummified human remains, particularly the Chirabaya culture, recovered from the Atacama Desert of Peru. The identification of BZE, a metabolic product of coca (benzoylecgonine), in hair shafts, is considered ample evidence of coca use, even for modern-day users. Coca Archaeological Sites San Lorenzo del Mate (Ecuador), 500 BC-AD 500, adult male interment with excessive calculus deposits on his teeth, an associated decorated shell spatula and a small bowl-like deposit of an alkali substance (probably once in a gourd)Las Balsas (Ecuador) (300 BC-AD 100). Cal receptaclePLM-7, Arica site in coastal Chile, 300 BC, coca kitPLM-4, Tiwanakoid sites in Chile with a bag full of coca leavesLlullallaco, Argentina, Inca period child sacrifices exhibited coca consumption prior to death Sources: Bussmann R, Sharon D, Vandebroek I, Jones A, and Revene Z. 2007. Health for Sale: The Medicinal Plant Markets in Trujillo and Chiclayo, Northern Peru. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3(1):37.Cartmell LW, Aufderheide AC, Springfield A, Weems C, and Arriaza B. 1991. The Frequency and Antiquity of Prehistoric Coca-Leaf-Chewing Practices in Northern Chile: Radioimmunoassay of a Cocaine Metabolite in Human-Mummy Hair. Latin American Antiquity 2(3):260-268.Dillehay TD, Rossen J, Ugent D, Karathanasis A, Vsquez V, and Netherly PJ. 2010. Early Holocene coca chewing in northern Peru. Antiquity 84(326):939-953.Gade DW. 1979. Inca and colonial settlement, coca cultivation and endemic disease in the tropical forest. Journal of Historical Geography 5(3):263-279.Ogalde JP, Arriaza BT, and Soto EC. 2009. Identification of Psychoactive Alkaloids in Ancient Andean Human Hair by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(2):467-472.Plowman T. 1981 Amazonian co ca. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 3(2-3):195-225. Springfield AC, Cartmell LW, Aufderheide AC, Buikstra J, and Ho J. 1993. Cocaine and Metabolites in the Hair of Ancient Peruvian Coca Leaf Chewers. Forensic Science International 63(1-3):269-275.Ubelaker DH, and Stothert KE. 2006. Elemental Analysis of Alkalis and Dental Deposits Associated with Coca Chewing in Ecuador. Latin American Antiquity 17(1):77-89.Wilson AS, Brown EL, Villa C, Lynnerup N, Healey A, Ceruti MC, Reinhard J, Previgliano CH, Araoz FA, Gonzalez Diez J et al.  2013. Archaeological, radiological, and biological evidence offer insight into Inca child sacrifice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110(33):13322-13327.

Experimental Designs II Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Experimental Designs II - Assignment Example For example, in a 2x2 factorial ANOVA with levels A1 and A2 of Factor Aand levels B1 and B2. An ANOVA test would test the significant differences between the marginal means, which are called simple Main Effects of each factor. This is because they illustrate the overall difference between the levels of each factor, independently of the levels of the other. The ANOVA also tests for the significance differences between the Cell Means; in other words, the four means relevant to the AxBinteraction effect (Jackson, 2012). According to Jackson, the test also determines if the effects of the independent variable (IV) are independent of each other, or whether the effects of one IV depend on the level of the factor. Key effects are differences in means over levels of one factor that is collapsed over levels of the other factor (s) (Jackson, 2012). No.6 The difference between a complete factorial design and an incomplete factorial design is laid out in how experimental conditions are dealt wit h. A Complete Factorial Design (CFD) consists of all factors and levels of each factor, it is also capable of estimating all factors, and their interactions (Jackson, 2012). An incomplete factorial design is arrived at when experimental conditions are removed from a complete factorial design. ... No.8 The difference between a two way ANOVA and a three-way ANOVA is that a two-way ANOVA test is used when there are more than one IV requiring multiple observations for each IV. The two-way test determines the main effect contributions of each IV and indicates if there is a significant interaction effect amongst the IVs. The three way ANOVA is used to determine the effect of three nominal predictor variables that are based on a continuous outcome variable. The three-way test evaluates the effect of the IV on the expected outcome together with their relationship in the outcome (Jackson, 2012). Random factors are considered to have no statistical impact on a given data set, unlike systematic factors that are considered to hold statistical significance. No. 10 Source df SS MS F A 1 60 60 1.420 B 2 40 20 24.170 AxB 2 90 81 0.125 Error 30 200 100 1.884 Total 35 390 261 27.599 a). Factorial notation –1x2 = 2 b). There are 2 conditions in this particular study. c). Number of subjec ts in the study – 3 d). Main effect for B, no significant interaction Source df SS MS F A 2 40 20 0.85 B 3 60 18 9 AxB 6 150 130 0.867 Error 72 150 75 Total 83 400 243 15.717 a). Factorial notation – 2 x 3. b). There are 6 conditions. c). Subjects in study - 2 d). No main effects. There is a significant interaction. Source df SS MS F A 1 60 60 132 B 2 40 20 98 AxB 2 90 45 135 Error 30 200 6.67 Total 35 390 131.67 245 a). Factorial notation – 1 x 2 b). There are 3 conditions. c). Subjects in study - 2 d). Main effect for B. No significant interaction. Source df SS MS F A 1 10 10 0.10 B 1 60 60 30 Error 36 80 40 Total 39 150 110 30.10 a). Factorial notation – 1 x 1 b). 1 condition c). Subjects in study - 1 d). Main effect for A and B. Significant

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 12

Marketing - Essay Example Marketing is a particularly fundamental function for strategy formulation in a business. It informs a strategy, counsels it, reviews it and provides insights into strategy formulation in an organization. An outstanding marketing department is involved in a continuous cycle of measure-analyze-plan-measure. This cycle is as well a key ingredient of strategic business management function. Therefore, in essence, marketing is a key element of strategic management function. Great marketing can help the company in identifying and addressing improvement strategies to customers in either product differentiation or distribution channels (Kotler et al 2009). For example, forecasting is part of strategic planning, sales and marketing forecasts as always the main tools used in budgeting for the marketing function. In marketing research, the Research and Development personnel are essential for effective results analyses and interpretation. Kotler et al (2009), the chief aim of strategic planning i s promoting the discernment of the company in the minds of the customers and consequently to increase customer relation and profitability of the business. Business strategic planning has to be undertaken to ensure the evaluation of all the options in a given situation. In such considerations, only the marketing function and research and development function are involved in result oriented research for improvement of service to the customer. Marketing Function versus Other Organizational Functions The marketing function of a business is the process that combines the product with pricing, promotion and distribution to reach the respective customers or end users. Marketing is one of the most significant functions of a business since it has a direct impact on sales and profitability of the business as well as customer relation. Because of this importance, the marketing function has a greater interrelation with other business functions like finance, accounting, production, research and d evelopment, technology, procurement and human resource among others. Building a profitable customer relationship in the marketing function requires interaction with the other business functions (Kotler et al 2009). I. Finance and marketing Every marketing plan always includes a primary financial dimension. Key aspects of a marketing planning and control are budgeting and profitability analysis. These issues require high resolution on significant financial issues like the definition of profits (e.g. Returns to equity or returns to investment) and determination on the appropriate controls for such profits (e.g. Taxes or inventory evaluation). All marketing decisions are investment decisions aiming at profitable customer relation hence adequate financial information is significant. Nevertheless, marketing is essential for the finance department since the information generated from marketing is used in financial analysis and forecasting (Kotler et al 2009). For example, the marketing te am in organization utilizes the annual company financial reports and other financial documents to help them with budgeting. This helps to reduce duplication of work in the marketing team for employing financial personnel since the financial personnel are already available in the company. The marketing team is, therefore, able to apply financial performance indicators to their relevant respective market segments to ensure that they always remain relevant to customers. II.

Book report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Book report - Essay Example In the footsteps of an international pacifist network that had protested nuclear armament since the 1950s, the anti ­war movement was also able to gather a worldwide following of protesters by the late 1960s, all of whom had one thing in common—their opposition to the Vietnam War. The international aspect of this opposition and its transnationalism can attribute to a collective zeitgeist of the time. Many people in America did not want the U.S to engage in another deadly war. The book clearly shows how the American army during the Vietnam war failed to offer moral counsel to young soldiers who were traumatized the events of the war. Further, the U.S soldiers believed that the war was unjust and most of them were afraid to die. Instead, the U.S army I only concerned about bringing men to the battlefield, men who do not question who to shoot or why they have to shoot, nor require to comprehend the effects it may cause on their mental and physical health. This is an example whe re O’Brien is engaged in the war to struggle against the U.S involvement in the war as he sees his friends and other soldiers die. Despite the fact that he feels the power of revenge to his enemies, he feels that killing innocent people and villagers is morally or ethically wrong (O’Brien 34). ... American soldiers opted to make courageous acts in order to express their manliness. From the book, it is clear that many American soldiers realized that they were not brave enough to withstand their moral or ethical beliefs, losing their respect for their relatives, family seemed to outweigh their convictions, and the soldiers did not want to fail anybody. Peace and antiwar movements extract at least some set of intricate phenomena with varying sources, constituencies, goals, and principles. Some of them have roots in the ancient and medieval world. Contemporary advocacy for peace adapted and inherited the concept of just war and absolute pacifism as propagated by religious non-resistance. In addition, peace and antiwar movements base their argument from the concept of political economy. The antiwar movement against U.S involvement in war with Vietnam began in 1950s and gained its momentum in 1960s up to 1970s. It was the most significant movement of its type in the history of U.S. The U.S got involved in the Vietnam War in 1950 when Harry Truman the then President of the U.S began to underwrite the costs of France’s war against the Vietnam. When the Vietnam War started, most Americans believed that defending South Vietnam from communism was a noble and brilliant idea for their national interest. Communism was posing a threat to democracy around the world by preaching anarchy and authoritarian ideas. During the course of the war, many Americans were concerned about the escalating war costs and rising number of casualties. This led to emergence of anti-war movement that grew into in a strong force in opposing the Vietnam War while pressuring America leaders to withdraw from the war. Together with the civil rights movements of the 1960s, the antiwar movements

EU LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

EU LAW - Essay Example This essay demonstrates the difference between persons who are established and those who are service providers within EU LAW. The essay outlines key distinction between services and establishment. There are some interesting examples of court practice concerning EU Directives application in cases of natural persons and companies. The essay considers the opportunity of dual establishment whereby one can continue to operate in its home state and can have branches in other Member States. The courts have stated that if an office is set up in the home state, that in itself would not be conclusive evidence as to establishment, similarly in respect service provider, he may set up ‘the infrastructure necessary for the purpose of performing the services in question’ in host state which can be an office, thus that would not be conclusive. In respect of establishment, the court in case 81/87 Daily Mail held that stated that Article 43 of Directive73/148 did not provide any directly effective measure for transferring a company to another member state without restrictions and thus it was found that Directive 73/148 applied only to natural persons and not to companies. Services can be way of movement of the person or analogous whereby no movement takes place. In respect of services, the important thing is its definition, which is in Article 50 TEC and stipulates the important thing that leads to determination of services, the first one being that services are temporary in nature and are under normal circumstances provided for remuneration. In respect of services being temporary in nature, the important decision was that of Gebhard. As far as remuneration is concerned, it is necessary to distinguish whether the services are economic nature or for a non-profit making purpose. A private school coming under the head of services was considered in Case 263/86 Belgium v. Humbel5 where it was found that the school was not â€Å"the nature of the activity is not affected by the fact that pupils or their parents must sometimes pay fees† so as to provide for operating expenses. However, in Case C-109/92 Wirth6 it was held that if the institute was operational with the aim of making a profit and the basic mode of financing was private fees, then that would be service under Article 49 EC Treaty. The courts have strongly detested discrimination on the basis of nationality, establishment or residence, as can be seen in Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen7 where the requirement of a person to be habitually resident in the host state was said to be contrary to Article 49 EC Treaty. 1b. In respect of Sylvester it is important to consider the decision of Gebhard whereby it was stated that the duration, regularity, periodicity and continuity of the provision of the services’ is looked into. As far as services are considered they are considered to be temporary in nature, and actual movement is not required. In respect of Sylvester the duration has been two years, as far as regularity is concerned that cannot be

Final Project Statistics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final - Statistics Project Example The interest of the study is to test if there is any significance difference between the energy intake before and after the exercise session. The most appropriate test for this study is the paired sample t-test. The test determines if there is significant difference between average values of measurements taken from a sampling unit under two different conditions (Park, 2009). The test is based on the paired difference between the two measurements. This is a two tailed test where both variables are dependent variables, i.e. pre and post-test variables. The power and post hoc testing for this study will be Bonferroni and Turkey’s test. Bonferoni is the simplest post hoc test because of its flexibility and ability to be used as correction test (Pavlidis, n.d). Bonferroni calculates the new pairwise alpha to be compared with the initial alpha . Bonferroni alpha is calculated as Pretessting and posttessting data both seem to be normally distributed. The conclusion is supported by Shapiro wilk test for normality. This test was chosen since it works best for a smaller samples size of less than 50. The results were as follows; From Shapiro wilk test, both pretesting and posttesting data was normally distributed. The significance values 0.803 and 0.712 are both greater than alpha 0.05. This test confirms that the data is appropriate for a paired t-test. In this study, there were 20 people whose energy intake was examined before and after going to the gym. The average energy intake before the exercise sessions was 6650.7 with a standard deviation of 1495.704 while the energy intake after the session was 5304 with a standard deviation of 1518.826. The last column gives the standard error of the mean for each of the test. This output also shows that there were 20 pairs of observation in the study. The correlation between variables in given in column three i.e . The fourth column shows the p value for the correlation coefficient. With an

Legal Aspects of Business Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Legal Aspects of Business Decisions - Essay Example This analysis forces courts to consider the pro-competitive effects of the restraint as well as its anticompetitive effects. Certain categories of restraints to be illegal per se: that is, they are conclusively presumed to be unreasonable and therefore illegal. For those types of restraints, the court does not have to go any further in its analysis than to recognize the type of restraint, and the plaintiff does not have to show anything other than that the restraint occurred. Three elements must be alleged to sustain a cause of action under section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1 (1982): a contract, combination or conspiracy; a restraint of trade; and an effect on interstate commerce. Weiss v. York Hospital, 745 F.2d 786, 812 (3d Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1060, 105 S.Ct. 1777, 84 L.Ed.2d 836 (1985). Restraints of trade can be classified as horizontal or vertical. A horizontal agreement is one involving direct competitors at the same level in a particular industry, and a vertical agreement involves participants who are not direct competitors because they are at different levels. Thus, a horizontal agreement can be among manufacturers or retailers or wholesalers, but it does not involve participants from across the different groups.

Final Project Statistics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final - Statistics Project Example The interest of the study is to test if there is any significance difference between the energy intake before and after the exercise session. The most appropriate test for this study is the paired sample t-test. The test determines if there is significant difference between average values of measurements taken from a sampling unit under two different conditions (Park, 2009). The test is based on the paired difference between the two measurements. This is a two tailed test where both variables are dependent variables, i.e. pre and post-test variables. The power and post hoc testing for this study will be Bonferroni and Turkey’s test. Bonferoni is the simplest post hoc test because of its flexibility and ability to be used as correction test (Pavlidis, n.d). Bonferroni calculates the new pairwise alpha to be compared with the initial alpha . Bonferroni alpha is calculated as Pretessting and posttessting data both seem to be normally distributed. The conclusion is supported by Shapiro wilk test for normality. This test was chosen since it works best for a smaller samples size of less than 50. The results were as follows; From Shapiro wilk test, both pretesting and posttesting data was normally distributed. The significance values 0.803 and 0.712 are both greater than alpha 0.05. This test confirms that the data is appropriate for a paired t-test. In this study, there were 20 people whose energy intake was examined before and after going to the gym. The average energy intake before the exercise sessions was 6650.7 with a standard deviation of 1495.704 while the energy intake after the session was 5304 with a standard deviation of 1518.826. The last column gives the standard error of the mean for each of the test. This output also shows that there were 20 pairs of observation in the study. The correlation between variables in given in column three i.e . The fourth column shows the p value for the correlation coefficient. With an

A comparative overview of the development experience between Jamaica Essay

A comparative overview of the development experience between Jamaica and Ghana since 1960 - Essay Example According to (What is Development? 2004), the priorities of countries differ as outlined in their development policies. For instance, the goal of some countries may merely involve increasing national wealth whereas in others may involve improving the well-being of the citizens. In relation to the definitions provided, I will define development as a dynamic process. In relation to my definition, I will compare the development experience between Jamaica and Ghana extensively since 1960. In addressing this, I will detail on the indicators of development that include eradication of poverty, the realization of human basic needs, protection of human rights, and the increase in national wealth. Jamaica is a country in the North America continent with approximately 2.8 million people. It is one of the countries in the world that has undergone several stages of development which are well defined by social, economic as well as political outlook (Revitalizing the Jamaican Economy, 2004). Despite Jamaica having an independent Constitution that recognizes equal rights of all people, the residual impacts of a society purposely shaped in inequality upholds. Over the last three decades, Jamaica’s economy as well as society has been evolving significantly. Unfortunately, the majority of the people tend to doubt the country’s developmental potential. In the 1960s, the growth of Jamaica was very significant (LeFranc, 1994). The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was approximately 5% each year (differing from 3 to 12%). This was boosted by not only the expansion of bauxite, but also alumina and tourism (LeFranc, 1994). However, this growth trend started to fail at the beginning of the 1970s. This was a result of the populist government of the 1970s diversion of attention on redistribution as well as equity instead of growth (Fosu, 2007). The expansionary

The Quality of Early Child Care and Children’s Development Essay Example for Free

The Quality of Early Child Care and Children’s Development Essay ABSTRACT—The past half-century saw dramatic changes in families that altered the daily experiences of many young children. As more mothers of young children entered the labor force, increasing numbers of young children spent substantial hours in various child-care settings. These changes gave rise to a large body of research on the impact of the quality of early child care on children’s development. However, a full understanding of the role of the quality of early child care requires consideration of the interplay among child care, family, workplace, and society. This article places what we know about the quality of early child care and children’s development in this larger ecological context, and suggests directions for future research and practice. The past half-century saw dramatic changes in families that altered the daily experiences of many young children. In 1970, only 24% of mothers with a young child (birth through age 3) were in the labor force; by 2000, this figure had risen to 57%. This growth in maternal employment was accompanied by changes in children’s daily experiences. By 2000, 80% of children under the age of 6 were in some form of nonparental care, spending an average of 40 hours a week in such care (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2003). Research on children’s experiences saw a parallel change that was equally dramatic. Early research in the field focused primarily on the question of whether child care (or maternal employment) per se was good or bad for children; current research asks questions about the relation between children’s development and variations in the quality and quantity of child care that they experience. The field also now recognizes varying types of child care, including center-based care, licensed or regulated home-based care by nonrelatives (family-childcare homes), and other home-based care, such as care by relatives or in-home sitters. There have been methodological advances as well. Early research was more likely to study small samples and examine correlations between child care and children’s outcomes at a single point in time; current research is more likely to involve large samples at multiple sites, to use experimental or quasi-experimental designs, and to follow participants over time. Perhaps the most important advance in child-care research has been theoretical. Early research tended to study the effects of child care in isolation from other significant aspects of children’s lives. Current research is more likely to be grounded in ecological systems theory, which considers children’s development in the context of the child-care system as well as the family system, and recognizes the links between these systems and the larger society. In this article, I focus on one segment of current research on early child care—the links between the quality of child care and children’s development—drawing on ecological systems theory to provide an overview of recent advances and to suggest directions for future research. ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY AND EARLY CHILD CARE Ecological systems theory places child development in an ecological perspective, in which an individual’s experience is nested within interconnected systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1989). Microsystems, such as families or child-care settings, are characterized by face-to-face connections among individuals. Mesosystems consist of two or more microsystems and the linkages or processes that combine or connect them. These mesosystems exist within the larger context of the exosystem, those settings in which the child does not directly participate but that influence the lives of parents and other adults in the child’s world, such as a parent’s workplace, educational institutions that train child-care teachers and providers, and government agencies that set regulations for child-care facilities or establish welfare-reform policies. The mesosystems and exosystems operate within the context of a macrosystem of societal and cultural beliefs and practices. Note that these systems are not static, but may change over time. The Mesosystem of Family Child Care Children inhabit both families and child-care microsystems, and these systems are linked. Parents select particular types of child care, of varying quality, for children of different ages—and these decisions vary with family structure, parental characteristics, geographical location, and other factors. Singer, Fuller, Keiley, and Wolf (1998) argued that child-care researchers must consider these selection effects if they are to accurately model the impact of child care on children’s development over time. 1 Through their selection of particular child-care arrangements, parents have an indirect impact on their children’s development (in addition to their direct impact within the family system). But this linkage between the family system and child-care system operates in both directions: The child-care system can also influence the family system. For example, Ahnert, Rickert, and Lamb (2000) described a particular mesosystem characterized by shared care; in this mesosystem, mothers adapted their interactions with their toddlers in response to the toddlers’ experiences in child care. The Exosystem The family child-care mesosystem operates within the larger context of the exosystem of parental employment—one of the primary functions of child care is to enable parents, particularly mothers, to work outside the home. Historically, the child-care system has developed in response to characteristics of parents’ employment . For instance, the current child-care system includes child-care centers, which tend to have operating hours that match those of parents who are working weekdays, as well as family-child-care homes and kith-and-kin care, which are more likely to meet the needs of parents who are working evenings, weekends, or variable hours. However, in industries that operate around the clock, particularly those with highly skilled workers such as hospitals, we are more likely to see on-site child-care centers, sick-child care,2 and other accommodations to parents’ employment needs. Another important aspect of the exosystem is government policies and regulations that affect both the demand for child care (such as welfare-reform efforts that require low-income mothers to seek employment) and the affordability of child care. Although the United States provides some child-care subsidies for families, many low- and moderate-income families do not have effective access to subsidies. 3 Given the links between the quality of care and the cost of care, it is not surprising that children in low-income families who are not in the higher-quality, government-subsidized programs tend to receive lower-quality child care than children in middle-income families (cf. Phillips, Voran, Kisker, Howes, Whitebook, 1994). In this way, the exosystem of government policies and regulations provides an important context for the operation of the family ! child-care mesosystem. THE QUALITY OF EARLY CHILD CARE AND CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT Using ecological systems theory as a framework, I turn now to the question of the relation between the quality of early child care and children’s development. I begin with a discussion of the concept of quality, and then move on to an overview of what researchers currently know about the role of the quality of early child care in children’s lives. What Is Quality? The underlying assumption of all definitions of quality is that a high quality early-child-care setting is one that supports optimal learning and development. However, quality has been measured in a variety of ways across different studies. Measures of child-care quality can be categorized as either structural or process indicators. Structural characteristics include the child:staff ratio (the number of children per teacher or provider), the group size (number of children in the setting), and the education and specialized training of teachers, providers, or directors. The features of structural quality can be regulated, and most states set minimum standards for at least some aspects of structural quality, at least in center-based care. Studies that assess structural quality are most useful in evaluating the impact of features that can be regulated. Although understanding the links between structural indicators of quality and children’s development is important, we also need to understand the mechanisms by which structural quality affects children’s development, which requires examining what actually happens in the early-care setting (i.e., the process). How do adults and children interact? What materials are available for the children, and how do adults support children’s use of those materials? Process quality refers to the nature of the care that children experience—the warmth, sensitivity, and responsiveness of the caregivers; the emotional tone of the setting; the activities available to children; the developmental appropriateness of activities; and the learning opportunities available to children. Unlike the features of structural quality, process quality is not subject to state or local regulations, and it is harder to measure. One of the more commonly used measures, the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS; Harms, Clifford, Cryer, 1998), assesses multiple aspects of process quality. Such multidimensional process measures tell us much more about the quality of care that children receive than do structural measures alone. Structural Indicators of Quality and Children’s Development What do we know about the links between the structural indicators of quality in early child care and children’s development? The research to date has found that better ratios (fewer children per adult) and more education or training for teachers are associated with higher language, cognitive, and social skills of the children cared for (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2003). However, many of the studies that have examined structural indicators have employed small samples (fewer than 100 children) or have not considered selection effects in their analyses, so studies that do not have these limitations are of particular importance. In an interesting study that assessed the links between structural quality, process quality, and children’s outcomes, the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2002) found that the relation between caregiver training and child-staff ratio, on the one hand, and children’s cognitive and social competence, on the other hand, was mediated by process quality— that is, higher levels of caregiver training and lower ratios of children to adults in child-care settings were associated with higher levels of process quality, which were, in turn, associated with children’s greater cognitive and social competence. Process Quality and Children’s Development Among studies published in the past 15 years, those that employed an ecological model4 consistently found that higher process quality is to greater language and cognitive competence, fewer behavior problems, and more social skills, particularly when multidimensional measures of quality, such as the ECERS, are used or quality is assessed at more than one point in time. For example, the Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes Study (Peisner-Feinberg, Burchinal, Clifford, 2001) found that higher process quality in preschool classrooms predicted fewer behavior problems 1 year later, and predicted higher language and math scores in kindergarten and second grade, although the magnitude of these associations declined over time. This same study also found a link between the child-care and family systems, such that the association between child-care quality and children’s school performance was moderated by mothers’ education; specifically, the association was stronger for children whose mothers had less education. BEYOND SELECTION EFFECTS I began this article with a discussion of the importance of considering children’s development from an ecological systems perspective, which considers the family ! child-care mesosystem as a context for children’s development. Many studies of child care now consider the role of selection effects by statistically controlling for family characteristics. However, other linkages within the mesosystem must also be considered if one is to adequately understand the role of child-care quality in children’s development. For instance, aspects of the family system, such as the mother’s education or depression, parenting practices, and family income, may have independent effects on children’s development. In fact, in a study of 1,100 children, the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2001) found that although the quality of early child care consistently predicted socio-emotional and cognitive-linguistic outcomes during the first 3 years of life, family factors were more consistent predictors of children’s development than quality of child care, or any other child-care factors examined. Research on the family child-care mesosystem is familiar territory for many psychologists. However, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory calls attention to other influences on children’s development—the exosystem of parental employment and government policy and the macrosystem of societal beliefs about the desirability of maternal employment and the desired outcomes for children. For example, there is a complex interplay between parental employment, government policy, child care, and children’s development for low-income families. Government policy and the macrosystem of societal beliefs promote employment for low-income parents. However, low-income parents tend to have less education and fewer marketable skills compared with other parents, and are likely to be employed in sectors of the labor market where jobs are part-time or contingent (temporary), allow little flexibility for managing family demands, and offer few benefits. Work schedules are also likely to include hours outside of the typical Monday-through-Friday daytimes when childcare centers normally operate. Although government subsidies are available to some low-income families, most do not receive subsidies. As a result, children from low-income families are likely to be placed in lower-cost and lower-quality center care or informal care that is itself often of lower quality (cf. Henly Lyons, 2000). Viewing this ‘‘choice’’ as a selection effect leads one to interpret it as parental preference—but an ecological perspective suggests a different interpretation: Regardless of their individual preferences, low-income families’ choices are constrained by the operation of the exosystem of the workplace and government policy. FUTURE DIRECTIONS Current state-of-the-art research has provided clear evidence that the quality of early child care matters to children’s development. Children who attend higher-quality child-care settings have greater language and cognitive competence and greater social competence than children who receive lower-quality child care. However, several studies have documented the prevalence of mediocre or inadequate child care in the United States (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2003, pp. 53–54). In addition, the high-quality care that does exist is not equitably distributed—lower-income children are less likely than higher-income children to have access to it. The next step is to answer the question: How can we best raise the quality of early child care for all children? Ecological systems theory draws our attention to the importance of placing this question in the context of family processes, parental employment, governmental policies, and societal beliefs and goals when developing theoretical models and models for practice. We must integrate our societal goals of supporting healthy families, economic self-sufficiency, and women’s employment with our goals of supporting healthy development and school readiness for children, if we expect to advance research and practice in the area of early-child-care quality and children’s development. Recommended Reading Lamb, M.E. (1998). Nonparental child care: Context, quality, correlates. In W. Damon, I.E. Sigel, K.A. Renninger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Child psychology in practice (5th ed., pp. 73–134). New York: John Wiley Sons. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, Board on Children, Youth, and Families. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early child development (J.P. Shonkoff D.A. Phillips, Eds.). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on Family and Work Policies. (2003). (See References) Phillips, D.A., Voran, M.N., Kisker, E., Howes, C., Whitebook, M. (1994). (See References) REFERENCES Ahnert, L., Rickert, H., Lamb, M.E. (2000). Shared caregiving: Comparisons between home and child care settings. Developmental Psychology, 36, 339–351. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989). Ecological systems theory. Annals of Child Development, 6, 187–249. Harms, T., Clifford, R.M., Cryer, D. (1998). Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale: Revised edition. New York: Teachers College Press. Henly, J.R., Lyons, S. (2000). The negotiation of child care and employment demands among low-income parents. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 683–706. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on Family and Work Policies. (2003). Working families and growing kids: Caring for children and adolescents (E. Volume 13—Number 4 167 Nancy L. Marshall Smolensky J.A. Gootman, Eds.). Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved August 14, 2003, from http://www.nap.edu/openbook/ 0309087031/html/R1.html NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2001). Nonmaternal care and family factors in early development: An overview of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 457–492. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2002). Child-care structure! process! outcome: Direct and indirect effects of child-care quality on young children’s development. Psychological Science, 13, 199–206. Peisner-Feinberg, E.S., Burchinal, M.R., Clifford, R.M. (2001). The relation of preschool child-care quality to children’s cognitive and social developmental trajectories through second grade. Child Development, 72, 1534–1553. Phillips, D.A., Voran, M.N., Kisker, E., Howes, C., Whitebook, M. (1994). Child care for children in poverty: Opportunity or inequity? Child Development, 65, 472–492. Singer, J.D., Fuller, B., Keiley, M.K., Wolf, A. (1998). Early child-care selection: Variation by geographic location, maternal characteristics, and family structure. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1129–1144.