Worldcom Failure - 1194 Words

Examining a Business Failure: WorldCom WorldCom was one of several large companies that failed because of inadequate organizational leadership, fraud, conspiracy, falsifying documents, and embezzlement. WorldCom has been classified as being â€Å"one of the biggest corporate scandals in Unites States history† (Zekany, 2004, p. 101). In 2001, the company’s financial condition began to decline due to the slowing telecommunications industry, which eventually put pressure on the company’s executive officers to increase profits (Jonesington, 2007, p. 1). Unfortunately, the executive officers made decisions to commit accounting fraud by falsifying documents to reflect a positive cash flow rather than a negative one. All the individuals†¦show more content†¦5) before using rationale. Based on this viewpoint, only emotionally based influences can generate outstanding achievements of organizations (Yukl, 2006, p. 5). Management The role of a manager is not as easy to define as the role of a leader. Researchers use descriptive methods such as interviews, diaries, and observations to discover the roles and responsibilities of a manager (Yukl, 2006, p. 23). The research results indicate managers work long hours, give and receive large amounts of information, and spend a substantial amount of time with people other than direct subordinates (Yukl, 2006, p. 23). Research also indicates the common practice of making important decisions with the support and authorization of different people at different management levels in different subunits of the organization (Yukl, 2006, p. 26). In contrast, Ebbers and Sullivan established a â€Å"corporate culture in which leaders and managers were not to be questioned or second-guessed† (Zekany, 2004, p. 103). As a result, no single leader or manager was held accountable for his or her decision to falsify documents, commit fraud, and conspiracy. In a crisis situa tion such as WorldCom’s, the pressure to perform the task of increasing revenue was evident. Research indicates when a group of people is under tremendous pressure to perform a difficult task, they expect their leaders and managers to beShow MoreRelatedWorldcom Failure1198 Words   |  5 PagesWorldCom Failure in relation to its Organizational Behavior LDR/531 - Organizational Leadership October 7, 2010 WorldCom Failure in relation to its Organizational Behavior INTRODUCTION Year 2002 saw an unprecedented number of corporate scandals: Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, etc. In many ways, WorldCom is just another case of failed corporate governance, accounting abuses, and outright greed. Many people may question if there is a secret to operating a successful business in modern times.Read MoreAccounting And Business Issues : Worldcom s Failure891 Words   |  4 PagesSection #3. Accounting and business issues WorldCom’s failure should be attributed to the following problems and reasons. At first, it should be pointed out that, from a small company to one of the biggest communications provider in the world, frauds went through WorldCom’s growth. Aggressive acquisition by leverage together with creating false decent financial statements had been WorldCom’s main strategy for fast growth when, in fact, it failed to create commensurate value by its own businessRead MoreBusiness Failure of Worldcom in the Light of Organizational Behavior Theories1313 Words   |  5 PagesExamining Business Failures Business Failure of WorldCom in the Light of Organizational Behavior Theories Abstract Business failures occur usually due to lack of organizational leadership and unethical practices prevalent within an organization. Managers and leaders tend to be a lighthouse for any organization and if they adopt unethical ways, then the entire organization suffer from extreme loss and disgrace. WorldComs bankruptcy scandal is a big example of business failure which was linkedRead MoreThe First Decade Of The 21st Century Has Witnessed An Astonishing Number Of Large Scale Corporate Failures2048 Words   |  9 PagesCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed an astonishing number of large-scale corporate failures in two spates. The first wave came with the Dot.Com bubble (2000-2002), which led to many high profile corporate collapses including Enron and Worldcom, Global Crossing in the United States, HIH and One.Tel in Australia, Parmalat in Italy, Vivendi in France and Royal Ahold in the Holland, which brought the global economy close to recession (Barney 2009, Hill 2006, SoltaniRead MoreMission, Vision, Values, And Core Competencies Of Worldcom Inc. Essay1031 Words   |  5 Pages WorldCom Inc. An organization must set robust mission, vision, and value statements that have their functions in the strategic planning process. Another concept that plays a vital role is core competencies; they are capabilities that provide the organization a competitive advantage to ensure success in the marketplace. Strategic goals help organizations in prioritizing daily tasks, choosing achievements with measurable milestones and a purposeful direction. The purpose of the organization is toRead MoreEssay on Worldcom1595 Words   |  7 PagesRestoring Trust in WorldCom 1. What are the three or four central objectives that Breeden hopes to achieve with the proposals in â€Å"Restoring Trust†? Why is reform needed? What are the benefits? What are your concerns regarding the reform? The WorldCom Corporate Monitor, Richard Breeden, believed that in order to correct the ills that faced the company, WorldCom needed to adopt a strong Corporate Governance structure. The central objectives of his proposal â€Å"Restoring Trust† included improvingRead MoreEthics Research Essays984 Words   |  4 PagesHow leaders allocate rewards and status †¢ How leaders recruit, select, promote, and excommunicate (p. 246) The failure of Andersen and its clients to excel in these six areas of leadership caused the collapse of several business giants. Arthur Andersen is most closely associated with the collapse of Enron Corporation in 2001. However, Enron was not the firm’s first or only failure. â€Å"Enron was hardly the first corporate scandal in which Arthur Andersen was implicated. Three of the five largestRead MoreCompany Scandals Underpinned By Non Conformity And Accounting Principles1183 Words   |  5 Pagesbusiness owners, shareholders, the government and accountants to understand the financial position of a company. A failure to apply appropriate accounting principles can lead to inaccurate reports being used in business decision making. This may result in inappropriate investment and business decisions and lead to collapses as evidenced by the scandals surrounding One-Tel and Worldcom. Accountants employed by these business have been found to have acted unethically by manipulating the financial accountsRead MoreThe Accounting Fraud At Worldcom Essay1349 Words   |  6 Pagesthe consequences. One example of t his situation occurred when senior management member Gene Morse told an employee â€Å"If you show those damn numbers to the f****ing auditors, I’ll throw you out the window† (Kaplan, R.S., Kiron, D., 2007, p. 3).WorldCom showed no concern regarding an employee’s need and obligation to voice concerns on matters related to their job function. â€Å"Employees felt they did not have an independent outlet for expressing concerns about company policies or behavior† (KaplanRead MoreWorldcom Case Study1535 Words   |  7 PagesWorldCom Case Study: Lack of Leadership, Lack of Ethics Emily Fearnow ORG 500- Foundations of Effective Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Cheryl Lentz May 15, 2011 WorldCom Case Study: Lack of Leadership, Lack of Ethics A multitude of choices made by executives at WorldCom led to the ultimate demise of the company as it was previously known, the employees and their livelihoods’, and the trust of the American people. In a time when corporations

manifest destiny and territorial expansion dbq to what...

Document-Based Question 1 While Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion created conflict with foreign nations, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and within the United States, it worked to unify the United States from 1830 to 1860 by strengthening the nation as a whole, creating economic opportunities for people from all different walks of life, and expanding the United States through the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California from Mexico. The United States became further united due to the continuous desire and procurement of new territories. In President James Polk’s 1845 Inaugural Address, he shared his opinion of the â€Å"danger to [the nation’s] safety and future peace† if Texas remained an independent†¦show more content†¦Channing felt that acquiring Texas would not only spark conflict with Mexico but would also create problems in the United States in regards to slavery. This issue over the extension of slavery in Tex as presaged Bleeding Kansas, a series of violent political confrontations involving anti-slavery Free Soilers and pro-slavery Southerners that took place in the Kansas Territory between 1854

The Threshold Of Museums Architecture Essay Free Essays

string(44) " the full vision of the interior right off\." Altes Museum in Berlin was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1830s. They manner is has been done inflected many designers ‘ work. From this edifice, we could experience Schinkel desires to supply the people who lived in or visited his edifices with elusive spacial experiences and see the relationship of constructing with their landscape scenes. We will write a custom essay sample on The Threshold Of Museums Architecture Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now He diverted the focal point of architectural concern off from the design of frontages as planar in writing composings and towards thoughts working the three dimensions of infinite together with a 4th that of motion in clip. This implied a richer and more complex construct of architecture, one that was non simply preoccupied with issues of manner and proportion. When you walk into this museum, the first thing you will detect is wide step upwards and 18 ionic columns in lift. Columns are sandwiched between a dais and an entablature. As you climb the wide stairss, you will travel through these ionic columns which form an 87 metres long portico with statues along the side. This is the minute you feel you are non merely the perceiver but a portion of this architecture or a participant in this spacial experience. There are options for farther motion. You could walk through the rotunda which is the bosom of the edifice, and so travel into the galleries. Or you could turn left or right so climb up the stepss to the upper degree straightly ; you could look back through the dual bed of columns to the exterior or into the rotunda. It is a great mediate infinite which connected out-of-door landscape and inside universe. You could literally see through the infinite, smell the fresh air, and experience the hierarchy and transparence of the layout Schinke l carefully arranged. Besides, you could experience you are portion of this experience by being in the spacial passage and connexion. This edifice is non simply a affair of ocular visual aspect and sculptural signifier but is besides an instrument for orchestrating experience, it designed to take people move up and down, inside and outside by stepss, change their position by through columns and degrees. POMPIDOU CENTRE The George Pompidou Centre in Paris built between 1970 and 1977 by the designer Renzo Piano A ; Richard Rogers. The edifice housed humanistic disciplines, books and modern-day diversion. The site of this undertaking was a monolithic auto park. Rogers and Piano won the competition ; theirs first program is to utilize the half of the infinite available go forthing the remainder as a forecourt. The determination really became the most successful one in the design. The construction of Pompidou Centre is simple and insistent. The designers put the functional parts which would usually be indoors on the exterior of edifice. All the edifice facade covered with glass, which both physiological reaction and shrive the metropolis. Six paseos have been installed on every floors confronting to the forecourt and the metropolis Centre. Outside of the construction frame, the immense escalator was placed which conveyance visitants up to the 5th degree. These two super beds on the frame of the edifice give the visitant a sort of industrial image. Peoples traveling through the transpierced tubing to acquire the floor they want to travel to. It is non merely a edifice with skeletonal volume and supplying sufficient wall construction but besides the immense lattice truss provides the flexibleness. The designers decide to construct a flexible shelter and supply public infinite to wait and see, instead than do a memorial or cultural infinite at the first topographic point. The forecourt is every bit of import as the edifice to people. It is a existent liveable urban infinite in the dense environment. It besides makes the edifice more belong to the metropolis. The forecourt has a soft incline ; force visitants pass the entryway country easy. There is no important separation between the forecourt and the anteroom. The land degree is besides a immense unfastened infinite with no columns, where people could experience the continuity of infinite. The forecourt introduces the Centre and the entryway is the continuity of the metropolis. The forecourt besides exhibits the â€Å" life † of the metropolis, so excessively do th e facades. The paseos is non merely free circulation infinite, they besides reflex the meeting point between the edifice and the metropolis. So the whole facade is accentually a public infinite. Different motion is unrestricted and free in this infinite, from street to the forecourt, the tubing to the paseo. Visitors do non necessitate to pay for traveling into the escalator, for the full experience of the whole sequences. It is so liveable. Although, it is a immense graduated table – about twice high as the environing edifice, but it is non separated from the metropolis. It is the most popular edifice for visitants and locals, and besides became a memorial of the metropolis. Peoples non merely come for the installation but the topographic point and the positions. Tate MODERN Tate Modern is one of the most celebrated national galleries of modern art in London. It seated at the bank side, linked to St Paul ‘s Cathedral by the Millennium Footbridge. It was used to be a Power Station, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and has been regenerated by Herzog A ; de Meuron from 1994-2000. The chief entryway located at the west side of the edifice. When you walk near to the edifice from West, foremost, at your left manus side, you will see a green forecourt with black benches linear distributed. At right side, you would happen a incline downwards, about 18-20 metres broad. Walking down gently, you could see the glassy door and drape wall and the mark on top, and people would eventually recognize it is the manner in. The tallness of the door is truly low with rather long extension on the top, so while you go throughing it you could non appreciate to the full vision of the interior right off. You read "The Threshold Of Museums Architecture Essay" in category "Essay examples" The incline does n’t halt here but extends down to the interior. The lone different is two metres broad stairss along the right manus side of the incline after go throughing through the glassy door. While you carry on walking down for twosome of stairss, you will all of a sudden acquire full i mage of the inside – the Turbine Hall, a immense graduated table infinite. The designers leave the whole infinite strictly appear to the visitants. Five-storages tall, 3,400 square metres infinite which was housed all the electricity generators of old power station. It is a infinite for specially-commissioned plants by modern-day creative persons. A line drive roof visible radiation dropped from the top, continued down to the back wall. This hall has been compared with the Bibliotheque royale de Paris by Etienne-Louis Boullee, about the similar full-length fanlight and tremendous tallness above, besides the chances for people to look the cardinal country from the side. They want to do the infinite as breezy and easygoing, and expose itself at the get downing instead than art. This is besides a sort of jubilation the designers intend to do before the exhibition. The ramp supports taking you to the response country and the forepart of cardinal step, a upraised black home base w hich looks like a span cross above. The first options for the visitant is that you could take to travel underneath the upraised country, forwards to the back portion of the turbine hall, to the left where is the major conveyance area- the escalators, or to the upper degree which connected straight to the north entryway and the river bank. However, the river side entryway seems to be more popular than the chief one, largely because it located right to one terminal of the Millennium Bridge which connected with St Paul ‘s Cathedral. So people from north bank could really walk cross the span and acquire into the museum. The other ground likely is because of assorted activates, there are many people traveling along the river bank, besides a nice green country with seats provide infinite to the street performing artists and sellers. The ambiance here is much more liveable comparison to the forecourt of chief entryway. Herzog A ; de Meuron describe the passage of the entrance as â€Å" the minute of breathless admiration † . The idea if they want to convey the perceiver the feeling of being overawed, of holding to catch one ‘s breath before existent magnificence, they must led them through the oculus of a needle – a tunnel. The incline is little more than a somewhat tightened transcript of the entree incline to the Pompidou Centre, but they extend the incline to twice the length, for at an unexpected point they increase the already huge tallness of the hall by rupturing out the old floor above the basement, to do the over high hall even higher. JEWISH MUSEUM The Jewish Museum in Berlin was built between 1993 and 1998 by the designer Daniel Libeskind. He called his design for the Jewish Museum Berlin â€Å" Between the Lines. † The floor program is shaped like a zigzag line and is intersected by a consecutive line. Empty infinites called nothingnesss extend the tallness of the edifice at the interfaces. The zinc-clad facade is covered by diagonal cuts – the window gaps. Three waies cross on the lower degree: the Axis of Exile, the Axis of the Holocaust, and the Axis of Continuity, Which leads to the museum ‘s upper narratives. Daniel Libeskind said: â€Å" What is of import is the experience you get from it. The reading is unfastened. † As Libeskind said, the experience is the important. It is like a narrative he want to state. The zinc-clad edifice attracted people from distance on the street, but there is no entryway. There is besides no mark stating people where the manner in is. The chief entryway of the museum really located at the old eighteenth century edifice. Peoples have to walk into the bing edifice, pass the response and eventually acquire to the manner into the chief portion. It is a big entryway at right manus side in untreated concrete with crisp angles. It unfastened onto a stairway that alternatively of stairss to the upper floor as it is to be expected in museum, the stairway goes underground. So the visitant of the museum starts from the foundation of the old edifice. But architect reveals the suggestion instantly, if you look up, you see the stairway is really at the really underside of concrete well that without any functional justification pierced the old edifice in every degree. So people coul d see the concrete well from all floors up to the eaves. The concrete tower guards the entryway to underground country that seems first sight to be much simpler so the broken-line surface edifice people seeing from the street. And Daniel thought this is the existent bosom of this undertaking. They are three corridors. The cardinal island means merely two could be seen at a clip. It is impossible to hold overall vision. It is the axis. An axis is a consecutive line about which the portion of the organic structure or system axiomatically arranged. The three axes here represent the three major experiences the Judaic life in old yearss: continuity, expatriate and decease. The visible radiations on the ceiling besides accent the thought of axis. Merely the heterosexual and longest way leads to the chief portion of the museum. It leads to a stairway seems to be rather modest, as walking up, all of a sudden dramatic position reveals. Straight-line stairway keeps traveling up to make the to p floor. Architect frees the infinite with lone one direction- upwards. Great concrete beams stabilized the construction seems have trouble to keep the edifice. There are besides six different form concrete avoids in the edifice, pierced the edifice in every floor. The lone lighting comes from fanlight. The threshold in Jewish Museum is non the infinite we normally could see. In this instance, passage infinite ( the axis, the step, the avoid, the visible radiation ) became the most of import portion to uncover the spirit of this edifice, a narrative which the designer wants to portion with all the visitants. He besides intend to do this edifice non obvious and leave all those intending and concealed force to be explored by the visitants, or more accurately, the participants. CAIXA FORUM Caixa Forum built between 2001 and 2007 in Madrid by the designer Herzog A ; de Meuron. It is a post-modern art gallery located at the Centre of metropolis. It is housed in a born-again 1899 power station. The designers decided to pulverize the original roof and insides. They cut away the granite base of the brick outside walls, making the semblance that the edifice floats in midair, vibrating over a covered entry place. With the add-on of two upper narratives clad in rusted dramatis personae Fe and two resistance degrees, they doubled the edifice ‘s tallness and increased its size five times to more than 100,000 square pess. In short, the designers have skinned and gutted the construction like an animate being, transforming its tatterdemalion brick shell, four withes thick, into an alien veneer. The basic scheme of the Caixa Forum design is similar to that to raise the edifice up and make a shaded public place underneath. It is because the status of the site is rather compressive, with the narrow back streets inclining upward on one side. To cut off the bottom portion makes the edifice more seeable and accessible from different waies. When you walk from cross street, no affair from forepart or back, the first feeling is a drifting edifice with different colorss and the green wall beside. Take some more stairss ; you will instantly experience the dramatic utilizing of stuff. The unbelievable texture utilizing for the frontage and the pavement, make a alone image. Several beds revealed on it, the covered place made by many triangular panels, the bing portion, the top extension with pierced corroding Fe and the perpendicular green standing by the side. Geting under the covered place, you will happen the environing all of a sudden acquire dark, and see reflecting ceiling which m ade by triangular iron-cast panel, the dynamic infinite with three nucleuss incorporating which back uping the edifice and besides a fountain by the side. These irregular panels are hung from the upper floor slab, go oning to the cardinal entryway – a dramatic coiling entry with crisscrossing exposed fluorescent lamps on top. So people move from the dark and heavy entry plaza up to the entryway could all of a sudden experience the crisp contrast between the two infinites. Another cardinal infinite is the chief star – a white curving bannister of quietly finished concrete. This coiling signifier will take visitants straight up to the top floor cafe where could hold a veiled position of the botanical garden and environing through the perforated dramatis personae Fe. Herzog A ; de Meuron developed the scheme on impressions of character and montage. It gives each infinite its peculiar animal and experiential personality. They explored it through different belongingss of stuffs and texture, transmutation and decay. It created an immediately recognizable icon from distance that is besides a infinite of fascinating complexness while walking into it. 21th CENTURY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART The 21th Century Museum in Kanazawa, Japan built by the designer SANAA between 2000 and 2004. It is located in the centre of metropolis Kanazawa with complex contexts: town hall, public park, opera house, shopping promenade, town hall, kindergarten and residential. Peoples come from many waies for different intents, for that ground, SANAA planned to give the edifice a circuital signifier right from the start. That makes it every bit accessible from all waies, without any differentiation between forepart and back. The edifice has two zones, the museum zone which required admittance tickets, and the socialising zone which is free for public. But they are non wholly separated. The designers want these two zones to be visually linked, divided merely by crystalline acrylic doors and courtyards. The first cardinal component of this edifice is the outer walls. They are made of glass, reflecting the environing landscape. It was designed so that the interior and outside of the edifice overlap visually in the curving glass surface. Besides it offers a 360-degree position of the milieus. At the same clip, SANAA decided to utilize way and courtyard to carve the passage infinite out, left merely the solid – exhibition country. Four major courtyards provide visitor several chances to be exposed to the full to the natural visible radiation. Corridors are like streets, traversing from north to south and east to west, making links with the landscapes outside and indoors. These are besides for the populace to utilize for free, unlike the Pompidou Center which set back to make a square for public, this edifice intend to excavate itself from inside to ask for public as participant. In this edifice, when the motions of the people inside the edifice are seeable from without, the sequence of events becomes a portion of its external visual aspect. The manner they look at events reflects how the designers perceive modern-day state of affairss. They interpret this infinite by making elements of contrast and continuity between the architecture and its scene. They thought transparence has a particular significance in this museum. It is non merely a manner of accomplishing elation, information, openness, and light, or including human motion as a portion of the design. It is about â€Å" the feel of life † . Doctrine A museum is much more than the construction of exhibiting. It could be a physical system of warming and chilling, of illuming and darkening, of traveling and remaining, of preserving and decaying, of detecting and larning. Besides, it is a religious construction of entering and depicting, of concealment and disclosure, of bounding and meeting. However, it is ever a construction for public utilizing ; hence, one of the most of import systems would be come ining and go forthing. We ca n’t merely believe about an exhibition room to understand the museum without sing the procedure of passage. This sort of passage infinite is made of sofa, transition, entry, and go outing etc. It could be describe as a system. We could look it separately, but really they ever bound up. We do non comprehend sprit of a museum by exhibits. Peoples coming from different waies gather in the same shelter, take some clip, walking, looking, listening, seating, eating and go forthing. The public presentation is systematically affected by the architecture, the system. The manner of the system operate force us how to execute it in. While we follow the direction to execute it, different human Acts of the Apostless reveal. Ultimately, acts we made make us genuinely perceive and understand the infinite. Neil Leach described the thought of door, is that The door becomes the image of the boundary point at which human existences really ever stand or can stand. The finite integrity, to which we have connected a portion of infinite infinite designated for us, reconnects it to this latter ; in the integrity, the edge and the boundary less adjoint one another, non in the dead geometric signifier of a mere dividing wall, but instead as the possibility of a lasting interchange. In museum, the suites and art objects form merely the container, but it is non all about that shell, the content is formed by the visitants. Without that, it ‘s like a painting merely with dead surface. In this instance, museum is non a private aggregation, an art reappraisal ; it is ever about the populace. That is why we find museum admirable. How to cite The Threshold Of Museums Architecture Essay, Essay examples

Blanche free essay sample

# 8217 ; s Psychological Breakdown Essay, Research Paper In Tennesse Williams # 8217 ; play, A Streetcar Named Desire the readers are introduced to a character named Blanche DuBois. In the secret plan, Blanche is Stella # 8217 ; s younger sister who has come to see Stella and her hubby Stanley in New Orleans. After their first meeting Stanley develops a strong disfavor for Blanche and everything associated with her. Among the things Stanley disfavors about Blanche are her spoiled-girl manners and her indirect and mocking manner of discoursing. Stanley besides believes that Blanche has conned him and his married woman out of the household sign of the zodiac. In his sentiment, she is a good-for-naught bloodsucker that has attached itself to his family, and is merely populating off him. Blanche # 8217 ; s womb-to-tomb wont of avoiding unpleasant worlds leads to her dislocation as seen in her irrational response to decease, her dependence, and her inability to support herself from Stanley # 8217 ; s onslaughts. Blanche? s state of affairs with her hubby is the key to her ulterior behaviour. She married instead early at the age of 16 to whom a male child she believed was a perfect gentleman. He was sensitive, understanding, and civilized much like herself coming from an blue background. She was genuinely in love with Allen whom she considered perfect in every manner. Unfortunately for her he was a homosexual. As she caught him 1 flushing in their house with an older adult male, she said nil, allowing her incredulity to construct up inside her. Sometime later that flushing, while the two of them were dancing, she told him what she had seen and how he disgusted her. Immediately, he ran off the dance floor and shooting himself, with the gunfire everlastingly remaining in Blanche? s head. After that twenty-four hours, Blanche believed that she was truly at mistake for his self-destruction. She became promiscuous, seeking a replacement work forces ( particularly immature male childs ) , for her dead hubby, believing that she failed him sexually. Gradually her repute as a prostitute built up and everyone in her place town knew about her. Even for military forces at the near-by ground forces base, Blanche # 8217 ; s house became out-of-bounds. Promiscuity though wasn # 8217 ; t the lone job she had. Many of the aged household members died and the funeral costs had to be covered by Blanche # 8217 ; s modest wage. The deceases were long, belittling and atrocious on person like Blanche. She was forced to mortgage the sign of the zodiac, and shortly the bank repossessed it. At school, where Blanche taught English, she was dismissed because of an incident she had with a seventeen-year-old pupil that reminded her of her late hubby. Even the direction of the hotel Blanche stayed in during her concluding yearss in Laurel, asked her to go forth because of the all the different work forces that had been seeing at that place. All of this, cumulatively, weakened Blanche, turned her into an alcoholic, and lowered her mental stableness bit-by-bit. Her hubby # 8217 ; s decease affects her greatly and determines her behaviour from so on. Having lost Allan, who meant so much to her, she is blinded by the visible radiation and from so on neer visible radiations anything stronger than a subdued taper. This behaviour is apparent when she foremost comes to Stella # 8217 ; s and puts a paper lantern over the light bulb. Towards the terminal, when the physician comes for Blanche and she says she forgot something, Stanley hands her her paper lantern. Even Mitch notices that she can non stand the pure visible radiation, and hence garbages to travel out with him during the daylight or to good illume topographic points. Blanche herself says I can # 8217 ; t stand a bare visible radiation bulb any more than # 8230 ; . A hatred for bright visible radiation International Relations and Security Network # 8217 ; t the merely impact on Blanche after Allan # 8217 ; s decease # 8211 ; she needs to make full her empty bosom, and so she turns to a life style of one-night-stands with aliens. She tries to soothe herself from non being able to fulfill Allan, and so Blanche makes an attempt to fulfill aliens, believing that they need her and that she can # 8217 ; t neglect them like she failed Allan. At the same clip she turns to alcohol to avoid the ferociousness of decease. The intoxicant seems to ease her through the memories of the dark of Allan # 8217 ; s decease. Overtime the memory comes back to her, the musical melody from the incident doesn # 8217 ; t terminal in her head until she has something alky to imbibe. All of these irrational responses to decease seem to mean how Blanche # 8217 ; s head is unstable, and yet she tries to still be the educated, well-bred, and attractive individual that Mitch foremost sees her as. She tries to non allow the awfulness come out on top of her image, desiring in an illusory and charming universe alternatively. The life she desires though is non what she has and ends up with. Blanche is really dependent coming to Stella from Belle Reve with less than a dollar in alteration. Having been fired at school, she resorts to harlotry for fundss, and even that does non do her. She has no pick but to come and populate with her sister ; Blanche is stateless, out of money, and can non acquire a occupation due to her repute in Laurel. Already in New Orleans, one time she meets Stanley, Blanche is driven to acquire out of the house. She needs acquire off from Stanley for she feels that a Kowalski and a DuBois can non coexist in the same family. Her lone resort to acquire out, though, is Mitch. She so realizes how much she demands Mitch. When asked by Stella, Whether Blanche wants Mitch, Blanche replies I want to rest # 8230 ; breathe softly once more! Yes-I want Mitch # 8230 ; if it happens # 8230 ; I can go forth here and non be anyone # 8217 ; s job # 8230 ; . This demonstrates how dependent she is on Mitch, and accordingly Blanche attempts to acquire him to get married her. There is though Stanley who stands between her and Mitch. Stanley is a realist and can non stand the elusive doll Blanche , finally destructing her along with her semblances. Blanche can non defy his onslaughts. Before her, Stanley # 8217 ; s family was precisely how he wanted it to be. When Blanche came about and imbibe his spirits, bathed in his bathing tub, and posed a menace to his matrimony, he acted like a crude animate being that he was, traveling by the rule of the endurance of the fittest . Blanche already weakened by her agonizing yesteryear did non have much of a opportunity against him. From their first meeting when he realized she lied to him about imbibing his spirits, he despised her. He attacked her phantasies about the rich fellow at a clip when she was most emotionally unstable. He had fact over her word and forced her to convince herself that she did non portion with Mitch in a friendly mode. Further, he went on inquiring her for the physical wire to convert him that she did have it. When Blanche was unable to supply it, he wholly destroyed her phantasies, stating her how she was the worthless Queen of the Nile posing, on her throne and sloping down his spirits. This wild rebuttal by Stanley she could non perchance take, merely as she could non confront a bare visible radiation bulb. Further when Stanley went on to ravish her, he wholly diminished her mental stableness. It was non the existent colza that represents the causes for her following lunacy, but the fact that she was raped by a adult male who represented everything unacceptable to her. She couldn # 8217 ; t manage being so closely exposed to something that she has averted and diluted all of her life # 8211 ; world, pragmatism, and colza by a adult male who knew her, destroyed her, and in the terminal made her something of his. She could non perchance efficaciously rebut against him in forepart of Stella. Blanche # 8217 ; s past and present actions A ; behaviour, in the terminal, even in Stella # 8217 ; s eyes depicted her as an insane individual. All of Blanche # 8217 ; s problems with Stanley that in the terminal left her in a mental establishment could hold been avoided by her. Stanley and she would have gotten along better if she would hold been frank with him during their first brush. Blanche made a sedate error by seeking to move like a lady, or seeking to be what she thought a lady ought to be. Stanley, being every bit crude as he was, would hold liked her better if she was honest with him about imbibing his spirits. Blanche ever felt she could give herself to aliens, and so she did seek to chat up with Stanley at foremost. After all like she said to Stella Honey, would I be here if the adult male weren # 8217 ; t married? , Stanley did catch her eyes at first. But being viciously raped by him in the terminal destroyed her because he was non a starnger, he knew her, he made her face world, and in a manner he exposed her to the bright aglow visible radiation she could non stand all her life.

Sociology Alevel Aqa Essay Example

Sociology Alevel Aqa Essay Sociology AS at Knights Unit 1: Families and Households Unit 2: Education with Research Methods Revision pack Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Sixth Form Mrs Griffiths: [emailprotected] org. uk Mr Roaf: [emailprotected] org. uk 2012 Unit 1 exam: Thursday 17th May, am Unit 2 exam: Friday 25th May, pm Easter Revision: tbc AS Syllabus: AQA Sociology GCE (new specification) Unit 1: Families and Households (SCLY1) * Worth 40% of your AS and 20% of your final A Level * Written paper, 1 hour * 60 marks available Unit 2: Education with Research Methods (SCLY2) * Worth 60% of your AS and 30% of your final A Level * Written paper, 2 hours 90 marks available Timetable * Use your revision checklists to draw up a timetable for revision leading up to the exam. Make sure you cover everything, but make sure it is manageable – you can’t spend every minute working, so allow yourself some time off, both short breaks and occasional days or half days. * Try http://getrevising. co. uk/ Resources * Handouts and powerpoints from lessons are available on the shared drive and on the VLE. * Additional revision resources will be available to download from the VLE * Use the list of websites in this pack to help you identify other useful revision resourcesAQA SCLY1 Unit 1: Families and Households There are 3 sections – choose the CORRECT one, Families and Households (should be section B), and answer all the questions from that section. Time allowed: 1 hour Maximum marks: 60 Time per mark = max 1 min. Questions carrying 24 marks should be answered in continuous prose and you will be marked on your ability to use good English, to organise information clearly and to use specialist vocabulary where appropriate. Possible Question outlines| Marks| Timing| 06| definition of key term, e. g. primary socialisation’| 2 marks| lt;2 mins| To get full marks for this question, you need to explain the term and give a supporting example. Possible questions: * Explain what is meant by ‘primary socialisation’ (Item 2A, line 7). (2 marks) (specimen paper) * Explain what is meant by the ‘expressive role’ (Item 2A, line 5). (2 marks) (January 2009) * Explain what is meant by ‘serial monogamy’ (Item 2A). (2 marks) (June 2010) * Explain what is meant by ‘net migration’ (Item 2A). (2 marks) (January 2011) * Explain what is meant by the ‘social construction’ of childhood (Item 2A). 2 marks) (June 2011) | 07| 2 examples of a particular idea or reasons for a change, e. g. two ways in which childhood has become ‘protected and privileged’| 4 marks| lt;4 mins| To get full marks you need to explain two things, supported by examples that highlight change or increase, if this is specified in the question. Possible questions: * Suggest two ways in which childhood has become . a specially protected and privileged time of life. (Item 2A, lines 4 . 5). (4 marks) (specimen paper) * Suggest two ways in which ‘family life may have a harmful effect on women’ (Item 2A, lines 6 – 7). 4 marks) (January 2009) * Explain the difference between a family and a household (Item 2A). (4 marks) (June 2009) * Suggest two reasons why lone-parent families are more likely to be headed by a female. (4 marks) (June 2009) * Suggest two reasons why women might delay having children (Item 2A). (4 marks) (January 2010) * Suggest two ways in which the position of children could be said to have improved over the last one hundred years. (4 marks) (January 2010) * Suggest two reasons why there has been an increase in cohabitation (Item 2A). 4 marks) (June 2010) * Suggest two reasons why people may migrate to the United Kingdom, apart from that referred to in Item 2A. (4 marks) (January 2011) * Suggest two ways, apart from those mentioned in Item 2A, in which government policies and/or laws may shape the experiences of children today. (4 marks) (June 2011)| 08| 3 reasons for s omething e. g. change in divorce rate| 6 marks| lt;6 mins| To get full marks you need to explain three things, supported by examples that highlight change or increase, if this is specified in the question.Possible questions: * Suggest three reasons for the increase in the divorce rate since 1969. (6 marks) (specimen paper) * Suggest three reasons for the decrease in the death rate since 1900. (6 marks) (January 2009) * Identify three ways in which childhood may not be a positive experience for some children. (6 marks) (June 2010) * Identify three ways in which greater ethnic diversity has contributed to family diversity (6 marks) (January 2011) * Identify three reasons why the birth rate has fallen since 1900. 6 marks) (June 2011)| Questions 06, 07 and 08 may be any combination of marks, adding up to a total of 12. | | | | | 09 | essay question| 24 marks| 4min plan20 min| To reach the higher level marks, you need to demonstrate accurate sociological knowledge and understanding, and apply it directly to the topic in the question. Support your answer with evidence and demonstrate how this answers the question. Possible questions: * Examine the ways in which social policies and laws may influence families and households. (24 marks) (specimen paper) * Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed. 24 marks) (January 2009) * Examine the reasons for changes in birth rates and family size since 1900. (24 marks) (June 2009) * Examine the ways in which government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity. (24 marks) (January 2010) * Examine the reasons for, and the consequences of, the fall in the death rate since 1900. (24 marks) (June 2010) * Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage and cohabitation in the last 40 years or so. (24 marks) (January 2011) * Examine the reasons for changes in the divorce rate since 1969. 24 marks) (June 2011)| 10| essay question with reference to item| 24 marks| 4min plan20 min| To reach the higher level marks for this question, you have to successfully interpret material and apply it to answering the question, and explicitly refer to the item, make it clear how your discussion is answering the question. It is acceptable to repeat key language from the question and item when doing this, however, don’t simply make statements such as and this shows that the it no longer makes sense to talk about the patriarchal family. This is not good enough, you must explain how your discussion of relevant evidence answers the question.Refers to Item X, but on this occasion you are asked to use Item X in your answer, you must do this, to get the full marks. Possible 11 questions * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that it no longer makes sense to talk about the patriarchal family. (Item 2B). (24 marks) (Specimen paper) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the nuclear family is no longer the norm. (24 marks) (January 2009) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern family life. 24 marks) (June 2009) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the Marxist view that the main role of the family is to serve the interests of capitalism. (24 marks) (January 2010) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that, in today’s society, the family is losing its functions. (24 marks) (June 2010) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the modern family has become more child-centred. (24 marks) (January 2011) * Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the contribution of feminist sociologists to an understanding of family roles and relationships. 24 marks) (June 2011)| | Revision Checklist Unit 1: Families and Households 1 Changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, child-bearing and the life-course, and the divers ity of contemporary family and household structures * Marriage: fall in number of marriages, later age of first marriage. * Cohabitation: growth of cohabitation, greater acceptability of cohabitation, types (e. g. trial marriage, long term partnership). * Separation and divorce: legal position, increase in divorce after 1969, reasons for divorce; remarriages and reconstituted families. Child-bearing: number of children, age at which women have first child, changes in parenting practices; lone parent families; beanpole families. * Life course: consideration of range of possibilities, including living alone (singletons), grandparents. 2 The relationship of the family to the social structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and to state policies * Functionalist views: the importance of the nuclear family, the universality of the family, changing functions, how the nuclear family ‘fits’ modern society. Marxist views: the family as part of the ideo logical state apparatus, as an agent of social control. * Feminist views: patriarchy; liberal, radical and Marxist feminism. * Foucault: surveillance of family life, internalisation of norms. * The New Right: decline of the family, demonisation of single parents, fatherless families, uncontrollable children; Murray’s view of the underclass; need for a return to ‘traditional’ family values. * Some key government policies affecting families, with more detail on the most recent (post-1997). Post-1997 government policies assessed in relation to the theories. * Current policy positions of the main parties assessed in relation to the theories. 3 The nature and extent of changes within the family, with reference to gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships * Gender roles within families: functionalist, feminist, New Right and other views. * The domestic division of labour – changing nature of housework and home-related activities related to changing r oles of men and women and to masculinity and femininity, both in and beyond the home. Decision-making and power relations within households. * Consequences of unequal power: the ‘dark side of the family’, domestic violence, child abuse, mental illness. 4 The nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society * The social construction of childhood: how childhood differs over time and between cultures; ways in which childhood is marked as separate from other stages of life. * Children and (paid) work: legal situation in UK; comparison with other countries. * Children as actors within families; the rights and responsibilities of children today. Demographic trends in the UK since 1900; reasons for changes in birth rates, death rates and family size * For each of the three areas of change (birth rates, death rates and family size) students should be aware of the trend, of possible reasons for it and of some cross-cultural/global comparisons. * Birth rates (and fertility rates): falling availability of contraception/family planning; children more likely to survive; cost of raising children; later age of marriage; women giving priority to work, etc. * Death rates: falling higher life expectancy; better health care, protection and treatment for life threatening illness, etc. Family size: falling reasons similar to birth rate but focus on decisions on individual reasons. AQA SCLY2 Unit 2: Education with Research Methods There are 2 sections – choose the CORRECT one, Education (should be section A), and answer all the questions in that section. Time allowed: 2 hours Maximum marks: 90 Time per mark = max 1 1/3 min. Questions with more than 12 marks should be answered in continuous prose and you will be marked on your ability to use good English, to organise information clearly and to use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.The paper has five questions: You are advised to spend 50 minutes on Questions 01 to 04 Y ou are advised to spend 30 minutes on Questions 05 You are advised to spend 40 minutes on Questions 06-09 No| Possible Question outlines| Marks| Timing| 01| definition of key term, e. g. ‘hidden curriculum’| 2 marks| lt;2 mins| Possible questions: * Explain what is meant by the term ‘compensatory’ education. (2 marks) (specimen paper) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘cultural capital’. (2 marks) (January 2009) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘ethnocentric curriculum’. 2 marks) (January 2010) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘vocational’ education. (2 marks) (June 2010) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘cultural deprivation’. (2 marks) (January 2011) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘immediate gratification’. (2 marks) (June 2011)| 02| Explain 3 factorse. g. 3 reasons for boys’ underachievement| 6 marks| lt;6 mins| Possible questions: * Suggest three material factors tha t might cause working-class educational underachievement. (6 marks)(specimen paper) * Suggest three reasons for gender differences in subject choice. 6 marks) (January 2009) * Suggest three ways in which Marxists see school as being similar to the world of work. (6 marks) (January 2010) * Suggest three reasons for boys’ educational under-achievement. (6 marks) (June 2010) * Identify three educational policies that may have contributed to social class differences in achievement. (6 marks) (January 2011) * Identify three policies that may promote the marketisation of education. (6 marks) (June 2011)| 03| Outline some reasons for something e. g. ender differences in subject choice| 12 marks| lt;12 mins| Possible questions: * Outline some of the reasons why different pupil subcultures exist in schools. (12 marks) (specimen paper) * Outline some of the policies introduced by governments to create an education market in the United Kingdom. (12 marks) (January 2009) * Outline some o f the ways in which the labelling process may lead to educational under-achievement for some pupils. (12 marks) (January 2010) * Outline some of the ways in which cultural deprivation may lead to educational under-achievement for working-class pupils. 12 marks) (June 2010) * Outline some of the ways in which factors outside the education system have resulted in improved educational achievement for girls. (12 marks) (January 2011) * Outline some of the functions that the education system may perform. (12 marks) (June 2011)| 04| Essay question:Using material from Item A and elsewhere†¦e. g. assess the claim ‘the main function of education†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢| 20 marks| lt;30 mins| Possible questions: * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the claim that ‘the main function of education is to maintain a value consensus in society’ (Item A, lines 7 – 8). 20 marks) (specimen paper) * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the claim that â₠¬Ëœethnic differences in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (Item A, lines 5 – 6) (20 marks) (January 2009) * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the claim that gender differences in educational achievement are primarily the ‘result of changes in wider society’ (Item A, lines 6 – 7). (20 marks) (January 2010) * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the claim that the main aim of education policies in the last 25 years has been to create an education market. 20 marks) (June 2010) * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that the education system exists mainly to select and prepare young people for their future work roles. (20 marks) (January 2011) * Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that factors and processes within the school are the main cause of differences in the educational achievement of different social groups. (20 marks) (June 2011)| 05| Method s in contextUsing material from Item B and elsewhere†¦e. g. Assess he strengths and limitations of one of the following methods (observation / official statistics) for investigating teacher attitudes towards minority ethnic group pupils| 20 marks| lt;30 mins| Question 05 requires you to apply your knowledge and understanding of sociological research methods to the study of a particular issue in education. You will need to read Item B and answer the question / questions that follow. Question 05 is worth 20 marks and uses the functional word assess, you will need to carefully read Item B, and identify the ‘hooks’, clues written into the Item about material to include in your answer.To get full marks for this question, you have to successfully interpret material and apply it to answering the question, and explicitly refer back to the question, make it clear how your discussion is answering the question. It is acceptable to repeat key language from the question when do ing this, however, don’t simply make statements such as and this shows how useful observation is for investigating teacher attitudes. This is not good enough, you must explain how your discussion of relevant evidence answers the question.Possible questions: * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating teachers’ attitudes towards minority ethnic group pupils: EITHER participant observation OR questionnaires. (20 marks) (specimen paper) * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating boys’ underachievement: EITHER (i) official statistics OR (ii) unstructured interviews. 20 marks) (January 2009) * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating the effect of material deprivation on educational achievement: EITHER (i) un structured interviews OR (ii) offi cial statistics. (20 marks) (January 2010) * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating anti-school subcultures: EITHER (i) group interviews OR (ii) non-participant observation. 20 marks) (June 2010) * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating the role of parents in pupils’ achievement: EITHER (i) questionnaires OR (ii) unstructured interviews. (20 marks) (January 2011) * Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of one of the following methods for investigating truancy from school: EITHER (i) official statistics OR (ii) participant observation. (20 marks) (June 2011)| 06| Definition of key term, e. . ‘triangulation’| 2 marks| lt;2 mins| For these questions, you can draw examples from any area of sociology with which you a re familiar. Possible questions: * Explain what is meant by the term ‘triangulation’. (2 marks) (specimen paper) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘longitudinal’ study. (2 marks) (January 2009) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘hypothesis’. (2 marks) (January 2010) * Explain what is meant by the term ‘secondary’ data. (2 marks) (June 2010) * Explain what is meant by ‘primary’ data. 2 marks) (January 2011) * Explain what is meant by ‘validity’ in sociological research. (2 marks) (June 2011) | 07 and 08| Evaluation of methodse. g. 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of using official statistics| 4 marks| lt;4 marks| This question requires you to evaluate a method. Explaining the method or identifying the advantage / disadvantage is not sufficient; make sure you give an example and fully explain the advantage / disadvantage. Possible questions: * Suggest one advantage and one disadvantage of a longitudinal st udy. 4 marks) (specimen paper) * Suggest two disadvantages that sociologists may find when using unstructured interviews. (4 marks) (specimen paper) * Identify two sampling techniques used in sociological research. (4 marks) (January 2009) * Suggest two disadvantages of using media reports in sociological research. (4 marks) (January 2009) * Suggest two advantages of using official statistics in sociological research. (4 marks) (January 2010) * Suggest two problems that researchers may face when actively participating in the group they are studying. 4 marks) (January 2010) * Suggest two factors that may influence a sociologist’s choice of research topic. (4 marks) (June 2010) * Suggest two problems of using personal documents in sociological research. (4 marks) (June 2010) * Suggest two disadvantages that sociologists might find when using structured interviews. (4 marks) (January 2011) * Suggest one advantage and one disadvantage of using laboratory experiments in sociologic al research. (4 marks) (January 2011) * Explain the difference between a sampling frame and a sample. 4 marks) (June 2011) * Suggest two problems of using documents in sociological research. (4 marks) (June 2011)| 09| Essay question:e. g. Examine some of the problems sociologists may find in using experiments| 20 marks| lt;30 mins| Possible questions: * Examine the disadvantages some sociologists may find when using official statistics in their research. (20 marks) (specimen paper) * Examine the problems some sociologists may face when using experiments in their research. (20 marks) (January 2009) Examine the extent to which practical issues are the most important influence when selecting research methods and a research topic. (20 marks) (January 2010) * Examine the problems some sociologists find with using postal questionnaires in their research. (20 marks) (June 2010) * Examine the advantages of using personal documents and historical documents in sociological research. (20 marks ) (January 2011) * Examine the problems that some sociologists may face when using different kinds of experiments in their research. (20 marks) (June 2011)Revision Checklist Part One of Unit 2: Education 1 The role and purpose of education, including vocational education and training, in contemporary society * Functionalist and New Right views of the role and purpose of education: transmission of values, training workforce * Marxist and other conflict views of the role and purpose of education: social control, ideology, hegemony; ‘deschoolers’ (Illich, Friere): socialisation into conformity by coercion * Vocational education and training: the relationship between school and work:human capital, training schemes, correspondence theory. Differential educational achievement of social groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in contemporary society * Statistics on educational achievement by class, gender and ethnicity; trends over time * Social class and educational achi evement: home environment; cultural capital, material deprivation; language (Bernstein); school factors, relationship between achievement by class in education and social mobility * Gender and educational achievement: feminist accounts of gender-biased schooling; the concern over boys’ ‘underachievement’ and suggested reasons; subject choice; gender identities and schooling * Ethnicity and educational achievement: patterns; reasons for variations; multicultural and anti-racist education; experience of minorities in different types of schools * The relationship between class, gender and ethnicity The effects of changes on differential achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity. 3 Relationships and processes within schools, with particular reference to teacher/pupil relationships, pupil subcultures, the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of teaching and learning * School processes and the organisation of teaching and learning: school ethos; streaming an d setting; mixed ability teaching; the curriculum; overt and hidden * the ‘ideal pupil’; labelling; self-fulfilling prophecy * School subcultures (eg as described by Willis, Mac an Ghaill) related to class, gender and ethnicity * Teachers and the teaching hierarchy; teaching styles * The curriculum, including student choice. The significance of educational policies, including selection, comprehensivisation and marketisation, for an understanding of the structure, role, impact and experience of education * Independent schools * Selection; the tripartite system: reasons for its introduction, forms of selection, entrance exams * Comprehensivisation: reasons for its introduction, debates as to its success * Marketisation: the 1988 reforms – competition and choice; new types of schools (CTCs, academies, specialist schools, growth of faith schools) * Recent policies in relation to the curriculum, testing and exam reforms, league tables, selection, Special Educational N eeds (SEN), etc * Recent policies and trends in pre-school education and higher education. The application of sociological research methods to the study of education * Quantitative and qualitative data in education; the dominance of statistics (eg exam results, league tables) * Positivist and interpretivist approaches as applied to education * Issues, strengths and limitations and examples of the application to the study of education of the main sources of data studied (see Sociological Methods section): * questionnaires o interviews (formal/structured; informal/unstructured) o participant and non-participant observation o experiments o use of documents, official statistics and other secondary data * The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research on education. Part Two of Unit 2: Research Methods Quantitative and qualitative methods of research; their strengths and limitations; research design * The difference between quantitative and qualitative methods, primary and secondary methods and source, strengths and limitations, using concepts such as validity, reliability, representativeness * The main factors influencing research design * The research process: main stages. 2 Sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, participant and non-participant observation, experiments, documents and official statistics; the strengths and limitations of these sources * Through a range of examples students should explore the strengths and limitations in different areas of sociological research of each of the named methods * This should include the types of questions asked, different types of interview and of observation, and the range of documentary and other secondary sources; the value of pilot studies; triangulation; ways of selecting samples. The distinction between primary and secondary data and between quantitative and qualitative data * Primary and secondary data: difference, value of each to sociological research, ways of evaluating usefulness of secondary data * Quantitative and qualitative data: difference, value of each in sociological research, ways of presenting different types of data. 4 The relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’ * The differences between the positivist and interpretivist approaches, related to choice of method and to issues such as validity, reliability and representativeness, quantitative and qualitative data * The nature of social facts: awareness of the relationship between the research process and social life. The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research * Theoretical considerations including the theoretical position of the researcher, issues of validity and reliability, the type of data required * Practical considerations including costs, time, access to respondent s, sample size * Ethical considerations including the interests of researcher and respondents, the researcher’s responsibilities to all involved in the research process, the rights of respondents; issues of anonymity, confidentiality and disclosure. Study of the British Sociological Association’s ethical guidelines is recommended. Websites http://atschool. eduweb. co. uk/barrycomp/bhs/ A very good school-based website with links to a range of content, revision materials, ‘duffers guides’ etc for AS and A2 Sociology. www. esociology. co. ukAnother good school-based website, includes information on education and methods at AS level and crime and deviance at A2. http://www. chrisgardner. cadcol. ac. uk/ Sociology Learning Support site with interactive tests and quizzes, good for revision. http://www. sociology. org. uk/drevise. htm Sociology Central website produced by Chris Livesey, a Sociology teacher, with specific links to AQA Sociology at AS level. www. s-cool. co. uk A good revision site with an A Level Sociology section. www. sociologyonline. co. uk Site covers good introductory materials (e. g. on gender, class, feminism) and information on some of the big thinkers (e. g.Durkheim, Marx and Weber) www. soc. surrey. ac. uk/sru/ Useful information on a range of sociological research methods, produced by the Sociology Department at the University of Surrey. http://media. pfeiffer. edu/lridener/DSS/ ‘Dead Sociologists Website’ providing summaries and links to information for key Sociological thinkers of the past. http://www. sociologyexchange. co. uk/index. php mainly provided for teachers, but lots of resources available to download http://www. tutor2u. net/blog/index. php/sociology/ blog site highlighting news stories and developments, with some resources. Good for keeping up to date with contemporary developments in sociology.

Puntuacin de TOEFL para ingresar a universidad

Puntuacin de TOEFL para ingresar a universidad   Las universidades de los Estados Unidos piden a los estudiantes internacionales cuyo idioma materno no es el inglà ©s que demuestren sus conocimientos de ese idioma mediante un examen. Generalmente, los estudiantes toman, principalmente, el TOEFL. Si se necesita una visa de estudiante la opcià ³n ms comà ºn es la F-1, pero no es la à ºnica. Por ejemplo, mexicanos y canadienses que conservan su residencia en sus paà ­ses e ingresan a Estados Unidos a estudiar en una institucià ³n cercana a la frontera podrà ­an optar a una F-3. Pero,  ¿quà © puntuacià ³n garantiza ser admitido? No hay una respuesta à ºnica a la pregunta de quà © nota se necesita para ingresar a un college de los Estados Unidos, pero en là ­neas generales puede decirse que: Hay muchas universidades, incluso muy prestigiosas como Harvard, Princeton y Stanford (entre las 10 mejores), que no piden un nà ºmero concreto en el TOEFL. Y Stanford ni siquiera pide que se tome, si bien lo considera muy recomendable. Estas universidades miran al conjunto de la aplicacià ³n y si estiman que el conocimiento de inglà ©s es suficiente, admiten al estudiante sin considerar un nà ºmero concreto de puntuacià ³n (pero no nos engaà ±emos, va a ser alto).En el formato IBT se considera que un puntaje inferior a 61 reducirà ­a la admisià ³n a un nà ºmero pequeà ±o de universidades o a Community Colleges.La nota mxima en el IBT es de 120 puntos.Si el examen se toma en el formato de papel, PBT por sus siglas en inglà ©s, la nota mxima que se puede sacar es de 677 puntos. Con un 600 se podrà ­a entrar en las mejores universidades, si bien colleges sà ³lidos admiten estudiantes internacionales con notas de 550. Por el contrario, una puntuacià ³n  inferior a 450 pr cticamente harà ­a imposible estudiar en EEUU a nivel de licenciatura o posgrado. El examen escrito, que se conoce en inglà ©s por sus siglas de TWE, se reporta separadamente. La puntuacià ³n  va desde un 0 hasta un 6, de nota mxima.A veces los colleges y universidades distinguen entre puntuacià ³n mà ­nima y media (average). Si ese es el caso, intenta acercarte lo mximo que puedas a esta à ºltima. Puntuaciones que piden en las principales universidades de Estados Unidos Alabama Samford University: 90Tuskegee University: 69. Promedio: 80 Arizona Arizona State University: 61Embry-Riddle Aeronautical: 79 Arkansas Arkansas State University: 61. Promedio: 83 California Academy of Couture Art: 61Art Center C. of Design: 80. Promedio: 91CALUMS: 45California Polytechnic: 80California State - CSUCI: 61California State - Dominguez Hills: 61California State - Fresno: 61. Promedio: 70California State - Fullerton: 61California State - Long Beach: 61California State - Los Angeles: 61California State - Monterrey: 61California State - Northridge: 61California State - Sacramento: 64Califonia State - San Bernardino: 61California State - S. Chico: 61California State - San Marcos: 61California State - Polytechnic: 70. Promedio: 88CALTECH:  Esta universidad, una de  las mejores a nivel mundial para  Ingenierà ­a,  no pide un mà ­nimo de TOEFL, pero insiste en que no sea malo.Champman University: 80. Promedio: 98Claremont McKenna: 100Harvey Mudd College: 100Mills College: 80. Promedio: 97Pepperdine University: 80. Promedio: 93Pomona College: 100San Diego State: 80San Jose State University: 61Santa Clara University: 90Stanford: no pide una nota mà ­nima. Pero es de las universidades que sà ³lo acepta el TOELF como examen para probar los conocimientos de inglà ©s. Es decir, no admite IELTS ni tampoco el PTE Academics. Scripps College: 100Southern California University: no pide un mà ­nimo, pero hay que enviar los resultados del TOELF o de exmenes similares como  el IELTS. Sirven para determinar el nivel de inglà ©s  y tambià ©n para decidir si los estudiantes admitidos deben tomar un examen inicial al iniciar sus estudios.University of California -  Berkeley:  80University of California - Davis: 80University of California - Merced: 83University of California - Riverside: 80University of California - Santa Barbara: 80University of California - UCLA: 83University of California - Irvine: 80University of California - Santa Cruz: 83University of California - San Diego: 83 Washington University of Washington - Bothell: 92University of Washington - Tacoma: 83Washington State University: 79 Carolina del Norte Duke University: 100North Carolina State: 80University of North Carolina, en Chapel Hill: 100. Promedio: 109Wake Forest University: 100 Carolina del Sur Davidson College: 100. Promedio: 102The Citadel: 79 (militar) Connecticut Fairfield University: 80. Promedio: 101Yale University: 100 Rhode Island Brown University: 100 Florida Bethune - Cookman University: 80Embry - Riddle Aeronautical: 79. Promedio: 96Embry - Riddle Daytona:79Florida Atlantic University: 80. Promedio: 100Florida College: 79Florida Gulf Coast University: 79Florida Southern College: 79Florida State University: 80Florida Tech: 79New College of Florida: 83. Promedio: 107University of Central Florida: 80University of Miami: 80. Promedio: 99Warner University: 61. Promedio: 102 Georgia Emory University: 100Oxford College of Emory University: 100 Colorado Colorado School of Mines: 79. Promedio: 85Colorado State University: 79. Promedio: 84Colorado State - Pueblo: 61. Promedio: 75Johnson Wales - Denver: 80. Promedio: 90University of Colorado - Colorado Springs: 80.  Promedio: 91 Illinois Blessing - Rieman Nursing: 80DePaul University: 80Illinois Institute of Technology: 80Illinois Wesleyan: 80. Promedio: 96Illinois State University: 82Loyola University - Chicago: 79. Promedio: 94Monmouth College: 79. Promedio: 100Northwestern University: 100University of Chicago: 104University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign: 79 Indiana Indiana State: 61Indiana University - Bloomington: 79Indiana University East: 79Indiana University - Kokomo: 61Indiana University - Northwest: 79Indiana University - South Bend: 71Indiana University - South East: 75Indiana Purdue - Indianapolis: 61Indiana Purdue - Fort Wayne: 79. Promedio: 92Purdue University: 79Purdue University - North Central: 79University of Notre Dame: 100. Promedio: 111 Tennessee Vanderbilt University: 100 Nuevo Hampshire Dartmouth College: 100 Maryland Johns Hopkins University: 100 Washington D.C. Georgetown University: establece un abanico que va desde los 90 a los 100 Massachusetts Boston University: 100. Promedio: 106Brandeis: 100. Promedio: 105Harvard no establece mà ­nimoM.I.T.: 90. Promedio: 109Smith College: 90Tufts University: 100. Promedio: 110University of Massachusetts - Amherst: 80 Michigan University of Michigan - Ann Arbor: 88 Nueva York Columbia University: 100Cooper Union: 100. Promedio: 115Cornell University: 100Culinary Institute of America: 80CUNY - Baruch College: 80CUNY - City College: 61New York University (NYU): 100Sarah Lawrence College: 100 Nueva Jersey Princeton:  no pide un nà ºmero de puntuacià ³n especà ­fico, pero sà ­ que hay que rendir el examen. Adems, si la puntuacià ³n en la  parte oral del examen  es inferior a 26 habr que tomar otro examen al llegar a la universidad y tomar clases de inglà ©s como segundo idioma.Rutgers - New Brunswick: 79 Ohio Oberlin College: 100. Promedio: 108 Oregà ³n Reed College: 100. Promedio: 110 Pennsylvania Carnegie Mellon University: 102. Promedio: 110Dickinson College: 89. Promedio: 102Bryn Mawr College: 100 Promedio: 106Bucknell University: 100. Promedio 103Temple University: 79University of Pennsylvania: 112University of Pittsburgh: 100 Texas Rice University: 100University of Texas - Austin: 79 Virginia College of William and Mary: 100Washington and Lee University: 105 Experiencias en USA para mejorar el inglà ©s y obtener una mejor puntuacià ³n Si la calificacià ³n no es suficientemente alta y se desea mejorar una opcià ³n es participar en un programa de intercambio J-1 por unos meses para practicar asà ­ el idioma inglà ©s. Por ejemplo trabajar  de monitor de campamento  de verano. Consideraciones generales a la hora de tomar el TOEFL Tomar el examen lleva unas cuatro horas.El estudiante recibe por internet las notas de su examen a las dos semanas de haberlo tomado. Y tambià ©n las universidades a las que previamente se ha indicado que se deben enviar los resultados.Una vez que ve los resultados, el estudiante puede solicitar que se envà ­en las notas a ms colleges o universidades.La prueba del TOEFL puede tomarse tantas veces como se desee hasta obtener el resultado buscado. La puntuacià ³n sà ³lo es vlida por dos aà ±os. Otros exmenes para probar los conocimientos del inglà ©s El IELTS es tambià ©n un test muy popular entre los estudiantes cuyo idioma materno no es el inglà ©s. En todo caso hay que tener en cuenta que à ©ste es un examen de Cambridge. El IELTS es el examen que suelen pedir las autoridades australianas y las canadienses para conceder la visa de estudiante. Pero tambià ©n es admitido por prcticamente todas las universidades de los Estados Unidos. Una importante excepcià ³n, por ejemplo, es Stanford, en California. En todo caso lo fundamental es enterarse bien de quà © examen, si el TOEFL  o el IELTS es el admitido por la universidad en la que se desea estudiar. Y si aceptan los resultados de cualquiera, tomar el que mejor se ajuste a las caracterà ­sticas del estudiante. Lo cierto es que hay quien lo hace bien en el TOEFL y mal en el IELTS, y viceversa. Puedes encontrar ms informacià ³n sobre las diferencias entre estos dos tests en este artà ­culo sobre los 8 documentos que necesitas para presentar un aplicacià ³n completa para ser admitido en una universidad americana. Informacià ³n sobre ayuda financiera que te puede interesar Los estudiantes internacionales no pueden acceder a las ayudas federales que el gobierno federal brinda a ciudadanos y residentes. Pero sà ­ pueden tener acceso a becas, como el caso de estas  13 universidades de à ©lite con beca total (o casi) a estudiantes admitidos  o estas  25 becas para estudiantes internacionales. Adems, hay situaciones especiales que deben explorarse, como las becas  para deportistas. Y, finalmente, considerar la posibilidad de solicitar crà ©ditos  para estudiar en EEUU El sistema universitario americano Antes de solicitar admisià ³n en una universidad es importante conocer elementos bsicos de quà © se necesita y cules son las mejores instituciones. Por ejemplo, es bsico saber cà ³mo  obtener la validacià ³n de estudios realizados en tu paà ­s para estudiar en EEUU.   Tambià ©n es importante conocer cules son las mejores universidades. Estudiar es muy caro y debe evitarse cursar estudios es instituciones de pà ©sima reputacià ³n. Esta es la lista de las famosas  universidades de la Ivy League. Son excelentes y con un gran reconocimiento. Evidentemente, no son las à ºnicas que enseà ±an excelencia  acadà ©mica y proveen de excelentes contactos.

Executive Research Report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Executive Report - Research Paper Example So it has become necessary to look into the connections between tourism development and environment. Also, it has become necessary to identify various models of sustainable tourism. Blue Lagoon Cruises, the newly acquired client company, is facing certain problems which are to be solved at the earliest in order to ensure continuous growth of the company as it has experienced in the last 10 years. One of the problems is related to meeting the environmental demands while ensuring tourism development. This executive report illustrates the relation between tourism development and sustainable environmental preservation and suggests various ways to achieve profit while protecting environment. This research project intends to investigate the impact of tourism development on environment and suggests various ways to introduce sustainable tourism development which ensures both profit and environmental protection. This report will be highly helpful for the special stakeholder committee which consists of Blue Lagoon executives, investors, Kona government officials, various special interest groups like World Watch Group, and village groups. This report will give all these people a comprehensive understanding of the different models of tourism development, which ensure profit while addressing environmental concerns. This report will conduct the research by answering three queries. First of all, it will identify the impacts of tourism on environment by analyzing works like that of the United Nations. Secondly, by analyzing cases like Bonaire National Parks Foundation and the Blue Flag, this work will identify various successful environmentally sustainable practices adopted by various agencies around the world. Thirdly, it looks into cases like Green Globe, International Tourism Partnership to prove that it is in fact more profitable in the long term

Analysis of Film Criticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Film Criticism - Essay Example 15-30). They fall in love with each other at their young age. Fermina’s father tries to tear them apart because of status differences, Fermina is persistent to love Florentino; however, when she turns into an adult, she realizes Florentino is of no good, love is not everything, and therefore, she marries a rich man Urbino. Florentino marries no women but to find solace he flirts with many women and loving none. He still has a hope in his heart that after the death of Urbino (Marquez, pp. 20-25), Fermina is destined to come back to him. The question is, if Florentino is being delusional or they will really re-unite (Marquez, pp. 29-34) Critic’s Reviews on the Movie Analysis of the review has indicated that Gabrielle kept the story alive and interesting by providing a sigh of hope time to time. He mentioned a deep insight of each character so that the readers may not lose the interest, and on the other hand, Mike Newell, the director of the movie has very well directed th e scenes in the movie. In addition, costumes, make-up, characters, etc in the review were according to the ones mentioned in the movie (IMDb, 2007).

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto Essay

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto - Essay Example Sustainability entails that we should consider the world to be a system connected in both space and time, hence an environmental blunder committed in a particular place in the world, will be felt worldwide and in generations to come. In a developmental context, sustainability calls for a decision making process that is futuristic. It strives to bring a balance between the competing needs and environmental consciousness. According to Stockholm Partnership Forum for Sustainable Development (2012), Stockholm is one of the world’s greatest cities that have highly embraced the idea of substantial development though it has been facing a lot of challenges. The city offers an attractive and conducive environment for its citizens in both the working and living arenas. Through its principle of sustainability, has been seen to grow substantially in terms of economics. For instance its 2012-2015 environmental program is envisioned in the principle of promoting an appealing and developing city where individual’s needs are approached from both a qualitative and bio-diversity approach. The program seeks to promote a transport system that is environmentally efficient, sustainable use of resources (land, energy and water), effective waste treatment techniques and production of human friendly structures and goods. The combined approach of BBP-NC and TGS will surely benefit the city through infrastructural expansion as well as health care costs. This is because it aims at providing infrastructural structures that are long lasting and eco-friendly. Sustainability emphasizes on recycling and proper utilization of resources, principles which are very prominent in both the two approaches (Lindstrà ¶m & Kà ¼ller, 2008). Furthermore, if natural resources such as air and land are abused currently, their long felt effects such as global warming will be felt intensely in the future. This is why TGS and BBP-NC strive to reduce significantly the amount of carbon dioxide

Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm Identification

Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm Identification Middle cerebral artery is a very common site for aneurysm formation. MCA aneurysms represent 18-40 of all intracranial aneurysms. MCAAS are commonly divided into three groups: proximal (M1As), bifurcation (MbifAs), or distal (MdistAs) aneurysms. Each group presents with distinct anatomic features that have an impact on their management. Assigning MCAAs into a particular group can sometimes be difficult since the length and caliber of the M1 segment often varies and there may be two or more major branching sites along its course. This has led to fallacies in sub-grouping of MCAAs with resultant high variability in the reported frequencies of the different subgroups: M1As (2 61%) and MbifAs (39 90%), of all MCAAs [2, 3, 5-8]. Preoperative identification of MCA aneurysm origin either at the main MCA bifurcation (Mbif) or at another branching point has a great implication on surgical planning as different groups of MCAAs pose different challenges to the neurosurgeon requiring different surgical strategies. In this report, we present our technique for accurate identification of the MCA main bifurcation from other branching points along MCA as a key for a more accurate classification of MCA aneurysms. Furthermore we suggest an extension to the classic MCA classification. Also, we present the distribution of 1309 MCA aneurysms as a part of the largest CTA anatomic study, so far, for MCA aneurysms. Our aim is to help recognize the branching pattern of MCA with special emphasis on the exact characterization of MCA main bifurcation. Patients and methods Patients and radiological data: Data were retrieved from a prospectively collected database that sequentially encompassed all patients with intracranial aneurysms admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery at Helsinki University Central Hospital (catchment area, 1.8 million people). We identified 1124 consecutive patients with MCA aneurysms diagnosed between 2000 and 2009. We excluded 115 patients from the study due to lack of adequate CTA (98 cases) or having non-saccular MCAAs (17 cases). The remaining 1009 patients with a total of 1309 saccular MCA aneurysms had adequate cerebral CTAs. The routine use of CTA (GE Lightspeed QX/i; GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI) started in the year 2000 and has been the primary imaging modality for cerebral aneurysms at our institution ever since. CTA is rapid, safe, readily available and can provide 3D reconstruction of vessels and bony structures. Each patient`s radiological images were stored in the hospitals central digital archiving system (PACS; AGFA, IMPAX, version 4.5), launched in 1998, from which all of the relevant diagnostic images were recalled. Nomenclature: For each patient, pretreatment CTA images were evaluated and measured on screen (AGFA, IMPAX DS 3000). The MCA aneurysms were identified in each patient and classified according to the location of aneurysm neck in relation to the main MCA bifurcation (fig.6). MCA aneurysms were grouped into three groups: M1As, aneurysms on the main trunk (M1) of the MCA, between the bifurcation of internal carotid artery (ICA) and the main MCA bifurcation; MbifAs, aneurysms at the main MCA bifurcation; MdistAs, aneurysms distal to main MCA bifurcation on M2, M3 or M4 segments. Then M1As were sub-grouped into 2 groups: M1-ECBAs, aneurysms arising at the origin of early cortical branches; M1-LSAAs, aneurysms arising at the origin of Lenticulostriate arteries. The M1-ECBAs comprised aneurysms arising at the origin of early frontal branches (M1-EFBAs) and aneurysms arising at the origin of early temporal branches (M1-ETBAs). CTA for precise recognition of MCA main bifurcation For localization of Mbif, we simply examine the MCA branches in sagittal views of CTA at the insular level and detect the insular trunks from direction and course then follow these trunks till their essential meeting at the Mbif. This pilot examination must be correlated with examination of axial and coronal views for accurate confirmation. In some cases with difficult branching and looping patterns, 3D reconstruction is necessary. CTA for accurate classification of aneurysms along MCA: (figures 2-6) We examine the direction and course of the branches originating at the neck of the aneurysm in sagittal views to know whether these branches are cortical or insular. Correlation with axial and coronal views and sometimes 3D reconstructions is necessary. Then we check the relation of this branching point to the MCA main bifurcation (the primary meeting point of insular trunks) for correct sorting of the aneurysm. Results: Demographics: The mean age at diagnosis in our patient population was 54 years (range 13-89 y). The number of women 690 (68%) doubled that of men 319 (32%). Aneurysms were more common on the Rt. MCA 732 aneurysms (56%) than on the lt. MCA 577 aneurysms (44%). In 466 (46%) Patients, there were one or more additional aneurysms totaling 1761 aneurysms. Classification of MCA aneurysms: Table 1 shows the distribution of 1309 aneurysms along MCA. The number of aneurysms arising at the MCA main bifurcation (MbifAs) 829 (63%) doubled the total number of all aneurysms arising along M1 segment (M1As) 406 (31%). The distal MCA aneurysms (MdistAs) were the least frequent group only 74 (6%). Around three quarters (77%) of ruptured MCA aneurysms and 57% of unruptured MCA aneurysms were located at the MCA bifurcation. Types of M1As: Aneurysms arising along the main trunk of MCA (M1As) were grouped into 2 groups according the nature of the branches taking off at the base of the aneurysms. Among the 406 M1As, 242 (60%) aneurysms arose at the origin of early cortical branches from M1 segment (M1-ECBAs) while the remaining 164 (40%) M1As were not associated with early cortical branches but LSAs (M1-LSAAs). The aneurysms at the origin of early cortical branches (M1-ECBAs) comprised 178 aneurysms at the origin early frontal branches (M1-EFBAs) and 64 aneurysms at the origin of early temporal branches (M1-ETBAs). Discussion: The high variability in the reported frequencies of different groups of MCA aneurysms (M1As, 2-61%; MbifAs, 39-90%)[2, 3, 5-8] could be attributed to falsies in classification of these aneurysms and / or obtaining such incidences from small statistically unreliable series. In a trial to resolve this issue in a large statistically reliable non-selected group of MCAAs, We performed a retrospective anatomical study of CTAs for consecutive 1009 patients with 1309 saccular MCAAs aneurysms. We tried to find and follow the objective characteristics of branching points along MCA to be more precise when classifying MCA aneurysms. In our previous MCA publications [1-4, 9]we have followed the classic classification of MCA aneurysms. Recognizing the importance and the deceptive appearance of the early cortical branches, we have added an extension to the traditional classification by subdividing M1 aneurysms into M1-ECBAs and M1-LSAAs. This proofed helpful to keep attention to this previously und erestimated group of aneurysms arising at the origin of early cortical branches (M1-ECBAs). Preoperative identification of MCA aneurysm origin either at the main bifurcation or at another branching point has an implication on surgical planning especially for ruptured MCAAs as different type of MCAAs poses different challenges to the neurosurgeon requiring different surgical strategy[1-3]. Also when selecting the recipient vessel for bypass surgery if indicated to compensate for an inevitable vascular compromise during securing the aneurysm. MCA is classically subdivided into 4 segments: the sphenoidal (M1) segment extending from ICA bifurcation to the main MCA bifurcation where insular trunks (M2) begins and course over the insula till the peri-insular sulci where the opercualar (M3) segments start and course till the lateral surface of the brain in the sylvian fissure then continue as parasylvian (M4) segments whose distal extensions are sometimes called the terminal (M5) segments [10-13]. Although Yasargil used the main MCA bifurcation as the demarcation point between M1 and M2 segments, Rhoton used the MCA genu at the limen insulae as the demarcation point between M1 and M2 segments, hence he had prebifuration M1 and post bifurcation M1[8, 14]. Aneurysms along MCA are classically divided into three groups: proximal (M1As), bifurcation (MbifAs), or distal (MdistAs) aneurysms. It is evident that the identification of the MCA main bifurcation is the key for accurate classification and grouping of these aneurysms. Although MCA anatomy has been widely described in standard anatomy, neuroradiology, and neurosurgery textbooks[8, 15-17], it is still not uncommon to mistaken the identification of the main MCA bifurcation from other branching points along the main trunk of MCA particularly those associated with a large-caliber cortical branch. This misconception led to wide range of the reported length of MCA main trunk (0 -30 mm) and large differences in the reported relative frequency of M1As (2 61%) and MbifAs (39 90%) between authers[2, 3, 5-8]. Accurate identification of the MCA main bifurcation: Crompton named the cortical branches arising from M1 segment proximal to MCA bifurcation as early branches. Yasargil and colleagues defined the origin of the large cortical branches arising proximal to the most lateral LSAs as (false early bifurcation) and declared that aneurysms arising at this region of M1 could be mistakenly diagnosed as MCA bifurcation aneurysms. They stressed the importance of the LSAs in defining the site of the main bifurcation as the main bifurcation is usually located distal to the origin of LSAs [8, 12, 13]. These early cortical branches are found in nearly 85 to 90% of hemispheres [14]. In the anatomical study for the early branches of MCA, Rhoton and colleagues found that the early branches arising on the proximal half of the main trunk of MCA resembled postbifurcation trunks of M1 in some aspects with possibility of being misinterpreted as postbifurcation trunks of the M1 leading to false localization of the main bifurcation. They could identify LSAs on M1 segment distal to the origin of these early branches. MCA main bifurcation was identified proximal to the genu in 82%, at the level of genu in 8%, and distal to the genu in 10% of hemispheres [14]. It is obvious that the exact identification of MCA main bifurcation is the key for correct sorting of aneurysms along the MCA. It is popular to subjectively accept a branching point close to MCA genu giving rise to the largest branches as the MCA main bifurcation. It is also not uncommon to feel more internal confidence when such a branching point holds an aneurysm to consider it as MCA main bifurcation. This might be correct in the majority of cases but unfortunately it would be misleading in some cases. The idea for identification of the main MCA bifurcation (Mbif) accurately is to find a constant criterion for Mbif which can be used as a hallmark for identification of Mbif from other branching points along the MCA with high certainity. Keeping into mind that Mbif might share some characteristics (like size of out-coming branches, location in relation to MCA genu and relation to LSAs) with other branching points along MCA preclude accepting any of these characteristics as a hallmark for Mbif. The fact that all insular trunks (M2s) authentically originate from one point that is the MCA main bifurcation, means that the primary meeting point of all insular trunks (M2s) can be considered as a hallmark for Mbif. So, simply by identifying the insular trunks and following them proximally till their original meeting into one point, the Mbif can be localized accurately and with certainty. Insular (M2) trunks cannot be identified by being the largest branches as early cortical branches are sometimes of the same caliber or even larger than the actual M2 trunks. M2 trunks run along the insula from the limen insula for a variable distance taking the superior and posterior directions. So by observing the direction and course of each of the branches originating from the MCA trunk in sagittal, coronal and axial CTA views, it will be easy to identify the insular trunks and to follow them proximally till their authentic meeting at the Mbif. In fewer words, considering that the main MCA bifurcation is not always distal to the origin of LSAs or always proximal or at the genu, but it always gives insular trunks (M2s) means that identification of the primary starting point of these insular trunks will guide to the main MCA bifurcation. These insular trunks should be recognized by their course over the insula for variable distance not by their size as some early cortical branches might be of similar or even larger size. Among all the aneurysms arising along MCA, those aneurysms arising from M1 segment at the origin of early cortical branches (ECB) are more likely to be misdiagnosed as a bifurcation aneurysm especially when the cortical branch is large and arises close to the MCA genu. The fact that early temporal branch becomes smaller as it arises closer to genu[14]means that it would not be common to misinterpret an aneurysm arising at the origin of an early temporal branch as a bifurcation aneurysm even if it is close to genu. There is no relation between the size of EFB and its distance from the genu. In angiograms, such large frontal branches look very similar to post bifurcation M2 trunks. This shows clearly how some aneurysms arising at the origin of large early frontal branches (EFB) could be, if enough attention was not paid, misclassified as MCA bifurcation aneurysm especially when close to the MCA genu. Ulm et al.[7] unexpectedly found, in their anatomical retrospective study of MCAAs with special emphasis on those aneurysms arising from M1 at the origin of early cortical branches, that M1As arising at the neck of EFB were more common than MbifAs and they claimed that many of EFB aneurysms were misclassified as early MbifAs reasoning why MbifAs were reported in previous pubilcations to be the most common location for MCAAs. This was contrary to our and general experience of Mbif being the most common location for MCAAs [1-5, 13, 18]. During this study, it was easy to sort some aneurysms along MCA, such as a small aneurysm at the origin of LSAs close to ICA bifurcation or a small aneurysm along M4 segment, precisely from the first look. Unfortunately, the biggest percentage of MCA aneurysms arose close to the MCA genu at some branching points which included early cortical branches, MCA main bifurcation and early furcation of M2 branches. This necessitated a lot of work to discriminate between these branches for precise sorting of MCA aneurysms. Moreover, some morphological characteristics of the aneurysms, such as large aneurysm size and complex projections, added to the difficulty for proper distinguishing of these branches. The task was more difficult for ruptured MCA aneurysms especially when associated with large ICH distorting the anatomy. On the other hand the availability of the 3D reconstructions, which made it possible to examine the aneurysms and MCA branches from different angles, together with the clas sic CTA views paved the way to accomplish our goal for sorting MCA aneurysms accurately with high degree of certainty. The present work shows, in harmony with our previous publications (table 3), that MCA bifurcation is the most common location for aneurysms along the MCA. The number of MbifAs 829 (63%) doubled the total number of all M1As 406 (31%) including those aneurysms arising at the origin of LSAs and those at the origin of ECBs. MCA bifurcation aneurysms comprised 77% of ruptured MCA aneurysms and 57% of unruptured MCA aneurysms. Among the 406 M1As, 178 (44%) aneurysms arose at the origin of early frontal branches (M1-EFBAs). The diameter of the associated early frontal branch was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ half the diameter of M1 in 106 (60%) cases. We assume that such aneurysms, without careful examination, might be misclassified as MbifAs especially when the associated large EFB is close to the genu of MCA. Early temporal branches were associated with 64 (16%) aneurysms (M1-ETBAs). The remaining 164 (40%) M1As were not associated with early cortical branches but with LSAs (M1-LSAAs). (Table 2) At the end of this study we realized that many M1 aneurysms arising at the origin of large early cortical branches especially EFB could be sometimes misclassified as MbifAs, but Mbif is still the most common location for aneurysms along MCA. We agree with Ulm et al [7] for the possibility to mistaken EFB aneurysms as bifurcation aneurysms if much care was not paid, but we assume that their surprising results of EFB being the most common location for MCAAs came from the small number of the cases included in their study. (Table 4) Conclusion: Careful objective analysis of MCA branching pattern from preoperative CTA is very important to understand patient-specific vascular anatomy which aids the surgeon to successfully exclude MCAAs from the circulation while preserving the surrounding vasculature. Although many M1 aneurysms arising at the origin of large early cortical branches especially EFB could have been misclassified as MbifAs in previous reports, Mbif is still the most common location for aneurysms along MCA. Figures legends: Fig. 1: Identification of MCA main bifurcation CTA images (A: sagittal, B: coronal C: axial D: 3D reconstruction) demonstrating an early cortical branch aneurysm (white arrow) arising at the origin of an early frontal branch (green arrow) proximal to the main MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) which gives frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) M2 trunks. The MCA main bifurcation (yellow arrow) is located at the genu. The accompanying diagrams (E, F G) display how to accurately identify the main MCA bifurcation from other branching points along MCA just by following the insular branches back towards their primary meeting at one point that is the MCA main bifurcation. We are used to start the check in sagittal views then to confirm by rechecking the axial and coronal CTA views. 3D reconstructions are sometimes needed. Fig. 2 CTA images (A: axial, B: coronal, C: sagittal the corresponding 3D reconstruction views (D, E F respectively) demonstrating an early cortical branch aneurysm (white arrows) arising at the origin of a large early frontal cortical branch (green arrow) just proximal to the right MCA genu. Such an aneurysm can be subjectively misclassified as an MCA bifurcation aneurysm especially in coronal views, but in sagittal and axial views, the frontal branch (green arrow) is seen running anteriorly and superiorly away from the insula. Also, the right MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) is clearly seen distal to the genu giving frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) insular trunks. Fig. 3 CTA images (A: axial, B: coronal, C: sagittal D: 3D reconstruction) demonstrating an aneurysm (white arrow) arising at the main MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) which gives frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) M2 trunks. Notice the frontal cortical branch (green arrow) arising from the frontal M2 trunk (red arrow). The MCA main bifurcation (yellow arrow) is located proximal to genu. Fig. 4 CTA images (A: axial, B: coronal C: sagittal) demonstrating an early cortical branch aneurysm (white arrow) arising at the origin of an early frontal branch (green arrow) proximal to the main MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) which gives frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) M2 trunks. The MCA main bifurcation (yellow arrow) is located proximal to genu. Fig. 5 CTA images (A: axial, B: coronal, C: sagittal D: 3D reconstruction) demonstrating an early cortical branch aneurysm (white arrow) arising at the origin of an early temporal branch (green arrow) proximal to the main MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) which gives frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) M2 trunks. The MCA main bifurcation (yellow arrow) is located at genu. Fig. 6 CTA images (A: axial, B: coronal C: sagittal) demonstrating a distal MCA aneurysm (white arrow) arising at the takeoff of a frontal cortical branch (green arrow) from the left frontal M2 trunk (red arrow) distal to the main MCA bifurcation (yellow arrow) which gives frontal (red arrow) and temporal (blue arrow) M2 trunks. The MCA main bifurcation (yellow arrow) is located proximal to genu.