Promote The Human Rights Essay Example for Free

Promote The Human Rights Essay Identify legislation and policies that are designed to promote the human rights, inclusion equal life chances and citizenship of individuals with learning disabilities. Legislation and policies are implemented to support and protect the human rights and inclusion of individuals with learning disabilities Some of these Acts and policies include: The Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act in the United Kingdom came into force on the 2nd October 2000 and underpins many of the core values which we in the care industry must adopt. It ensures the rights of individuals and means that they are entitled to seek help from the courts if they believe that their human rights have been infringed. The Human Rights Act â€Å"guarantees† basic human rights: the right to life; the right to liberty and security of person; the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to marry and found a family etc. The care sector has the responsibility to promote and respect human rights as a core part of their day-to-day work, from drafting policies regulations and rules, through internal staff and policy issues, administration, decision making, to implementing policy and working with members of the public. The basic human rights which the care sector has the responsibility to promote are: †¢The right to life (relevant to protection of clients’ physical and mental wellbeing) †¢The right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment †¢The right of respect for private and family life, home and correspondence (relevant to confidentiality) †¢The right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion (relevant to respecting equality and diversity) †¢The right of protection from discrimination †¢The right to marry and found a family †¢The right to education †¢Free elections by secret ballot The Equality Act 2010 Brought in to replace the previous anti-discriminatory laws. It identifies nine protected characteristics; age, disability, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. The Care Standards Act 2000 The Care Standards Act 2000 reforms the regulatory system for care services in England and Wales. It replaces the Registered Homes Act 1984, and associated regulations, which is intended to be repealed from 1 April 2002. The National Minimum Standards for registered care services are issued by the Department of Health as part of the implementation of the Care Standards Act 2000. These standards include requirements about the competence of the work force including their suitability, experience and qualifications. The Care Standards Act sets out a broad range of regulation making powers covering, amongst other matters, the management, staff, premises and conduct of social care and independent healthcare establishments and agencies. The aim is to ensure that the care of vulnerable people, in differing types of supported housing is properly regulated, to improve care standards and introduce consistency in the regulation of services provided. The Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA)/Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults (SVA) scheme will act as a workforce ban on those professionals who have harmed vulnerable adults in their care. It will add an extra layer of protection to the pre-employment processes, including Criminal Records Bureau checks, which already take place and prevent known abusers from entering the care workforce. This Care Act 2000 was replaced by the Health Social Care Act 2008 with the aim to primary focus of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 was to create a new regulator whose purpose was to provide registration and inspection of health and adult social care services together for the first time, with the aim of ensuring safety and quality of care for service users. Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Group Act 2006 The purpose of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 is to restrict contact between children and vulnerable adults and those who might do them harm. The Mental Health Act 2007 The law which governs the compulsory treatment of certain people who have a mental disorder is the Mental Health Act 1983. The main purpose of the Mental Health Act 2007 is to amend the 1983 Act. It is also being used to introduce â€Å"deprivation of liberty safeguards† through amending the Mental Capacity Act 2005; and to extend the rights of victims by amending the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Mental Capacity Act 2005 The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a comprehensive framework for decision making on behalf of adults aged 16 and over who lack capacity to make decisions on their own behalf. The Act applies to England and Wales. Scotland has its own legislation. The Act sets out a number of basic principles that must govern all decisions made and actions taken under its powers. These are rooted in best practice and the common law and are designed to be fully compliant with the relevant sections of the Human Rights Act. Where confusion arises about how aspects of the Act should be implemented, it can be extremely helpful to refer back to them. Actions or decisions that clearly conflict with them are unlikely to be lawful, although there may be occasions on which they are in tension with each other and some balancing will be required. Valuing People Now Valuing People Now is an opportunity to help get better lives for all people with learning disabilities and their families, including those with complex needs, and from black and minority ethnic communities. Valuing People Now says people with a learning disability have the same human rights as everyone else Putting People First Putting People First (PPF) sets out the direction for adult social care. It is a shared commitment by the Government, local councils and service providers to ensuring that people who need care and support have choice, flexibility and control to live their lives the way they wish.

Characteristics Of Major Agro Ecological Zones Environmental Sciences Essay

Characteristics Of Major Agro Ecological Zones Environmental Sciences Essay Africa is a very large continent with extremely wide range of soils (Bationo et al., 2006). The soils range from shallow with meager life-sustaining capacities to deeply weathered profiles that recycle and support large biomass. In many parts of Africa, inappropriate land use, poor management and lack of inputs have led to soil erosion, salinization and loss of vegetation resulting in a decline of agricultural productivity (Bationo et al., 2006). In Africa and particularly Southern Africa, the most limiting factor to agricultural productivity is soil fertility (Ramaru et al., 2000). Soil fertility is defined as a condition of the soil that enables it to provide nutrients in adequate amounts and in proper balance for the growth of specified plants when other growth factors, such as light, water, temperature, and physical, chemical and biological conditions of soil, are favorable (van der Watt and van Rooyen, 1995). Large areas of sub-Saharan African (SSA) soils, in particular, are affected by various types of degradation, including fertility decline (FAO, 2001). Soil fertility decline is a deterioration of chemical, physical and biological soil properties. The main contributing processes, besides soil erosion, are: decline in organic matter and soil biological activity; degradation of soil structure and loss of other soil physical qualities; reduction in availability of major nutrients (N, P, K) and micro-nutrients; and increase in toxicity, due to acidification or pollution (FAO, 2001). Soils in most of SSA have inherently low fertility and do not receive adequate nutrient replenishment (FAO, 2001). The SSA has the lowest mineral fertilizer consumption, about 10 kg nutrients (N, P2O5, K2O)/ha per year, compared to the world average of 90 kg, 60 kg in the Near East and 130 kg/ha per year in Asia (Stoorvogel and Smaling, 1990). Agricultural growth in sub-Saharan African countries slightly increa sed over the past three decades, although not in line with the high population growth rate (FAO, 2001). Food production per capita in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has declined since the 1970s, in contrast with the increase in Asia and South America (Figure 1.1). Soil productivity in SSA is also constrained by aridity (low rainfall) and acidity (FAO, 2001) (Table 1.1). South Africa has to face high population growth, poverty, accelerated soil degradation and increasing pressure on land (FAO, 1999b) (Table 1.1). Depletion of soil fertility, along with the related problems of weeds, pests, and diseases, is a major biophysical cause of low per capita food production in Africa. This is the result of the breakdown of traditional practices and the low priority given by governments to the rural sector (Sanchez, 1997). The 1996 World Food Summit highlighted sub-Saharan Africa as the remaining region in the world with decreasing food production per capita (Figure 1.1). The worst levels of poverty and malnutrition in the world exist in this region (Sanchez et al., 1997). A team of scientists has identified declining soil fertility as the fundamental agronomic cause for declining food productivity in Africa. A Soil Fertility Initiative for Africa has been created by a group of international organizations including the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Center for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF), International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), International Fertiliz er Association (IFA), and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Table 1.1: Characteristics of major agro-ecological zones in Africa (FAO, 1986) Figure 1.1: Regional trends in food production per capita (FAO, Statistical Analysis Service, 2000) As the main source of economic activity in SSA is agricultural production, declining soil productivity means not only that less food can be grown but also that production of cash crops for export is endangered (FAO, 1999a). It is therefore essential that production and soils be managed in a sustainable way, so that the present generation is fed and soil conditions are improved to support future generations. The Republic of South Africa covers an area of 121, 9 million ha and has a total population of about 46,6 million people (NDA, 2007). Approximately 83 % of agricultural land in South Africa is used for grazing, while 17 % is cultivated for cash crops. Forestry comprises less than 2 % of the land and approximately 12 % is reserved for conservation purposes (NDA, 2007, Land Type Survey Staff, 1972-2002 Land Type Survey Staff, 1972-2006). Land used for agriculture comprises 81% of the countrys total area, while natural areas account for about 9% (Abstract, 2005). High-potential arable land comprises only 22 % of the total arable land and only about 13 % of South Africas surface area can be used for crop production (NDA, 2007). Slightly more than 1,3 million ha of land is under irrigation. Rainfall is distributed unevenly across the country, with humid, subtropical conditions occurring in the east and dry, desert conditions in the west (NDA, 2007). The most important factor that limits agricultural production is the non-availability of water. Almost 50 % of South Africas water is used for agricultural purposes. Areas of moderate to high arable potential occur mainly in the eastern part of the country, in Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces (Figure 1.2). Scattered patches also occur in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces. Low to marginal potential areas occur in the eastern half of the country and in parts of the Western Cape. Map in Figure 1 shows large areas in the drier parts of South Africa (e.g. south-western Free State; western parts of the Eastern Cape and the North West Province) that are being cultivated, but which are not classified as having any potential for arable agriculture. Repeated crop failure and subsequent abandonment of these less than marginal lands can have important consequences for soil erosion and land degradation in general (Hoffman, M.T. A. Ashwell, 2001). Figure 1.2: The distribution of arable potential land in South Africa (ARC ISCW, 2002). Soil fertility challenges coupled with shortages of rainfall could result in a compounded problem of food shortage and famine. For soil fertility to be sustained, extracted soil nutrients must equal replenished soil nutrients, but in large areas of Africa and other parts of the world, more soil nutrients are extracted than replenished (Ndala and Mabuza, 2006). There is therefore global concern of fertility management especially with the recent increases in food prices. Soil fertility and its management thus have continued to play an important role in farm productivity. Farmers, their advisors, and any growers need to be knowledgeable of the soil properties which have an influence on soil fertility, some of which include soil texture, structure, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, bulk density and pH. These properties also have an influence in determining land capability for agriculture as they are also key indicators for soil quality. Although significant progress has been made in research in developing methodologies and technologies for combating soil fertility depletion, the low adoption rate is a reason for the large difference between farmers yields and potential yields (Bationo et al., 2006). This study thus aims to determine the influence of soil physico-chemistry and clay fraction mineralogy on the fertility status of selected potential uncultivated arable soils of University of Limpopo Experimental farm (Syferkuil) in Limpopo Province. This will encourage expansion of arable agriculture in the area to improve the livelihoods in terms of alleviating food insecurity and poverty. PROBLEM STATEMENT When assessing land for agricultural capabilities, attributes such as slope, stoniness and thickness of the soil stratum are taken into consideration. Soil physico-chemical and soil clay mineralogical properties are often overlooked. Ekosse et al. (2011) showed that these soil physico-chemical and clay mineralogical properties and their compositions play a significant role in suitability of land for arable agriculture. Information on the mineralogy and nutrient status of uncultivated soils in Limpopo Province is lacking, especially of soils found in the communal areas where smallholder agriculture is practiced. Such information is crucial for any strategy that seeks to increase and improve the productivity of cropped or potential arable agricultural land. One important prerequisite of food security is access to land, as more people need to produce their food supplies and make a living from the land. Traditional land management systems are dependent on the availability of sufficient land to allow long fallow periods to maintain soil fertility. When there is no more access to new land, the fallow land has to be used and soil fertility falls. More intensive use of the land also implies that it becomes more prone to soil erosion. To maintain and raise its productivity, new sustainable management measures have to be introduced. As the main source of economic activity in Limpopo Province besides mining is the agricultural production, declining soil productivity not only means less crops is grown but also that, production of cash crops and income are endangered. Vast majority of South Africans, particularly Limpopo residents, buy their staple food from commercial suppliers, rather than growing them themselves (Statistics South Africa, 2009). Rising food prices, particularly of maize and wheat which are the staple diet of the poor in South Africa, pose serious problems for the urban and rural poor as most are net buyers rather than growers of their staple food. Recent information from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (2009) and Heady Fan (2008) suggest that food prices will increase steadily over the next decade even if there are some fluctuations and the occasional drop in prices (Evans, 2009). This therefore poses the need for more expansion of arable land for agriculture so as to improve livelihoods of the poor households. Population pressure and urban expansion seem to be causing the loss of high potential agricultural lands. Hence food demand is rising which leads to food insecurity, thus extension of arable agricultural lands would highly be required. In a recent study, Van Averbeke and Khosa (2007) reported that while income is the most important determinant of household food security in some areas around Limpopo Province, food obtained from various types of dry-land agriculture contributed significantly to household nutrition. They argue that without farming the food security of these households would be reduced, especially for the ultra-poor. The land is used beyond its capability, the type of usage would not be sustainable and the land degradation would result. Equally important is the fact that if land is used below its true capability then the full economic potential of the use of the land would not be realized. Although little production increase has taken place at the Experimental farm (Syferkuil farm), which has been obtained by cultivation of poor and marginal lands, the productivity of most existing lands has been ignored. With population continuing to increase in the area and the country as a whole, the need to take note of the fallow or abundant lands on the farm has become more important. Improving soil fertility could trigger rural and national economic development, achieve long-term food security and improve farmers standards of living, while mitigating environmental and rural migration. Thus, rectifying land degradation and enhancing productivity through appropriate soil management and conservation can play a major role in achieving farm household food security and agricultural development in the area. This research will therefore contribute to the existing database on the physico-chemistry and mineralogy of agricultural soils of Limpopo Province, particularly those at Syferkuil farm. It will also assist farmers and individuals around the area with information and awareness on the fertility status and capability of the soils in their community, so they can initiate agricultural activities on those lands which are left fallow or abundant. 1.3. AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of this study is to determine the soil physico-chemistry, clay mineralogy and fertility status of selected uncultivated arable soils within the University Of Limpopo Experimental Farm Of Capricorn District in Limpopo Province, with the view of identifying additional potential arable lands for agriculture in the region. 1.4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To determine physico-chemical properties of selected uncultivated and cultivated soils on the farm and their influence on soil fertility. To determine the clay mineralogical composition of the selected uncultivated and cultivated soils on the farm and their influence on soil fertility. To determine the chemistry of the selected uncultivated and cultivated soils on the farm and their influence on soil fertility. To determine the fertility index of the selected uncultivated and cultivated soils on farm and their influence on soil fertility. To uncover and understand the role of soil physico-chemical and clay mineralogical properties influencing the fertility of the selected soils on the farm. RESEARCH QUESTIONS These questions will assist in attaining the objectives of the study: What are the physico-chemical properties of the selected soils? What is the clay mineralogical composition of the selected soils? What is the chemical composition of the selected soils? What is the fertility index of the selected soils? Do the soil physico-chemical and clay mineralogical properties affect the fertility status of the selected soils on the farm for sustainable agriculture? HYPOTHESES This research will be guided by the following hypotheses: Most potential uncultivated arable lands on the farm could be used to expand and improve agricultural yields. Soil physico-chemical and clay mineralogical properties with their influence on soil fertility are key indicators for sustainable agriculture. 1.7. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY South Africa has a wide range of soils of different physico-chemical and clay mineralogical composition. Limpopo Province alone has a diversity of soils and climatic conditions permitting a variety of different forms of agriculture, (White Paper on Agriculture, 1995). In support of food security and self preservation, it is now strategically important for any area to have available information on the relative suitabilities of their soils for agriculture, so that preference may be given for the land more suitable for agriculture. In this process, it is important to know the relative quality of the land so that its use can be regulated in accordance with the suitability of the particular soils. Local farmers have always relied on the agricultural research output and extension from Syferkuil experimental farm since their climate, and the soils they farm on developed from the same parent material as the ones at Syferkuil. The surrounding farm community and authorities of the area, will therefore benefit from this study by obtaining information on the physico-chemistry and clay mineralogy of their soils as well as the soils relative suitability for agriculture. Economically, capability classification of the soils in Mankweng area can assist in encouraging the authorities toward initiation of the various farming systems on the identified potential arable lands. In this way individual soils could be best utilized for the types of agricultural production for which they are best and most economically suited. 1.8. STUDY AREA The location, topography, climate, vegetation, soils, geology and hydrology of the area are briefly described below in the subsequent subsections. 1.8.1. Location of the study area Limpopo is South Africas northernmost province, lying within the great curve of the Limpopo River. The province borders the countries of Botswana to the west, Zimbabwe to the north and Mozambique and Swaziland to the east as shown in Figure 1.3 (DBSA, 1998). Limpopo Province is divided into five Municipal districts (Figure 1.3): Capricorn, Mopani, Sekhukhune, Vhembe and Waterberg , which are further divided into 24 local Municipalities (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Maps, 2003). The Province occupies a total surface area of 125  755 km2, about 10.3% of South Africas land area (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Map, 2003).The population is about 5 355  172 which is 11.3% of South African population (Statistics SA, 2003). Syferkuil is the experimental farm of the University of Limpopo (23o49 S; 29o41 E) situated in the Mankweng area, in Capricorn district municipality, South Africa. The farm is 1 650 ha in size (Moshia et al., 2008). Syferkuil experimental farm, for almost 39 years now (Moshia et al., 2008) has served as the main centre of University of Limpopos horticultural, agronomic, and animal production researches, on which both undergraduate and graduate student researches along with hands-on trainings are conducted. The farm is bordered by five populated rural farming communities which are Mamotintane, Ga-Makanye, Ga-Thoka, Solomondale and Mankweng. On this farm, about 25 ha are currently allocated for rain fed crops, 80 ha for irrigated crops, and 40 ha are used for rotation of winter and summer crops. The 80 ha irrigated crops are served by an automated linear move irrigation system (Moshia, 2008). Figure 1.3: Locality Map of the study area Figure 1.4: A scale aerial photograph map (scaled 1: 10 000) of University of Limpopo (Syferkuil)s experimental farm (Moshia et al., 2008) 1.8.2. Land-Use of the study area Limpopo Province constitute a total of 12.3 million hectares land, out of which about 9.24 million ha. is utilized as farmland (LDA, 2002). This 9.24 million hectares of farmland nearly 0.93 million ha. of it is utilized as arable land, 6.68 million ha. as natural grazing, 1.7 million ha. For nature conservation, 0.1 million ha for forestry and for other purposes. Seventy six percent of the arable Land is allocated to dry land (0.7 million ha) cultivation and only 0.223 million ha for irrigation systems. 1.8.3. Geology of the study area The geology of Limpopo is complex and diverse; it varies from Palaeo-Archaean mafic, ultramafic and felsic extrusives to Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and flood basalts (RSA Geological Map series, 1984). The rock formations in the Province can be considered in four main divisions based on time and general homogeneity namely: the Archaean, generally known as the Basal or Fundamental Complex; the Pre-Cambrian, or Algonkian Systems; the Palaeozoic, pre-Karoo Formations; the Mesozoic and the Karoo System. The topography of the region varies from relatively flat areas to mountainous terrain (Barker et al., 2006). Limpopo is rich in minerals with economic value (White Paper on Agriculture, 1995). Predominant minerals in the eastern part of Limpopo include platinum and its group metals, chrome, copper, phosphate and andalusite. The Western side is characterised by platinum, granite, and coal minerals, while diamonds, coal, magnesite, and traces of granite dominate the Northern part of the Province. Mineral resources that are currently being mined in the province are Andalusite, Antinomy, calcite, chrome, clay, coal, copper, diamonds, emeralds, feldspar, fluorspar, gold, granite, limestone, magnesite, manganese, ornamental stone-Slate, phosphate, platinum, salt, sand stone, silica and zinc (Dramstad et al., 1996). 1.8.4. Climate of the study area Limpopo falls in the summer rainfall region with the western part of the Province being semi-arid, and the eastern part largely sub-tropical, (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Maps, 2003). The western and far northern parts of the Province experience frequent droughts. Winter throughout Limpopo is mild and mostly frost-free. The average annual temperatures for the southern to central plateau areas of the province is generally below 20oC; in the Lowveld and northern parts average annual temperatures are above 20oC. The province receives summer rainfall between October and March peaking in January. The mean annual precipitation ranges between 380mm in the North and just over 700mm in parts of the Waterberg (Koch, 2005). The climate of the study site is classified as semi-arid with the annual precipitation of roughly  ±495 mm per annum. The mean annual temperature of 25 ±1oC (max) and 10 ±1oC (min) was common during the years of study. Annually, the farm averages 170 frost-free days extending from late October to mid April. Figure 1.5: Monthly average rainfall as recorded in the Limpopo Province (LDA, 2002) Rainfall data (figure 1.5) indicating that most rainfall occurs between November and March, ranging between 80 mm and 130mm. It should, however, be noted that these figures indicate an average rainfall and lower rainfall can be expected in most districts. 1.8.5. Soils of the study area There are wide varieties of soils that occur in the Province, tending to be sandy in the west, but with more clay content toward the east, (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Maps, 2003). The soils are differentiated based on depth, the nature of diagnostic horizons and parent materials, (FAO, 1999). Those soils are mainly developed on basalt, sandstone and biotite gneiss and are generally of low inherent soil fertility (FAO, 1999). Limpopo Province has diverse soils, however, five major soil associations have been identified, (FAO, 1999): of which Dystrophic, red and yellow, well drained clayed soils are highly leached, clay-like, acidic soils found in the high rainfall areas of Drakensberg and Soutpansberg range. They are rocky, found on steep slopes and are of low fertility. As such, they generally have limited value as arable land but are suitable for afforestation. Red, yellow and grey soils in caternary association are sandy and loamy soils in the 300-600 mm rainfall belt in the western and northwestern part of the Province. They are suitable for arable farming, but generally occur in the low rainfall areas west and north of Thabazimbi, Vaalwater, Lephalale and Polokwane. Black and red clay soils have with varying amounts of rock and lithosol, found in a narrow strip parallel to the eastern border, the Springbok Flats (Settlers and Roedtan) and the southwestern boundary near Dwaalpooort and Derdepoort. Alt hough highly erodible, they are utilized extensively for dryland crops such as cotton and winter cereals. Duplex and paraduplex soils are characterized by topsoil that is distinct from sub-soil with regard to texture, structure and consistency. Major occurrences are in Sekhukhune, south to southwest of Lephalale in Waterberg district, between Louis Trichardt and Tshipise, and sections of Vhembe District near the eastern border. They are generally not utilized as arable land due to high erodibility. Poorly developed soils on rock consist of topsoil overlying rock or weathered rock. They are found to the east of the Drakensberg, including a large section of Mopani District, and east and west of Musina. They tend to be rocky, with shallow soils and therefore generally unsuitable for arable farming. Black and red, fertile clay soils occur on the Springbok Flats, with reddish brown sandy loam to the Northern and Western part of the province, (FAO, 1999). The mountains have deeper, highly leached red soils in wetter areas, with more exposed rock where it is also drier. Reddish brown, gravelly soils, which have a low fertility, predominate on the Lowveld, the best agricultural soils being alluvial soils adjacent to the rivers. The Province has a few high potential areas for dryland crop production and many opportunities for extensive ranching and irrigated fruit and crop production, (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Maps, 2003). 1.8.6. Vegetation of the study area The geographical location, rainfall patterns and varied physical and climatic conditions have given rise to diverse vegetation across the province. The vegetation found in the province have been classified into inland tropical forest; tropical bush and savannah; pure grassveld; and false grassveld types (Development Bank of South Africa, 1998). The inland tropical forests include the northeastern mountain sourveld and Lowveld sour Bushveld types. Tropical bush and savannah comprise the Lowveld, arid Lowveld, Springbok flats turf thornveld, other turf thornveld, arid sweet bushveld, mopani veld, mixed bushveld, sourish mixed bushveld and sour Bushveld types (Limpopo Province Natural Resource Maps, 2003). Pure grassveld types include the northeastern sandy Highveld types. The false grassveld types include the Polokwane plateau false grassveld. 1.8.7. Topography of the study area Limpopo Province has diverse topographic features. In the east is the flat to gently undulating Lowveld plain, at an altitude of 300 to 600 m, bounded in the west by the Northern Drakensberg escarpment and Soutpansberg, with steep slopes and peaks up to the 2000m (LDA, 2002). The almost level Springbok flats in the South lie at an altitude of 900 m, while the Waterberg and Blouberg to the North, with undulating to very steep terrain, reach 2 000 m. The North- Western zone is a flat to undulating plain, which slopes down to the north and west at 800 to 1 000 m. 1.8.8. Hydrology/Water Resources of the study area The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) classifies South Africa as a water-stressed country, prone to erratic and unpredictable extremes such as floods and droughts that reduce land to a dry and arid wasteland (Water Research Commission, 2002). Water resources in South Africa are limited making them critically important for the sustainable economic and social development of the country (Dennis and Nell, 2002). This is one of the reasons why it is important to protect the scarce water resources of the country. Rivers are the main source of water for the country. In the Limpopo Province, there are Four Management Areas namely: Limpopo; Luvubu Letaba; Krokodil Wee Merico and Olifants (NDA, 2000). Applied research on irrigation and fertilizer methods are practiced on the research plots on the farm. There are two 10-ha plots fitted with separate irrigation systems used by researchers and students for research on field crops. 1.8.9. Agricultural activities of the study area The agricultural sector in the province is divided into three broad sub-sectors namely commercial farms, emerging commercial farms and subsistence farms, (Development Bank of South Africa, 1998). The commercial farms fall in the larger farm size category, emerging commercial farms in the medium size and subsistence farms in the smallest size (LDA, 2002). The emerging and subsistence farms are collectively called small-scale farms which are mostly located in the former homelands. The varied climates of Limpopo Province allows it to produce a wide variety of agricultural produce ranging from tropical fruits such as banana, mangoes to cereals such as maize, wheat and vegetables such as tomatoes, onion and potatoes (NDA, 2001). Limpopo Province has large area of land suitable for dry-land production (LDA, 2002). Maize is the staple food of majority of people in Limpopo Province and is largely grown by the different categories of farmers both for household, industrial and animal consumption. On the basis of area and volume of production, it remains the most important cereal grain produced in the Province despite the dry and drought prone agro-ecology of much of the region (LDA, 2002). Climatic variation could lead to variations in maize yields. As a staple food in the Province, maize has a large and stable market and is the most important agricultural product in South Africa (NDA, 2001). 1.9. Summary of chapter The chapter has clearly provided the background of the study outlining the general concept of clay mineral and their influence on soil fertility for crop production. It has also outlined the aims, objectives, research questions, problem statement, rationale and hypothesis of the research project. The map of the study site illustrating the location of the site in Capricorn district municipality and the suitability map of the study site has been provided. The geology, mineralogy, climate, soils and agricultural activities of the study site have also been outlined. The soil physico-chemical and clay mineralogical properties are reviewed in the subsequent chapter.

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students ABSTRACT Defining culture by reference to deeply situated societal values and beliefs, this study makes three contributions to the growing field of satisfaction research: first, it tries to uncover the relationship between international students life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction across different cultures; Second, it explores whether and to what extent a range of cultural values serve as important moderators of international students life satisfaction; Finally, it explains the Life Satisfaction differences between international students across five nations (India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey). A total of 100 international students from the University of Northampton participated in this study. Analysis of the present study is based on data from two surveys. The first is the Dieners Satisfaction with Life Survey (SWL) to measure international students overall satisfaction with life across nations. The second is the cultural satisfaction survey which includes the six d eterminants of cultural factors: satisfaction in general, job, social relationships, health services, authority services and public safety. Using both Pearson and Partial correlation coefficient, statistical analysis showed that except for the General Satisfaction section p value is more than 0.05 (p>0.05) for each of the subsections. In addition, hypothesis one showed that there is not any correlation between Life Satisfaction and Cultural Satisfaction amongst International Students. Therefore, null hypothesis is accepted. One-Way between subjects ANOVAs enables us to partially accept hypothesis 2, which states there will be a difference in CS between International Students from different countries. Statistical results of one-way ANOVAs also accepted Hypothesis 3, which states there will be a difference in LS between International Students from different nationalities as well. According to these results, Hypothesis 2 is partially accepted because four out of the six subsections of the CS (General and Job Satisfaction) showed these differences. These results show the importance of the cultural determinants of the social relationship, health, authority and public safety satisfaction play a particularly prominent role on individuals Life Satisfaction. Finally, based on the Dieners SWL (Diener et al, 1984) and cultural life satisfaction survey, the empirical results show that several cultural values are indeed very significant influences on individuals assessment of their life satisfaction. INTRODUCTION Psychological research during the past two decades has revealed cultural differences across a wide range of domains. These studies focus on several factors such as what are peoples desires, wants, and needs, and which life domains are decisive in an overall evaluation of living conditions? Does the quality of a society in which a person lives play a significant role? As a result most psychologists are now keenly aware that the way people in different cultures think, feel, and act are, in varying degrees, different. International students have in recent years come to constitute a large proportion of the world-wide student body in higher learning institutions. There are hardly any countries that are unaffected by the presence of international students in its institutions of higher learning, or the pressure to send some of its own students to study abroad (Paige, 1990). Current estimates suggest that up to 1 million students annually study in countries other than their own (Open Doors, 1996/97). One rationale behind the increasing number of international students is the assumption that students can serve both as cultural ambassadors and resources (Klineberg, 1970; Mestenhauser, 1983; Paige, 1990), and as links between cultures (Eide, 1970). It has also been assumed that these cultural links could help reduce inter-group tension, prejudice, hostility and discriminatory behaviour, and to help increase international understanding and co-operation (Amir, 1969; Baron and Bachman, 1987; Fulbright, 1976) . These assumptions, however, have not always been supported. On the contrary mental health problems such as depression, psychosomatic complaints, anxiety and paranoid reactions (Jou and Fukada, 1997a and b; Sam and Eide, 1991; Ward, 1967; Ying and Liese, 1991) have been suggested to characterise international students. These are in addition to socio-cultural problems (e.g., language difficulties, difficulties in negotiating day-to-day social activities and, racial and ethnic discrimination) (Furnham and Bochner, 1982; Kagan and Cohen, 1990; Ward and Kennedy, 1993) and academic problems such as failure (Aich, 1963; Barker et al., 1991) have been documented as characterising international students overseas sojourn. Life Satisfacion (LS) has been defined as a global evaluation by the person of his or her life (Pavot et al., 1991, p. 150), and has been identified as a key aspect of quality of life and Subjective Well Being (SWB) (Mannel and Dupuis 1996). SWB is a way of defining a good life, and is often referred to as happiness. People who experience abundant SWB have many pleasures and few pains, and they feel satisfied with their lives (Diener, 2000). Satisfaction also refers to the cognitive/judgemental aspects of SWB (Neto, 1995). Diener and his colleagues (1999) argued that, SWB and happiness, has both an affective (i.e., emotional) and a cognitive (i.e., judgmental) component. The affective component consists of how frequently an individual reports experiencing positive and negative effects. In addition to this, previous research (Diener et al., 1999) has found college students consider happiness and LS to be extremely important, and there is evidence that increased LS impacts upon academi c performance in college students (Rode et al., 2005). Research has shown that increased LS and happiness may be related to goal progression (Emmons, 1986), close social relationships (Myers, 2000), and being involved in flow activities (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Moreover, Veenhoven (1991) uses the definition of LS as the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his life as a whole favourably. (1991: 10). This idea emphasises satisfaction with ones life, implies contentment with or acceptance of ones life circumstances, or the fulfilment of ones wants and needs for ones life as a whole. Furthermore, the need satisfaction model (Maslow, 1970; McClelland, 1961) and the spill over (Diener, 1984;Wilensky, 1960) theories provide useful frameworks to conceptualise the processes that underlie happiness in a life domain. The basic premise of the need satisfaction model is that people have basic needs they seek to fulfil in each life domain. Individuals derive satisfaction in a particular life domain when events and experience related to that domain fulfil their needs. Therefore, this model seems to suggest that people who are successful in satisfying their needs are likely to enjoy greater SWB than those who are less successful. For example, a person reports high satisfaction of her health life domain based on positive experiences concerning health-related activities such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and attention to medical needs. Moreover, the spill over theories of quality of life are viewed as having two broad types; bottom-up and top-down theories. Firstly, bott om-up theories assume that LS is a summary evaluation of aspects of ones life. For example, one is satisfied with life because one has good social relationships, enough money, weight under control, and an interesting job (Choi et al., 2007; George and Landerman, 1984; Larsen, 1978). Secondly, top-down theories assume that LS is due to personality influences. For example, a neurotic individual is more dissatisfied in general with his or her job, social relationships, weight, and income in particular ( Shepard, 1974; Kremer and Harpaz, 1982). Although there may be some agreement about the important qualities of the good life, with considerations like health and successful relationships, each individual assigns different values to these factors (Diener et al., 1985). Each person has his or her own values, criteria, and basis for evaluation. Furthermore, considerable research effort has been devoted to the study of adults perception of the quality of their lives, including LS judgements. LS research is supported by the variety of measures appropriate for adults, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985; Pavot and Diener, 1993), Quality of Life Inventory (Frisch et al., 1992), Life Satisfaction Index (Neugarten et al., 1961), and the Salamon-Conte LS in the Elderly Scale (Salamon and Conte, 1984). Several studies have been carried out regarding LS and the results of these studies emphasise that LS is related to different factors. A great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. Due to variation in the characteristics of the included samples such as age, gender or culture questions which are commonly found in questionnaires as well as included indicators, different factors have been found to be associated with LS. Campbell (1981) indicates that there are at least 12 domains involved in contributing to LS. These are health, finances, family relations, paid employment, friendships, housing, living partner, recreational activity, religion, self-esteem, transportation, and education (Campbell, 1981). Specific cultural and social factors also have been found to play an important role in determining LS and happiness (Triandis, 2000). LS is used worldwide in research including adults, young people, students, older people etc. (Baiyewu and Jegede 1992; H illeras et al. 2001b,Neugarten et al. 1961; Vitterso et al. 2002; Wood et al. 1969) and is supposed to be a useful outcome variable in different countries. Cultural context is an important element that influences an individuals cognitive evaluation of ones life. Culture affects people in a variety of basic psychological domains, including self-concept, attribution and reasoning, interpersonal communication, negotiation, intergroup relations, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). Sociologists and social psychologists are interested in socio-demographic patterns that emerge when people evaluate their overall living conditions (Veenhoven 1984; Argyle 1999; Headey and Wearing 1992; Hagerty et al. 2000; Glatzer and Zapf 1984). However, socio-demographic factors account for less than 20% of the variance of SWB, a finding confirmed in several studies (Campbell et al. 1976; Andrews and Withey 1976; Diener and Suh 1997). Many efforts have been made to analyse determinants of LS and researchers from several disciplines illuminate this subject from different perspectiv es. The study revealed that the standard of living, access to employment, job satisfaction, marriage, social relationships, social networks, and health were the most decisive factors when explaining variations in LS within countries. Previous research also indicate that these factors have a positive impact on individuals LS (Diener et al. 1999) with results also showing that individuals with high LS have such benefits including physical health, mental health, good interpersonal relationships, and educational and vocational success (Frisch, 2000; Park, 2003, 2004; Veenhoven, 1989). More recently, economists have shown an interest in explaining LS outcomes with respect to reported SWB as a proxy for individual utility. They primarily focus on cross-country comparisons, the question of marginal utility of income, and the relationship between absolute and relative levels of income on SWB (Frey and Stutzer 2002a, b; Oswald 1997; Layard 2005). Moreover, LS differs a great deal between individuals and between European countries. The previous study within the enlarged European Union shows average LS in 2003, measured on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), ranged from 8.38 in Denmark to 4.41 in Bulgaria. In every country high income goes hand in hand with higher LS scores. However, poor people in Denmark are nevertheless more satisfied than rich people in Bulgaria. The large differences in the overall level of LS between old and new member states have so far been explained with reference to the level of economic prosperity in each country (Fahey and Smyth 2004). Moreover, several studies have pointed out that poorer countries tend to possess lower LS than richer ones. To support this idea, Leelakulthanit and Day (1993) compared the LS scores of Americans and Thais. The results showed that Americans were more satisfied with their lives than Thais. Similarly, Diener et al., (1995) investigated LS among American, Korean, and Chinese college students. The results of the study illustrated that American college students scored more highly on LS, positive feelings and influential factors (e.g., income and wealth of the countries) than both Chinese and Korean college students. The results of these studies emphasized that the countries with high qualities (such as income, wealth, education) have higher LS scores than the countries who have low quality of standards . Conversely, Heady et al. (2004) instead analysed household panel data for five countries and found the happiness measure to be considerably more affected by economic fac tors than found in most of the earlier literature. The economic factors in the study include wealth and consumption expenditures and among the findings are that wealth has a stronger impact on happiness than income and that non-durable consumption expenditures are as important for happiness as income. Recent cross-country studies have therefore returned to this issue, questioning the insignificance of economic factors, which led to a heated debate in Social Science Indicators between Richard Easterlin, who defended the standard conclusion that average income does not matter, and Michael Hagerty and Ruud Veenhoven, who opposed this and argued that positive happiness trends in most nations were caused by income growth (Hagerty and Veenhoven 2003; Easterlin 2005; Veenhoven and Hagerty 2006). Moreover, a number of previous studies exposed evidence about health playing a critical role in overall LS. In fact, health has long been viewed as one of the major factors to LS as previous studies have found that health plays a crucial role on individuals LS (Linn et al., 1988; Michalos, Zumbo, Hubley, 2000; Okun et al., 1984; Parkerson, Broadhead, Tse, 1990). Additionally, a number of previous studies have examined the relationship between LS and health factors such as obesity, alcohol use, suicidal thoughts, physical activity, stress, and academic performance in different populations. For example, the study of the Moum (1996) found that people who score high on LS measures are less likely to attempt suicide. Lewinsohn et al., (1991) also pointed out that people who score high on LS are less likely to become depressed in the future . Several researches have also examined that LS is related to healthy behaviours in a number of different populations (Kelly, 2004; Rudolf Watts, 20 02; Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b). To support this idea, Statistics Canada Web Site (2009), found that Canadians LS was related to their health. The statistics showed that people who were satisfied with their lives reported that their health was excellent (62.5%) and only 8.4% of people who were satisfied with life reported poor health. Conversely, of those people who were not satisfied with their lives, 54.2% reported that their health was poor. As a result, this study found that weak levels of health are directly related to low levels of satisfaction with life, low levels of morality, and low levels of satisfaction. This study also stresses that public health provisions have an important role on the improvements of individuals quality of life. For example, Life expectancy in France or Germany has risen sharply. However, this improvement is not due to high-technology. These countries attach importance to improve the quality of health in urban sanitation. The main aim here is relatively low-cost treatment (for example; antibiotics for childrens ear infections) (Deaton, 2008). From the past to the present, a great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. These sources include ones overall wealth, whether one is single or married, male or female (Gold et al., 2002; Murtagh Hubert, 2004), or young or old (Diener, 1984; Mercier et al., 1998; Prenda Lachman, 2001) A few studies have investigated international undergraduate students Satisfaction with Life (SWL) in the pattern of culture associates. Definition of the SWL emphasises the individuals own Quality of Life (QoL) based on their selected standards (Shin and Johnson, 1978). Each individuals decisions about their own particular criteria of their QoL can help them to judge and establish their own SWL (Diener et al., 1985). This shows that ones SWL is not a universally determined criteria of QoL, because each individual is judging their SWL by their own evaluation of the QoL. This is one of the important reasons to focus on people of diverse ethnic background and their differ ent values and perceptions of what may characterise the good life (Diener et al., 1985). Another important reason to study SWL and Culture across different nations is based on cultural factors (such as ones quality of life) that play an important role on individuals happiness. Veenhoven (1991) found that living in an economically prosperous country where freedom and democracy are respected; political stability; being a part of a majority rather than a minority; being toward the top of the social ladder; being married and having good relationships with family and friends; being mentally and physically healthy; being active and open minded; feeling in control of ones life; having aspirations in social and moral matters rather than money-making and being politically conservative are significantly related with individuals happiness rather than unhappiness. Moreover, other researchers have established that individuals from different cultures have different levels of economic and social satisfactions with their Jobs. For example, people who have the same jobs but who live in different countries might have different levels of job satisfaction because of cultural influences (Cranny et al., 1992; Gallie Russell, 1998). This signifies that both economic (money) and social (interest) satisfaction with work, such as individuals quality of their working styles, experiences and achievements, is another very important component of individuals overall SWL (Frijters et al., 2003; Kraft 2000). Furthermore, health is a subjective phenomenon manifested as the experience of wellness/illness based on individuals evaluations of how they are feeling and doing. There are variety of factors on an individuals health satisfaction which have been related to their LS such as weight (Ball et al., 2004), alcohol use (Murphy et al., 2005), stress (Schnohr et al., 2005), and physical activity (Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b) These have been shown to be related to life satisfaction in different populations. The relationship between LS and various aspects of perceived health has been investigated in different nations because in different cultures people have different health institutions and services which can affect both their QoL and SWL. Previous researchers found that there is a positive relationship between subjective health and LS (Arrindell et al., 1999; Lohr et al., 1988; Rapkin Fischer, 1992; Willits Crider, 1988). The information above supports that to study both SWL and culture have been useful in illuminating how individuals differ in their SWL from different nations and the role of culture. A Number of studies emphasize that culture affects individuals from several basic psychological domains. For example, attribution and reasoning, intergroup relations, interpersonal communication, self-concept, negotiation, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Lehman et al., 2004; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). From the theory and research presented in this review, it can be seen that cultural factors are the integrative parts of the LS. According to this, this study will focus on the Culture and LS amongst international students to see whether culture plays an important role on the undergraduate students LS from five different cultures. The specific aims of the study are three-fold. Firstly, it determines whether there is a relationship between international students LS and CS amongst five different countries. Secondly, it specifies whether the international students have differences in CS in general factors (i.e. quality of services/ city/life etc.), social relationships, job satisfaction, health, authority and public safety across five different countries. Thirdly, it explores whether there is an LS difference between International Students from five different countries which are China, India, UK, Turkey and Nigeria. In this study, I will focus on more cross-cultural phenomenon of the st udents satisfaction as well as its link with cross-cultural differences in the bases of LS (Schimmack et al., 2002; Suh et al., 1998) and provide tests of an empirically supported explanation for the differences. When people construct judgments about their overall LS, different cultural members place relative emphasis on different aspects of life. Therefore the hypotheses for this study are: There will be correlation between LS and CS amongst International Students from five different countries . There will be a difference in CS between International Students from five different countries There will be a difference in LS between International Students from five different countries. METHOD SECTION Participants A total of 100 students from the University of Northampton (UCN) in Northampton participated in the study. The sample for the current study comprised of 100 students, with twenty participants from each of the five nations India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey. Participants were selected from these five countries because many students from these countries came across to study in the University of Northampton. All participants were more than 18 years of age. Both males and females between the ages of 18-25 were selected. Each participant was required to complete both Questionnaire Section A of Life Satisfaction and Section B of the Cultural Satisfaction (see Appendix 2). All student participation was voluntary. Apparatus/Measurements The measures for the study were either taken directly or with modification from existing scales as described below. With the exception of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, all the items reported here were answered on a 5-point Likert Scale. Life Satisfaction : Global life satisfaction was measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, Griffin, 1985) to measure the life satisfaction of the international undergraduate students. The SWLS is a five-item inventory with a 7-point scale. The five items used to measure satisfaction with life are : (a) In most ways my life is close to ideal; (b) The conditions of my life are excellent; (c) I am satisfied with my life; (d) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life; and (e) If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. Participants respond to each item on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), yielding a possible total score ranging from 5 to 35 (see appendix 2). Satisfaction With Culture: Participants cultural life satisfaction was measured by questions both from Quality of Life Satisfaction Survey (2003) (QLS) (cited in Delhey, 2004) and the 2006 General User Satisfaction Survey (GUSS) (Torbay Council, 2006). Researcher also prepared some of the questions. The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction within six cultural life domains: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety were considered important influences on individuals life satisfaction. Participants respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (see appendix 2). General : The general questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of twenty-three out of the 70 items, was added to the beginning of the Cultural life satisfaction scale in order to measure general life satisfaction about the cultural factors. The researcher also prepared the questions from 1 to 19. However, questions 20 to 23 from the general section were obtained from QLS. Students were expected to respond to each item based on a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Examples of items are It is a good place to live, overall quality of life in the city, water quality, noise etc. However, nine items were measured on an ordinal scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of general services (e.g. health services, public transport, education system etc.). Participants again respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (very high). Higher values indicate higher LS. Social Relationships : To achieve a high level of joy and happiness in life, people must be socially involved with people. This involves getting along well with others, having friends and companions, and offering help to those who need it. This part evaluates international students social relationships in their home countries through sixteen items. However, five questions about the tensions between different groups were obtained from QLS. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer Very many tensions and 5 to No tension at all. Moreover, eleven questions consisted of general problems about parents, children, teenagers etc. These eleven questions were also prepared by the Researcher. Statements such as parents not taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children, noisy neighbours or loud parties and people being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnic origin or religion etc. The items were also based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (a very big p roblem) to 5 (not a problem at all). Job Satisfaction: In this section questions asked students to evaluate their overall Job satisfaction and financial situation. Questions in the Job Satisfaction section were adapted from QLS. A list of seven items was constructed to measure the job satisfaction variable. Items were presented on a 5- point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Items included My work is dull and boring , I am well paid, and My job offers good prospects for career advancement etc. Health Perception : The health perception variable was measured on a Likert scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of health services in international students countries. This section consisted of eight items. Questions 1 to 4 from the health section were obtained from QLS. However, questions from 5 to 8 were obtained from GUSS. Items were presented on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied where 1 corresponds to the answer very dissatisfied and 5 to very satisfied, and included statements such as waiting time to see doctor on day of appointment, Quality of Hospitals and Deal with patients etc. Authority: The authority section consists of seven items. Question 1 and 7 from the authority section were adapted from GUSS . Also, questions 2 to 6 were prepared by the researcher . The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and included statements such as how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with each of the following services provided or supported by your country City Council such as; Sports/leisure facilities and events, libraries, museum, galleries, theatre etc. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer strongly disagree and 5 to strongly agree. Public Safety: Public safety questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of nine items. Questions in the Public Safety section were prepared by the researcher. Questions include how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood during the day? and how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood after dark? etc. The responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very unsafe to very safe, and 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Procedure Before the experiment participants were asked to read the standardised instructions (see appendix 3 ) and to give their consent verbally. According to the standardised instructions, participants were fully informed what the study was going to investigate. The standard instructions informed the students of the purpose of the study; that participation was voluntary and the responses were going to be treated confidentially. Also, it explained the details of what participants would have to do and were allowed to ask any questions. Experimenters informed the participants that the aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a relation between participants general life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction. By giving their consent to taking part in the study, they were agreeing to be involved in this study and were then asked to sign the consent form (see appendix 4) and read the brief (see appendix 4). After that, participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire. The que stionnaire consisted of two sections; section A and section B. Section A was about the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985) to measure life satisfaction. The scale comprises of five-items and the responses were made on a 7-point agree-disagree Likert scale (Diener et al., 1985). On the other hand, section B was about cultural life satisfaction (Questions were obtained from QoL). The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale and was designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction. The scale provides scores for six dimensions namely for the participants satisfaction with their nations. The six sections of the cultural satisfaction are: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety considered important on individuals cultural life satisfaction. According to participants responses, negative scores indicate dissatisfaction, whereas positive scores indicate satisfaction of the specific domain for the individuals life satisfaction. In this experiment, participants were not timed. Therefore, all the participants had the same life satisfaction and cultural satisfaction scale. Participants were also aware that they were allowed to withdraw at anytime without giving reason. After the experiment, the experimenter gave the participants a cue sheet which consisted of a brief explanation of what the study was about and the experimenters e-mail address (see appendix 5). Also, each Life satisfaction scale had the participant number recorded on the top of the paper so, if the participants changed their minds and wanted to retract their results from the study, they could email the experimenter and give their paper number by 01-01-2010. Also, participants were allowed to ask any questions. There was no deception of the participants in this study. Finally, no personal data was requested. As a result, the participants were anonymous . Questionnaires will be kept confidential and securely kept in the locked answers cupboard. Design This study was performed to determine the relation between culture and life satisfaction. The dependent variable of the study was the life satisfaction and the independent variable was culture. In this experiment, participants were sampled around the university campus and each participant received only one questionnaire. All experime

Four Myth Theories :: essays research papers

Four Theories of Myth There are four basic theories of myth. Those theories are: the rational myth theory, functional myth theory, structural myth theory, and the phsycological myth theory. The rational myth theory states that myths were created to explain natural events and forces. Functional myths are what you call the kinds of myths that were created as a type of social control. The third myth theory is the structural myth theory. This theory says that myths were patterned after human mind and human nature. The phsycological myth theory is the fourth myth theory which states that myths are based on human emotion. The rational myth theory states that myths were made to better understand natural events and forces that occurred in the everyday lives of people. This theory also explains that the gods and goddesses controlled all of these happenings of nature. Examples of this type of myth are creation myths from different cultures. Creation myths explain how man was created and explain what the gods and goddesses used and what actions they took to create humans. These myths also tell what substances were used (if any) in order for man to exist. The existence of man is a natural event but creation myths give other explanations. The functional myth theory talks about how myths were used to teach morality and social behavior. It states that myths told about what types of things should and shouldn’t be done, and the consequences for those wrong doings. The functional myth theory also states that myths were created for social control and served the function of insuring stability in a society. A story about a tribe who rebelled against the great serpent, Degei, is a good example of a functional myth. This story is about a tribe who learned many skills from their great serpent god, Degei, and then became Degei’s workers and servants. Two chiefs of this tribe were sick of working for him and tried to defeat him; they were too weak for Degei. Instead of winning their freedom, they were killed in a great flood caused by Degei. This myth is trying to say that you should not be lazy because if you are, then you will regret it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Structural myths are said to be myths based on human emotion. These types of myths show the two sides of the human mind; the good side and the bad side. They show the divided self and the duality of human nature.

Challenger :: essays research papers

January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger the 25th space shuttle mission, was set to be launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at, 11:38am. Originally the launch was scheduled for January 22, at 3:43pm but had been set back several times due to bad weather. Hopes ran high the anticipation for the lift off was tremendous. This was to be one of the greatest missions ever. It would be a first for many things. The most publicized was that it would be the first time a schoolteacher was allowed to travel in space. The crew was picked and they were anxiously awaiting the countdown. On board the space shuttle that fateful day was.. Crew of the Challenger Michael J. Smith (Pilot) Francis R. Scobee (Commander) Judith A. Resnik (Mission Specialist 1) Ellison S. Onizuka (Mission Specialist 2) Ronald E. McNair (Mission Specialist 3) Gregory B. Jarvis (Payload Specialist 1) Sharon Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist 2) 3,2,1..Lift off..The 10th flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger and the twenty-fifth space shuttle mission, the Challenger had been launched from Pad 39B at 11:38am EST. Hopes ran high as many were lined outside to watch the Challenger being launched, the lift-off was being watched live on television for those who couldn't make it to the Kennedy Space Center. As the Challenger climbed higher and higher something that wasn't expected occurred. Seventy-three seconds after lift-off the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all 7 crewmembers. The United States was devastated. Many people thought this would be one of the greatest missions ever. So what really happened? Many factors contributed to the explosion of the space shuttle. The temperature was 36Â °F at the launching site. After the Solid Rocket Boosters a.k.a. SRB was ignited a thundering noise was heard. Pictures and video showed black smoke coming from the bottom field joint of the right Solid Rocket Booster. That suggested that an O ring was being burned. At 58.8 seconds after lift-off a small flame could be seen on the SRB with enhanced film a few seconds later it could be seen without enhanced film. More time passed by the flame grew bigger and the SRB was beginning to rotate freely and in less than 2 seconds the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. The Challenger was at a height of 46,000 feet when it exploded.

Netflix – Essay

Identify key issues, problems and opportunities facing Nettles. It may be helpful to consider the fact that the Nettles business model evolved through many strategy revisions. What caused them to make each shift? Were the shifts driven from the top or bottom? Is this easier for a small or large company? The key issue that was facing Nettles early on was the selective market of people that were into the DVD market. Most were still with VS. market at this time and it gave them a small problem during start-up.But, with that changing market they new that consumers will soon turn to DVD's and leave behind their old technology of VS.. They also faced the problem of most Blockbuster being a 10 minute drive from at least 70% of U. S. Populated homes. This makes their whole sales pitch of people not having to leave their homes to rent movies even harder due to the number of available Blockbusters. With Nettles no late fee policy this made it easier for them to get more sales because Blockbust er charged late fees.Also, they came across the problem of half the movies they shipped were the new releases. This made under stocking when customers wanted them and overstocking when the movie was not new anymore. They fixed this problem by making the recommended movies for consumers because this expanded their horizons on other movies other then the new ones. They also had a distribution problem because they only had one distribution center. All these shifts were driven from the top. With the growing customers and profits they have learned what consumers wanted.They held surveys to find out what movie a customer wants and the movie recommendation system helped expand the nonuser's movie choices. They even got special packages and were tied into the USPS for their delivery services that got perfected over time. This Is easier for them as they became a large company and made deals and expanded with the profit and knowledge they had about customers from their surveys. (B) How did di sruptive versus incremental innovations play out in the Nettles versus Blockbuster story? Is VOID disruptive or incremental? What roll does diffusion of innovation and adopter categories play?Timing of entry? Disruptive Innovation played a role In the beginning and start-up for Nettles. When they first opened and should to the DVD population this was disruptive. From then on they made incremental innovations along the way from the video recommendations to the shipping services. These were smaller steps done from learning from customers and growing in popularity. Also, their growing profits made innovation easier and affordable for the company. VOID Is disruptive Innovation because It Is a totally new marketing approach by the company.VOID was not a spin off of there DVD rental service It was a totally new approach for the company to take. This would require for the company to have different marketing for VOID and a new concept of nothing through the mean, instead it's all online. Di ffusion of innovation came along when Nettles went into the VOID services. They were one of the innovators of this but shortly after they had many companies patting v I Nils mace It very competitive Ana Nora to De cutlets Decease other companies only did VOID and Nettles was not known for that service.Also, the time of entry for the other business was good because Nettles was not that successful introducing it to the market that when the competitors advertised they got more business then Nettles. (C) Using only the information provided in the case, evaluate alternative approaches to the current problem (VOID), and VOID had the problem of not being able to provide high quality video to the customer as do the cable companies. This problem is hard to fix because it will have to mean changing around Nettles servers to higher quality servers to stream movies n high-definition.Another problem they had was people can not play the movies on their TV but, instead only on their laptops or de sktops. The only was customers can play the movies on their TV's is if they buy either a ERG, S-Video, or HIDE cable so they can project the movie from the laptop to the TV. But, with this means that customers will have to go out and make a purchase to Just watch online movies on the TV. The solution to this problem would be is Nettles provided the cable needed to watch the movies from the computer to the TV for a low rental fee.As long as they have a Nettles VOID account they can pay a one time rental fee for a cable as long as they stay with the company. (D) Select the best alternative. Your choice should be supported by sound arguments and be realistic given the firm's resources. I feel that the best alternative for Nettles is to keep their rental services and also have the VOID services. I feel that both are very profitable services they can provide to customers. They have such a large customer base that they can pick up on shifts in the market.Nettles has been proven o make bot h incremental and disruptive innovation to help their company grow. Even my Android phone has Nettles on it that allows me to stream videos directly to my phone anywhere there is Wi-If. If the market turns to more VOID then Nettles will make that shift and turn their company into a VOID company. But, if it doesn't they still have their rental services for profit. Their rental services cost the most to up- keep because of all the workers and distributed facilities they need to keep up with the demand. VOID has a lot less running fees. They can greatly cut down on employees and facilities.

Chinese Cinderella Essay

From your reading of ‘Chinese Cinderella’ what do you find out about Chinese culture and tradition? ‘Chinese Cinderella’ is an autobiography written by Adeline Yen Mah which tells us about her childhood up to the age of fourteen years. This autobiography tells us what happened and Adeline’s experiences throughout her childhood. By reading this autobiography it has given me an idea about different culture and traditions of China. Whilst reading ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I found that women would have their feet bound because men preferred to marry women who had small feet even if it meant the women had ‘life-long arthritis’. For women to be considered feminine you would have to carry out this act. ‘If you had large unbound feet, no man would marry you,’ which tells us that the women carried out this action for men to marry them. The result to foot binding was ‘long-life arthritis’ so that you would be noticed by men. The writer made foot binding in our eyes by writing such word and sentences as ‘swaying as if her toes had been partly cut off. This shows us that Nai Nai could not walk properly and shows us how much pain she had to go through. In this book, it expresses to us how horrid and painful foot binding was. By reading ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I got to know how painful this custom was by ‘Nai Nai’ having to come to Adeline walking very slowly and ‘hobbling’ towards her. I China it is also a tradition in some families for arranged marriages to take place and especially at a young age and to someone who the child does not know. When ‘Big Sister’s’ wedding was taking place, Adeline feared that she might be forced into an arranged marriage. ‘When I get to be seventeen, I sure don’t want to be taken out of school to marry someone I’ve just met! Especially when he is much older than me!’ This also shows that the groom may be ‘twice her age’ and yet the bride will have to accept the marriage. In China, girls were not thought of much and did not have much say; ‘I’m terrified they’ll force me into having an arranged marriage like Big Sister’s’. This indicates the horror which Chinese girls think in China about arranged marriages. This quote is from Adeline Yen Mah showing her anxiety on this matter and her longing not to be forced to get married to a stranger. The females in China are treated very differently compared to the males in mostly all the activities and challenges such as education because females are thought of being a ‘despised daughter’. In China the females are thought as having a lower status than males. In the schools in China, for entertainment, they often play shuttlecock which is also know as badminton and this game is played by many other people in different countries i.e. in England. In China a game called Majong was popular and was played by Adeline’s aunt, ‘Aunt Baba’. In 1911 there was a revolution and the imperial Manchu court in Beijing was abolished. Sun Yat-Sen became president and proclaimed China a republic. The public of China still remembered him because he was a famous politician figure. In schools the students would often remember and recite Sun Yat-Sen last testament. I learnt a bit about the history of China from reading ‘Chinese Cinderella’ that in December 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour the United States of America became involved in the Second World War. ‘Many of the streets around our house were named after dead French heroes or catholic saints’ This shows the power that the French had over the Chinese people that they could change the street names. The French people would ‘bark’ out orders in their language and expect them, the Chinese people, to understand, so at the same time, the schools in China, taught the children the alphabet and numbers in French. Many years ago, China lost the opium war which lead to many coastal cities such as Tianjin and shanghai occupied by foreign soldiers. This mixed the Chinese and French culture and many mixed marriages took place such as Niang’s. The Japanese ruled most of China including the city of Tianjin where Adeline grew up. Because the Japanese had a strong power on China, the Chinese people were afraid of the Japanese. If you went passed a Japanese soldier with out bowing down to them they would tend to ‘punish’ you by beating you. In August 1945, America dropped a bomb on Japan and this ended the Second World War. America became the new conqueror. This also mixed the Chinese and American culture by, for example, having bacon and eggs for breakfast. In Buddhist families, it is their culture and custom for Buddhist funerals to take place when someone dies. Usually the Buddhist monks are dressed in ‘long robes’. Occasionally, when someone dies, the monks would pray for that person. ‘All night while listening to the monks praying and watching their shining bald heads in the flickering candle-light’. They also light incense sticks. ‘The smell of incense’ would often permeate the air. The funeral would tend to take place a day after the death. The coffin is usually ‘draped with white sheets and placed on a hearse pulled by four men’ and the people who attended this event are usually dressed in ‘white robes and white handbags for the boys and white ribbons for the girls’. It is a Chinese tradition to ‘absorb the traditional hundred-day religious mourning-period’ for the deceased. I found out that the Buddhist monks use to have shaved bald heads. I also found out the type of clothes which are worn on certain occasions such as New Years Day. On New Years Day, the common people would tend to wear ‘loose-fitting Chinese long gowns with a traditional mandarin collar and cloth buttons’ and the rich would usually tend to dress in ‘western-style suits’. In ‘Big Sister’s’ wedding in ‘Chinese Cinderella’, Big Sister wore a ‘Beautiful pink qipao and silver shoes’ which is Chinese style clothing. ‘The room was filled with masses of fresh flowers, and the Chinese character for double happiness was outlined in red blooms against the wall’. This shows that although the people wore western clothes so that they would be considered of a higher class, Chinese characters were still used in gatherings. The groom wore a tuxedo which was different to ‘Big Sister’s’ Chinese wedding dress. This shows that in Chinese culture and traditions, only upper class people would wear western style clothing and the lower class would wear traditional Chinese clothing. I found out many different types of dishes which are eaten by the Chinese in everyday life. The Chinese culture also involves food such as duck which is eaten a lot by Chinese people. They also eat teaeggs, dragon balls which is a type of fruit, rice, spring rolls, tofu with minced pork and peanuts, stewed duck with leak and on special occasions, such as New Years Day, they would treat themselves in eating salted duck. They also eat dumplings which is stuffed pork, chives and spring onions. For refreshments they drink cold tea. When it is the Chinese New Year, in China it was a holiday not only for children but also for adults. When it is the Chinese New Year everybody gets to wear new clothes and eat special dishes such as salted duck. ‘A tailor had come to our house to measure everyone for new outfits’. Whilst reading ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I found that Chinese words are little characters. The Chinese language does not have an alphabet and when they write Chinese, they write with a brush using ink which is generally made out of charcoal. ‘I placed some water in the receptacle of my stone writing-table, grinding a stick of charcoal against its moistened flat surface to make fresh ink’. From my reading of ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I got to know that rickshaws are the traditional transport used by the people in China. Rickshaws were used by many people whether rich or poor and still being used at present. From my reading of ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I found that the street life in china is very busy. Motor cars, trams, rickshaws, Pedi cabs and bicycles whizzed by’. In China the roads are so busy and the vehicles are travelling at such a fast speed that the people of China sometimes fear their lives when they cross the street. This shows that there is a large population in China, and these kinds of road rages tend to take place in a country where there is a large population. ‘I kept walking but dared not cross the road’. On the streets of China there are many stalls and shops which sell different things such as crickets in cages, spring rolls, tea eggs and they also provide services such as ear wax extractor, letter-writing, hair cuts and dental care. The streets of China are not safe and especially not for a little girl such as Adeline. ‘Doesn’t she know it’s dangerous for a little girl your age to be hanging around on the street like this?’. In China, the rich, wealthy people employed maids, cooks, chauffeurs and rickshaw pullers. This all depends on their social standing. ‘Ye Ye employed seven maids, a cook, a chauffeur and a rickshaw- puller’. Out of respect, the younger brothers or sisters in a family would not call their older brothers or sisters by their first names. They would refer to them and call them names such as ‘Fourth Brother’ or ‘Little Sister’. In the Chinese language, ‘Ye Ye’ is Chinese for grandfather and ‘Nai Nai’ is Chinese for grandmother. ‘Now say goodbye to your Ye Ye’. I found that Adeline’s father wanted to send Adeline to a private school and she did where she learnt English but yet at home they still speak Chinese and kept the Chinese culture although they wore western clothes. From my reading of ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I read that poor people in China use to be so desperate for money that they used to sell their children for a better future. ‘The child had a large placard hanging around her neck on which was written ‘my name is Feng San-San. I am for sale.†. Adeline was from a rich family and yet she has to dress in clothes which poor people would wear because she was the child of a woman who had died and was now living with her stepmother. Adeline would not receive any new clothes to wear even on special occasions. Her stepmother’s children ‘were already ‘special’ from the moment of their birth’ and they received many new clothes. Paper was invented in China and the Chinese stories were collected and printed into books. The Chinese were inventive and carried out most of their traditions. Conclusion ‘Chinese Cinderella’ is not only a book about a deprived daughter called Adeline who was neglected by her father but it also gave me a flavour of Chinese life way of life. This book gave me an inside view of Chinese life during the 1940’s.