Is Psychology a Science? Theories and Research Methods

Is Psychology a Science? Theories and Research Methods Is psychology a science? Discuss with reference to scientific method and bias in psychological research. Psychology can be viewed in a variety of ways as accords to the many schools of thought that pertain to psychology. From its origins in philosophy, psychology has undergone a variety of classifications. The major scientific paradigms born from philosophical enquiry were the school of empiricism and the school of rationality. Essentially, these two approaches dictated the direction that psychology must take if it was to be regarded as scientific. One of the first schools of thought in psychology was heavily concerned with its reputation as a scientifically validity enquiry. This was to be known as the behavioural approach to psychology or the behavioural perspective. The behavioural perspective was devised by Watson who used observation to determine evidence. As a consequence of according to the governing principles of objective scientific research, Watson rejected the notion of any internal psychological mechanisms as he believed that this could not be quantifiably measured (Miell et al, 2002). All Watson was interested in was the observable external phenomena, which meant the analysis of behaviour. Consequently, Watson placed an emphasis on psychology as primarily a learning phenomenon. A fundamental distinction that occurs within behaviourism is within this role of learning. Essentially, two approaches formed called classical and operant conditioning. Research into classical conditioning was defined by physiologist Pavlov who was also concerned with scientific analysis. Pavlov observed that in relation to certain stimuli dog’s behaviour could be conditioned through association (Miell et al, 2002). Using a dogs’ biological respons e to hunger, Pavlov was ble to scientifically demonstrate that there was a basic relationship between an observable stimulus and the animals learned response. Whilst in operant conditioning, Skinner was able to ascertain that there was a pre-conceived notion in the environment that led the animal to learn through a process of trial and error, which led to observable schedules of behaviour (Skinner, 1946/1990). In both classical and operant conditioning we can see that learning is defined as a scientifically observable and so provable modification of behaviour caused by association and manipulation of the environment. However, this approach clearly lacks greater insight into the role of the mind, its cognitive processes and also suffers from being based upon animal and not human studies. The cognitive approach addresses the human capacity to categorise, generalise and conceptualise certain phenomena. Primarily concerned with the functioning of the mind itself it engaged in the scientific analysis notions such as memory, perception and categorisation (Miell et al, 2002). Unhappy at the flaws in behavioural psychology, cognitive psychologist Bruner, devised a test to see how we mentally constructed categories. Unlike the objective approach of conditioning, Bruner suggested that this was an engaging intelligent procedure that was performed by way of hypothesis testing stages of acceptance and rejection based upon trial (Bruner et al, 1956). To be valued as scientific, a test involving a variety of shapes were used in a variety of conditions. Some of these conditions shared the same number of shapes, some the same colour of shape, whilst others shared the same number of borders. No two varieties were identical. From the results of this experiment, Bruner was able to sur mise that there were tw forms of cognition that had been present. Successive scanning, which tested one hypothesis at a time and conservative scanning, which sought to eliminate classes of hypotheses (Bruner et al, 1956). Unlike the behavioural approach, we can see from the findings and classifications of these studies that an attempt is being made to understand the intelligent human mind with regards to categorisation. However, categorisation is not accepted by everyone in the field of science and its objective validity does suffer from critical enquiry. For instance, addressing the empiricism versus rationalism argument, many have argued that the categories in the study are innate rather than learned (Chomsky Fodor, 1980). This strengthens the behavioural notion that the conceptual structure of the mind is open to interpretation, and so cannot be considered an entirely scientific approach to psychology. Another school of thought within psychology is that concerned with the social aspect. This is primarily interested in the role that social influence has on our behaviour. For instance, in the findings of a test put forward by Sherif, we can see the extent to which people will use the word of others and the resource of group norms to ascertain a truth about something. This is an important concept with regards to the influence of social norms as we can observe that our psychology is influenced by our conformity to social norms (Sherif, 1936). Similarly, a test devised by Asch revealed that conformity of an individual to a norm was indicative of individual identity (Asch, 1956). Similarly, research by Baron indicated that through a lack of responsibility that an individual felt to correct and deviate from a social norm an account could be made to configure their potential to conformity (Baron et al, 1956). Essentially, these tests revealed that the role of responsibility was based upon conscriptions o social norms, attitudes, beliefs and ideologies. However, these findings suffer from being based upon social norms and cultural constructs such as identities and beliefs and so cannot be considered universal, objective principles that would accord to the main scientific schools such as physics and chemistry. Another key school of thought is psycho-analysis and developmental psychology. Stemmed from Freudian theory, psycho-analysis and developmental psychology is concerned with the development of the subject’s personality in relation to underlying motives and mainly sexually based desires and conflicts (Freud, 1917/1973). Using a notion of base primordial drives, Freud put forward various schemas of development that dictated our personality and variations in our behaviours, such as conforming to social norms. The agents at work within these drives and the accompanying stages of development were commonly referred to as defence mechanisms. Defence mechanisms were put forward as being ways in which the subject could cope with the real and disturbing psychological issues that they had to face throughout life, such as anxiety and confusion. These mechanisms consisted of such concepts as denial, projection and regression and are commonly established psychological phenomena that infor the core rationale of developmental and psycho-dynamic paradigms (Freud, 1917/1973). Although these factors are well established concepts within mainstream psychology, they still depend upon a structural paradigm to be understood. Much criticism has come in the form of humanistic approaches who have suggested that these models of development are dependent upon the objectifying of the subject and that this approach is a convenient theoretical model rather than being scientifically accurate. Another school of thought is one that actually rejects objective science at its core. The phenomenological approach to psychological study is primarily based upon perception and subjectivity. Formed as a way of countering the empirical approach to psychology that had led to the field of cognitive psychology, phenomenological psychology suggested that knowledge was learned entirely from the external environment via lessons that were encapsulated in our experience (Merleau-Ponty, 1964). Detaching from the scientific notion of tabula rasa, which had dominated the opposing stance to the rationality of science, Merleau-Ponty looked at the notion of perception and in particular how it was informed by phenomena, rather than through observation of objects taken from their natural environment. Fundamental to this approach is the notion that everything we experience accords to the phenomena in which it is presented, and so objective science cannot tell us about our psychological experience. Th is approach most ertainly rejects psychology, as well as many other enquiries, as a scientific pursuit. We can see from these schools of thought that to call psychology a pursuit of objective scientific fact is flawed. However, we can also see that there is a strong emphasis in each case placed upon validity. Even the rejection of objectively defined scientific principles shown by the phenomenological approach gives indication that validity and limitation of enquiry are paramount, which is surely the premise of scientific analysis. Bibliography Asch, S, E., (1956) Studies of independence and conformity. Psychology Monologues, 70. Baron, R, S., Vandello, J, A., Brunsman, B. (1996) The Forgotten Variable in Conformity Research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 70. Bruner, J, S., Goodnow, J, J., and Austin, G, A., (1956) A Study of Thinking New York: John Wiley and Sons. Chomsky, N., and Fodor, J, A., (1980) Statement of the Paradox, in Piatelli Palmarini, M. (ed.). Freud, S., (1917/1973) Introductory lecture on Psychoanalysis. Harmondsworth; Penguin. Merleau-Ponty (1964) The Primacy of Perception London: Routledge Miell, D., Phoenix, A. and Thomas, K. (2002) Mapping Psychology 1. Milton Keynes, Open University. Sherif, M., (1936) The Psychology of Social Norms. New Yoprk: Harper. Skinner, B, F., (1946/1990) Walden Two London: Collier Macmillan. Cell membrane: Structure and purpose Cell membrane: Structure and purpose BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY ESSAY: CELL MEMBRANE STRUCTURE AND PURPOSE Introduction Cell membrane is a biological barrier that separates the interior part of the cell (i.e. the Cytoplasm, nuclei and the other cell organelle) from the outer environment, thus permits cellular individuality and also gives shape to the cell. This membrane is a mixture of lipids, protein and carbohydrates, therefore is a complex structure. The membrane is semi-permeable and thus only allows selective ions and molecules to go through it into the cell or leave the cell. This is achieved by formation of concentration gradient across the membrane, which many biological processes depend upon. The movement of the biological molecules across the membrane is either passive, which happens without the input of cellular energy or active transport that requires the cell to use energy. The cell membrane also helps in maintaining cell potential. Proteins of the cell membrane form the essential component of the biological membrane since they function as pores, channels or transporters. Proteins thus have the capability of selective passage across the lipid bilayer. Some proteins that are embedded in the cell membrane act as molecular signals and therefore carry out communication. They act as receptors and receive signals from other cells or from the external environment and elicit a response in the cell. Some proteins function as markers which aid in identification of unknown cells. The membrane also aids in intercellular interactions. The lipid bilayer of the cell membrane is only a few nanometres thick and is not permeable to most molecules that are soluble in water, and hence acts as a barrier to regulate the transport of ions, proteins and other molecules through the membrane. Since the phospholipid bilayer is not permeable to many ions, it helps in the regulation of salt concentration and pH by regulating the pumping of ions in and out of the cell via proteins called ion channel pumps. The Fluid mosaic model is the most widely accepted biological membrane model that was proposed in the year 1972 by Singer and Nicolson. Floating in the phospholipid bilayer are molecules of protein, which is analogous to icebergs floating in a sea. The model is referred to as fluid because of the lateral motion of the bilayer macromolecules, and is referred to as mosaic because of the different molecular components [1][2][3][4]. Purpose of cell membrane Cell membrane performs the following functions: Membrane Transport of Small Molecules: Transport proteins present in the bilayer can transport polar molecules through the membrane. There are various types of membrane transport proteins: Uniport This simply moves the solute from one side to the other side of the membrane. Cotransport This system moves two solutes simultaneously across the lipid bilayer. They are two types of this transport-symport (solutes are sent in the same direction) and antiport (solutes are passed in opposite directions). These transports are come under the category of passive transport where no energy expenditure is involved. Here the solute moves from a higher concentration to a lower concentration gradient. Examples of this include channel proteins, which allow the solute to pass if they are of a specific charge or size. Carrier proteins bind to the solute and help in its movement through the bilayer.[5] There are two main categories of transport of molecules are there in cells: Active transport Passive transport Small molecules like oxygen, ethanol and carbon dioxide pass through the membrane by simple diffusion (passive transport) down a concentration gradient. Transport of macromolecules like proteins, polynucleotides and polysaccharides is done by active transport using ATP, against the concentration gradient. There are two types of active transport : 1) Exocytosis Process by which waste substances are removed from the cell by vesicle formation and expulsion [6]. 2) Endocytosis- The molecule causes the cell membrane to bulge inward, thus forming a vesicle. Phagocytosis is a type of endocytosis where the whole cell is engulfed. Pinocytosis is another type when the external fluid is engulfed. Receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs when the material to be transported binds to specific molecules in the membrane. Example: transport of insulin and cholesterol into animal cells [6]. Cell signalling across the membrane Transmembrane signalling occurs through the generation of a number of signals like cyclic nucleotides, calcium, phosphoinositides and diacylglycerol. Specific signals of neurotransmitters hormones and immunoglobulins bind to the specific receptors on the membrane, which are mostly integral membrane proteins. This is the Ca2+-phosphatidylinositol signalling pathway which plays a major role in transmembrane signalling in a large number of different cell types. This pathway leads to the activation of G-proteins. This initiates activation of phospholipase C and the subsequent formation of DAG and IP3 which triggers the generation of repetitive [Ca2+] spikes [7]. Intercellular intractions Gap junctions are structures that allow the small molecules that are up to ~ 1200 Da to be transported from one cells cytoplasm to the other. These structures contain proteins called connexins. Six connexins form a hemiconnexin and two hemiconnexins form a connexon. These connexions in the gap junction form cylindrical bridges through which substances are transported between cells [1][8]. The Fluid mosaic Model: This model is the widely accepted membrane model. The membrane has a biomolecular lipid bilayer layer. There are proteins that are inserted in it or bound to the surface. Integral membrane protein is the proteins that are embedded in the membrane they play a key role as transporters for various molecules that cannot enter through the cell membrane. The integral proteins have an extra-cellular domain and cytoplasmic domain and are separated by a non-polar region that holds it tightly in the membrane. Proteins that are loosely bound to the to the outer membrane are called the peripheral proteins. Many of the proteins that are present and almost all the glycolipids have an externally oligosaccharides chains that are exposed outside the membrane [1][9]. The membrane fluidity very much depends on the lipids concentration in the membrane. The hydrophobic chains of the fatty acids are much aligned therefore giving it a stiff structure. The transition(Tm) is the temperature at which the transition takes place from ordered to disordered state, this is the change that happens in the hydrophobic side chain. Cholesterol affects the fluidity of the membrane. It increases fluidity below Tm and decreases fluidity above Tm. Modifications to the fluid mosaic model state that the lipids and proteins in the membrane are not randomly distributed. Randomness occurs when interaction energy of these molecules are close to their thermal energies. Since interaction energies cannot be in a narrow range due to large number of interactions, there is very less chance for randomness to occur. Hence the model was found to be more mosaic than fluid [10]. The modified view of membrane model is shown in figure 7[10]. Specialised structures in the membrane: There are some special features in the membrane like lipid rafts, caveolae, tight junction, desmososmes, adherens junctions and microvilli. These are found in the recent years of research. Lipids Raft is the area in the membrane that has relatively higher concentration of cholesterol, sphingo-lipids and some proteins, than the other parts of the membrane. It plays a major role in cell signal transduction. This is under research that if we increase the amount of this and clustering them closely may increase the overall efficiency of the cell. Caveolae are special types of lipid rafts. Many of them have protein called caveolin-1 that is involved in the process. They were observed under electron microscope and were found to be flask-shaped. Proteins that are detected in this also play a role in signal transduction, example is insulin. Proteins found in this also play in role in folate receptor. This field is a growing interest for research. Tight Junctions are present on the surface of the membrane and their major function is to prevent diffusion of macromolecules between cells. They are present below the apical surface of the epithelial cells. They are made up of various proteins including occludin, various claudins and junctional adhesion molecules [1]. Desmosomes also called macula adherens are the specialised cell structures for cell to cell adhesion. Their function is to resist shearing force. They are mostly found in simple and stratified squamous epithelium [11]. Adherens junctions are the proteins that usually occur at cell- cell junction .They are made up of proteins like cadherins, ÃŽÂ ²-catenin, ÃŽÂ ±-catenin and sometimes delta catenin. Their function is to provide strong adhesion between adjacent cells. They hold the cardiac muscle cells firmly together as the heart beats and do not allow it to collapse [12]. Microvilli are very small finger like structures found on the cell membrane. They are mainly found on the epithelial cells, they increase the surface area of the cells therefore increasing the absorptive capacity of the cells. Actin filament extends from the end of these microvilli [13]. Components of cell membrane Cell membrane is a complex structure and is composed of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Different cell membranes have different compositions. Lipids Phospholipids: There are two major class of phospholipids out of which in the cell membrane the phosphoglycerides are the most commonly found ones. Phospholglycerides are esters that are made up of two fatty acids, phosphoric acid and a trifunctional alcohol. Phosphoglycerides with sphingomyelin have Sphingosine backbone instead of glycerol. They play a role in signal transduction. They are prominent in myelin sheaths [1]. Glycosphingolipids: These are sugar containing lipids that are present in the membrane. They have a backbone made of ceramides. These are amphipathic molecules consisting of a ceramide lipid anchor linked to an oligosaccharide chain of variable length and composition [1]. They are required for proper functioning of nervous system. Determining their function will help to understand neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, immune function and diseases of metabolism [14]. STEROLS The most import sterol in the membrane is cholesterol. Proteins in cell membrane Integral membrane proteins: also called intrinsic proteins t has its some part of the protein embedded in the phospholipid bilayer. Most of these proteins have hydrophobic side chains that interact with membrane phospholipids fatty acyl groups. They are called transmembrane proteins if they one or more membrane spanning domains. The transmembrane proteins of the membrane spanning domains are made up of ÃŽÂ ± helices or multiple ÃŽÂ ² strands [8]. These proteins are made up of two hydrophilic and one hydrobhobic region. The hydrophobic region traverses through the bilayer. They are asymmetric in nature. The transmembrane region of many integral membrane proteins is made up of a bundle of hydrophobic ÃŽÂ ±-helices [7]. Their major role is as transporters, and are also structural membrane-anchoring domains. They function by transporting hydrophilic molecules through the membrane. Many Integral Proteins Contain Multiple Transmembrane ÃŽÂ ± lpha Helices [8]. Examples: Insulin receptor, Glycophorin, Rhodopsin, CD36 and GPR30. Peripheral membrane proteins: They are also called as extrinsic proteins; they do not interact with hydrophobic core of the membrane phospholipid bilayer. They are bound to the membrane by interaction with the intergral proteins or are bound to the bilayer outer lipids polar heads groups. They are only present in the cytosolic region of the cell membrane. They play an important role in signal transduction. Some peripheral proteins are localized to the surface of the plasma membrane, these are called exoplasmic proteins. Peripheral enzymes are involved in the synthesis of different membrane components like lipids , cell wall oligosaccharides , or proteins. Membrane peripheral proteins are of five types: Structural proteins, channel proteins, transport or carrier proteins, enzymes and receptor proteins. Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are attached to membrane lipids and proteins as short oligosaccharide chains. Proteins attached with sugar molecules are called glycoproteins and lipids attached with sugar molecules are called glycolipids. The carbohydrates form a protective coat called glycocalyx around the cell, which helps in cell recognition. Glycoprotein Glycoproteins are formed by glycosylation of proteins. There are two types: N-glycosylation (sugar links to nitrogen atom of asparagines residue) and O-glycosylation (sugar attaches to hydroxyl group of serine or threonine rsidues). Examples of glycoproteins found in the body are mucins, collagens, transferrins, immunogloulins, etc. Glycolipids Glycolipids are lipids linked to oligosaccharide chains. Examples include glycosphingolipids which contain a hydrophobic ceramide, N-acylsphingosine and saccharides. They are generally located on the outer membrane surface. The composition of the carbohydrate chain depends on the type of the cell and development of the organism.[9] Refrences: [1] Harper [2] http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/CellMembranes.html [3] http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookCELL2.html [4] http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobooktransp.html [5] http://library.thinkquest.org/C004535/cell_membranes.html [6] http://library.thinkquest.org/C004535/molecule_transport.html [7] Chay, Lee, Fan, 1995 Appearance of Phase-locked Wenchbach-like Rhythms, Devils Staircase and Universality in Intracellular Calcium Spikes in Non-excitable Cell Models [9] The Fluid Mosaic Model of the Structure of Cell Membranes Cell membranes are viewed as two-dimensional solutions of oriented globular proteins and lipids. S. J. Singer and Garth L. Nicolson [10] http://www.cytochemistry.net/cell-biology/membrane3.htm [11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmosome [12] http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/J/Junctions.html [13] Krause J. William (July 2005). KrauseHYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=cRayoldYrcUCpg=PA37HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=cRayoldYrcUCpg=PA37s Essential Human Histology for Medical Students. Universal-Publishers. pp. 37-. ISBN 9781581124682. Retrieved 25 November 2010. [14] ] Glycosphingolipid functions: insights from engineered mouse models, doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1268 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 2003 358, 879-883 [15] [16] Endosytosis image: http://php.med.unsw.edu.au/cellbiology/index.php?title=2009_Lecture_6 excoystoisis http://cellbiology.med.unsw.edu.au/units/science/lecture0805.htm figure 1 Gap junction pic: http://www.cytochemistry.net/cell-biology/membrane3.htm cell membrane pic http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/cells/plasmamembrane/plasmamembrane.html

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: essays research papers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a remarkable musician and composer. Mozart was born in Salzburg Austria in 1756. By the age of four it was evident that he possessed tremendous musical talent and music memory. His father Leopold who was a master violinist and composer decided to enroll young Wolfgang in harpsichord lessons. At age five Mozart was composing music and by age six he had mastered the keyboard. By his early teens, he had mastered the piano, violin, and harpsichord and was writing symphonies and operas. Amadeus is a drama of the 18th century in Vienna Austria, starring Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Murray Abraham as Salieri, Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart, and Jeffery Jones as Emperor Joseph II. It is a biographical film that is as much about Salieri as it is about Mozart. Amadeus is a portrait of Salieri and the overwhelming jealousy he had for Mozart. From the time Salieri was a little boy he was consumed by music. He wanted nothing more but to be a legend in the music world, but Mozart is portrayed as a college preppy who is rude, arrogant and extremely talented. Although he is extremely talented it is also obvious he wants to be a common man in society. After attempting to commit suicide Antonio Salieri finds himself in a mental institution. He once was a court composer for Emperor Joseph II. He had written forty operas of his own and Mozart was his living idol. Unlike Mozart’s’ father, Salieri’s father did not like music and did not support his efforts. While a patient in the institution the story of Amadeus is related by Salieri to a priest. He tells him of his jealousy for Mozart and his distrust of God, because God gave Mozart all the talent and did not pass that talent to him. Salieri’s downfall occurred when Mozart was invited to the royal manner of Emperor Joseph II and simply astounded everyone. Salieri is immediately overwhelmed with jealousy. Mozart seems to lead a rebellious life but his operatic works simply overwhelmed the royalty and higher ups. At age twenty-six Mozart married Constanze against his fathers will. After his marriage, finances were extremely tight, due to the fact he was a poor businessman he eventually led a life of poverty. Due to the fact his wife Constanze was subjected to a plot of sabotage by selling Mozart’s music to Salieri. When she became pregnant the lady that stayed with them and cared for the family was also involved in an attempt to pass his music on to Salieri. Both attempts were quite risky since Mozart never made additional copies of his works. Prior to the birth of their first child Mozart’s father moved in

My New Dog Neechi :: Essays Papers

My New Dog Neechi The time I got my first new dog, Neechie, from the Clarion Humane Society was real joy. I remember making the phone call to the Humane Society in Clarion, Pennsylvania, on July 5, 1994. I had just asked the volunteer worker who answered the phone, â€Å"Do you have a little dog there that needs a loving and caring home?† She said that they had just received a little puppy a few days before. My heart leaped in my chest. I was so excited that I wanted to get there as fast as I could. My friend and I drove off in my car to the Humane Society so fast that I did not notice anyone or anything from my house to our destination. It was like we were traveling at the speed of light. We were at my house; then instantly we were there! As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the large cement building. It looked so cold and expressionless, and I barely noticed the small, old, ragged sign that hung between two poles about four feet off the ground. â€Å"Definitely not hip on the advertising, † I thought to myself. Then all sorts of thoughts came over me like a rushing river. I was so excited and so happy. I felt heroic because I was going to save a little dog, from â€Å"The Pound,† as some people would say. I don’t like that term, but I soon understood it after I entered the building. The first thing I remember was the smell. It was like a still stagnant pond, almost lifeless and algae ridden as if it could not breathe and needed a refreshing rainfall to bring life back into it again. The sounds I heard were of rattling metal and clanging noises from the dogs and cats pawing at their cages and tipping over their dishes with excitement and hopes of a new and loving home where they would feel safe and loved. Oh, how my heart ached as I looked around at wall-to-wall cages filled with wagging tails and exultant eyes. After the initial shock of it all, my thoughts went back to my little puppy. The volunteer greeted me happily and led me to a little room where the small dogs were kept. There she was I saw her right away! She sat so still and patient, her little black nose almost touching the cage bars.

Managing Human Resources in Health and Social Care

1. Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organisation that focuses on the recruitment of, management and providing direction for the people who work in the organisation.Managing human resources is an important part of an organisation to understand the process for recruiting and designing strategies for building an effective team. The report will explain the systems for monitoring and promoting the development of individuals, and to understand the approaches for managing people working in the health and social care (Armstrong, 2006). The introduced policies and practices will be explained with respect to the organisation related to employment that will aim to maintain the well being of the employee and good relationship between the staff and the management. This plays a major role in an employment setting as the staff will be realise that they have responsibility and needed that the company would benefit from. In considering the factors when planning a recruitment of individual who works in the health care setting,the HR Director has to increase staff retention in order to reduce future training, and whether the organisations need an improvement in the future and also identify if staff needs training in health and social care setting (Reward,2014).The director has to focus on recruitment cost such as external and internal recruitment, time, experiences, numbers of employees, location, organisational structure, flexibility, quality and quantity of the job, the legislation, policies of the home, retention, roles and responsibilities. The two main factors are cost and time.The HR should plan the budget, in to how much money they have to spend in terms of managing the needs of the home and how to cut down on spending.The use of strategies by manager requires time planning for recruiting staff, as it takes time to arrange interviews and training, therefore planning time is important for the org anisation as different aspects can be covered in a short period of time if planned correctly. Job Analysis includes collecting information necessary for the development of an organisation. â€Å"A job analysis is the process used to collect information about the duties, responsibilities, necessary skills, outcomes, and work environment of a particular job. It includes collecting as much data as possible to put together a quality job description, which is the frequent outcome of the job analysis. Additional outcomes include recruitment plans, position postings, advertisements, and performance development planning within an organisation’s performance management system (management concepts, 2014).Job Description entails roles, responsibilities, duties, reporting and structuring and Job Specification are skills, experience, qualification, salary, full time or part time. There are number of factors to consider before and during the recruitment selection, pre-selection, post selection and advertising.Advertising is the best way to reach the target mark for applicant for an organisation; some of the ways to advert are by newspaper, radio television, magazine and online.The purpose of selection is to identify the most suitable applicant for the job; this can be done by interview, presentations, short listing and aptitude testing, these are the most common methods that can be used to select the right candidate.In the interview, an employer would make a decision if the candidate has given more information in a standard way, and the most suitable applicant can be chosen from the short listing, interview, application form and references.Short listing allows managers to chose candidates from the pile of applicants that has been shortlisted for an interview, and should be the ones that the manager has gone through their application form and reading their CVs and covering letter to pick the best out of the rest to know if they have the qualification, skills and experience for the job that they applied for (Torrington at el, 2009).Interviews can be face to face where the manager will cross check with the individuals and decide if they have sufficient skills that will persuade the employer to make a decision of employing the individual (ibid).The references can be obtained from the individual’s previous job that the employer will use as an evidence to support the application. Also,aptitude testing can be done by assessing skills of the applicant such as numeracy skill and cognitive skills and other skills that job demands. Understanding the legislative framework which is relevant to the recruitment process will allow individuals in the St Patrick’s nursing home to empower and select leadership and co-workers that can develop effective teams that influence understanding to these policy which relate to the health and social care settings Armstrong (2006).The purpose of home country laws is to protect human rights of individuals especially in the care settings. Employers and supervisors have to understand the responsibility and must ensure that the workforce provides equal opportunity for different races, genders and religion.The Equal Act 2010 is suitable for the health and social care settings which cover Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relation Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (religion or belief) regulation 2003, Employment Equality (age) regulation 2006, Equality Act 2006, Equality Act (sexual orientation) regulation 2007.In the case where St Patrick’s nursing home have a low pay facility, equal pay act 1970 can be considered; this act is an effective legal framework for preventing discrimination against low pay. In the area where the nursing home fails to provide a good atmosphere, poor working conditions and working long hours; this comes under the law of health and safety act 1974; this act is provision for securing the safety and welfare of the person at work and to protect individual against risk to health. The area of favouritism will come under race relation act 1976, it is unlawful to treat individual less favourably than another on racial ground and also it also covers colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins. The different approaches to be used when selecting the most suitable applicant for the job are interviews, application forms, presentations, references, CV and aptitude testing.Interview can be face to face which can be cross checking with the individual and this is how manager will decide if they have sufficient information that persuades them to make a decision of employing the individual (ibid).The references can be obtained from the individual’s previous job, which the employer will use as a form of evidence to support the application.During interviews, the candidates would be observed, aptitude test would be given, and candidates would have the 6 C’s, which is the Quality Care Commission Standard for Health and Social Care Setting: Care, Compassion, Commitment, Courage, Communication, and Competency.To select the best candidate after interview, it must be one or two candidate that clearly stand out, and to select one of the them, the manager should involve the depu ty manager to discuss the outcome in the interview of the candidate and also share the results of any comments from references, and other background checks, and this process can be repeated for each candidate; after all has been discussed, then the best can be listed, also vote can be carried out between the managers to select the right candidate (Hunt, 2007), According to Tuchman’s (1965) theories, team communication is a method of development In a good team player, a good personality, self awareness, self development and motivation to carry out their responsibilities and roles perfectly and which is progressing are measure into 4 stage which are: In Forming, a leader will prepare to take their responsibilities, roles and read to build relationships and process with other member of teams and also be tolerant as the team will be meeting for the first time and they will be highly dependent on their leader for guidance and direction. The next stage will be Storming, this is where decisions do not come easily within a group as team member would want to use position to establish themselves which can bring challenging behaviour, conflict, uncertainties, disagreement from other team members and can ultimately result in some loss of focus on the goals or task. The other stage is Norming, this is where goals are clarified and accepted by the leader and teams, here decision are made and group members are strong and show commitment and unity. In the last stage which is the performing, this is where the team in St Patrick’s home could put in place as they will need to use strategic awareness, because at this stage they know clearly what to do as to improve in the area of working performance. In addition, group members’ disagreements should have resolved and achieved their goals. To met the performances and satisfaction of the organisation depends on collaborative team-working, it is a process of working together in a group in order to achieve a goal, put together their knowledge, skills and give accurate feedback and also able to manage their conflicts without affecting the job It is important to manage effective teams work in St Patrick’s Nursing home as staff members were often blamed for not communicating important messages to one another whilst on shift and also not handing over effectively at the end of their shift, and coming to work â€Å"just to do their shift and go home†.Building a team requires effort, knowledge, skills and it is an ongoing cyclical process. It is important as a group to lookout for things that could stop the members not to achieve their goals, for example, lack of clear goals can effect the team performance in the case where staff members fail to pass an important message to one another, this could cause problem in the case if an individual medication was changed during the shift and the staff was told to pass it on to the next person in charge, the ignorance to pass an important message can put an individual health at risk.The interpersonal conflict and distrust can cause lack of trust, oppressiveness and communi cation and it can also slowdown day-to-day activities. It can stand in the way of resolving conflict that might arise as the group makes decisions. This can be overcome if the team focuses on the work and improve interpersonal skills in order to complete their task effectively; the team needs to appoint a team player that can be in charge to the supervisor and be accountable for the group performance, and this team player should be able to listen to members and be open to constructive criticism. In the area of handover, with good communication and cooperation, full details of all that happens in the shift must be discussed to the next person in charge to avoid risk to health. For example, giving proper handovers on each shift. In the handover, nurse in charge should give clear information and all members of staff should be present, and mandatory training for updating new skills on a yearly bases should be practices at at all times. (Armstrong, 2009). performance that can be monitored individual in the health and social care, can be managing team rate and performance of employees by meeting and improved target or goal that can meet in the area of team management, staff performance and individual care. Effective communication is seen when team progress can be established through well decision making. The team that makes the right decision at the appropriate times will able to make the best decisions that can be of help. They must emphasise on advantages and disadvantages that will help them meet their goals.Supervision can be seen when individuals assess their own personal effectiveness and line managers are closely involved in decision-making enabling them to have a clear target.Reflective is seen when a staff is able to reflect on its own thought; it the best way to develop the area that was not met. With this practice, staff is able to gain new skill and knowledge that they can be applied in their day-to-day work.An observation is where note will be taken into what has happened to the tasks that were given, whether it is going on the right direction or according to plan, in the case where the plan has not achieved the goals, there should be a feedback to strengthen the standar d practice in place in order to enable self reflection and open dialogue between employee and management. .. Assessing individual training and development is an event that provides a learning and practice in order to prepare the workforce to motivate to jobs that will benefit the employees and employers. Training will help individuals understand their role, their responsibility in order to maintain skills and experiences in using the system, equipments and handling serviced users in the area of caring.Training and past experience can also help develop talent, capabilities and ability.To identify training and development needs, it can be information through colleagues or attitude on the responsibility on jobs role lack of ability to complete taskin the positive way the organisation can encourage employees by empowering them in the area of development to become independent, self motivating and self development. In order to promote continued development, it is the responsibility of the work place and it is an empolyee’s hard work in the organisation that can lead to increased performance and satisfaction and the ideal is to commit and creates a willingness that can build up exert effort for the organisation. An employer should create a way to encourage employee by providing learning aid and training to promote development (Armstrong and Baron, 1998). Leadership is a process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its effort towards goal setting and goal achievement† (Stogdill, 1950). Formanaging work relationship, it is important to have a good relationship with your boss and also colleagues. Staffs need to communicate effectively and socialise with one another in the workplace. Communication is defined as the passing along of information and understanding from one person to another person or group, and this requires good listening which can sometimes be difficult as people intend to do the talking and to be a good listener, there is a need to look at the person face and body language. (Sussman, 1984). Making better relationship in St Patrick’s Nursing Home, the HR manager has to organise events such as christmas parties, staff meetings where they can discuss about work issues and socialise at the end of the meeting.In most organisations, staff relationship affect the work as it is part of their life which makes them earn a living. (Lectures in Class). In health and social care setting, staff care about their clients and they still have to work home searching about illness or new information which they have come across or they phone their colleagues doing the same job communicating with them whether they knew this new information or they have heard about it. If they find anything relating to this topic it would be passed on during handovers, or study days or staff meetings (Lectures in Class). Travers. W., A. (1998), states that group meetings benefit employees as they would have better understanding of organisation and have greater influence on the decisions.A form of job enrichment and enlargement would improve morale and errors can be prevented My own development at my workplace has been influenced by management by actively participating in areas that will boost my confidence and skills at work: Effective communication is management-arranged training for all the staff based on improving communication skills among staff and clients under our care. Also, documentation was made effective as a means to remind staff of their responsibilities and to create awareness of the need to communicate effectively. Reflective account empowered me to reflect on how effective my job role means and how to meet up with the work expectations. It allowed to reflect on my strengths and areas of weaknesses that needs support from the management. Medication competency: This is the gained knowledge during my studies and improved greatly working with others and management supports through training on medication competency. It includes how to minimise errors and undertake quarterly medication audit to make sure staff is working according to NMC and company guidelines. Supervision, this has been a great area for me to help and keep me on track with the company policies and procedures, awareness of my strength and weaknesses, to express my concerns regarding the job and most especially to discuss my personal development plans. These sessions had really helped me to improve my skills, Knowledge and awareness of changes for future development. In mydevelopment Plan, my goal is to excel from being a staff nurse to achieve a higher qualification in the future. With the aid of the management during supervision, I raised my concern and the management encouraged me to progress ahead. I also had the opportunity to work flexible hours and source some information from the work place. Also he has to plan for recruiting and what are the reason for the expansion of St Patrick’s Nursing home and also to put in place plans for retirement, death, sickness holiday, termination, dismissal, materity. References Armstrong M and Baron A 1998, Armstrong’s Handbook of Reward Management practice improving performance through reward forth edition CIPDWelcome to smallbusiness.chron.com (online) Assessed 15/03/2014]. Welcome to leaders recruitment.co.uk (online) http://www.leadersinrecruitment.co.uk/ (Assessed, 14/03/2014). Oxford University Press 2014; Overview: behavioural observation scale Torrington .D. Hall .L. Taylor .S. Atkinson .c. (2009) welcome to hse.gov.uk (online) Available from http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm {Assessed, 26/5/2014} Lewis, C., 1985. Employee Selection. London: Hutchison, pp157 Beard, J., and Clayton, J., 2007. Human Resources Management 5th Edition. A Contemporary Approach. Published in Great Britain 1994. Blundel, R., and Ippolito. , 2008. Effective organisation Communication. Third Edition. Perspective, Principles and Practice. Published by Prentice Hall in 1996 in Great Britain. Cummins, T, G., and Worley, C, G., 2003. Organisation Development and Change. South Western Mason, Ohio. Sussman, L., and Deep, D., S COMEX: The communication Experience in Human Relations, Southwestern Publishing Co., Cincinnati, 1984 pp.3-4. Travers, A. W., 1998. Supervision Techniques and New Dimensions 2nd Edition. Printed in the United States of America. Kolb, D, A., 1984. Experiential Learning. Experience as the source of learning and Development. Englewood Cliff N.J: Prentice Hall. Welcome manager menthelp.org (online) Available http:/www.managermenthelp.org/staffing/hiring.htm#hire [Access,29/5/2014]

Is the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Doomed to Fail? Essay

The search for extraterrestrial life is not doomed to fail. Ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Babylonians, Indians, and Sumerians had all believed in the existence of extraterrestrial life, even if they were principally focused on angels and demons in their belief. The Jewish Talmud stated that there are at least eighteen thousand other worlds. Hindu belief also revolved around multiple worlds in contact with each other. The Muslims’ Qur’an says, â€Å"All praise belongs to God, Lord of all the worlds† besides mentioning angels and jinns (â€Å"Extraterrestrial Life†). Thus scientists have enough support from historical and religious traditions of humanity to keep on searching for extraterrestrial life. This search may go on until humanity takes a quantum leap, or hits the point of a breakthrough in its endeavor. After all, most of the scientific discoveries and leaps did not occur without persistent efforts and firm faith in the fact that we will eventually make it through. Besides, scientists are some of the most persistent and confident humans on earth today, who know that they will make it through. James F. Kasting wrote, â€Å"Habitable planets are likely to exist around stars not too different from the Sun if current theories about terrestrial climate evolution are correct. Some of these planets may have evolved life, and some of the inhabited planets may have evolved O2-rich atmospheres† (291). We are assuming that other species on other planets in our universe may be living in conditions very similar to ours. In other words, in human understanding extraterrestrial life must involve the use of water, sunlight, air, etc. However, if we believe in angels and jinns of the historical and religious traditions, we are instinctively aware that these species do not rely on the kinds of terrestrial conditions that we rely on. Hence, we might have to change our focus IS THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE DOOMED TO FAIL? Page # 2 on terrestrial conditions in order to find proof of extraterrestrial life. We might discover, for example, that different uses of lenses to bend light or to employ it in a different way – would allow us to see angels. Our world has talked enough about Unidentified Flying Objects or UFO’s. Despite the photographs and eye witnesses of UFO’s, most people in the scientific community refuse to believe in UFO’s and also urge the public toward disbelief, because the majority of scientists searching for extraterrestrial life have not thus far had the opportunity to capture and dissect aliens coming out of the UFO’s. And yet, there is talk about alien capture from Area 51 in California. There are countless reports, in fact, about the existence of UFO’s. If all scientists were to believe in the phenomena of UFO’s at this point, one of the requirements to substantiate their belief would be a certain level of control over the extraterrestrial life. Seeing that scientists have not thus far managed to exercise control over UFO’s and aliens, the way they have control over their spaceships, most of them claim that UFO’s and aliens may be a falsehood. Once again, this is only because aliens and UFO’s have not subjected themselves to human scrutiny the way human beings give in to human biology experiments. NASA’s Chief Historian, Steven J. Dick has written that one of the most important tasks of NASA undertaken since the beginning of the Space Age has been the search for life beyond earth. As a matter of fact, in the year 1962 the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences had declared that NASA’s nascent space biology efforts had the search for extraterrestrial life as the prime goal. Moreover, writes Dick, NASA believes that â€Å"Without organic molecules, the building blocks of life, life cannot exist. † To put it another way, the most IS THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE DOOMED TO FAIL? Page # 3 important scientific venture to search for extraterrestrial life does not even consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life being anything dissimilar to life on earth. In scientists’ view, extraterrestrial life must be based on conditions that are very similar to those for life on earth. As an example of its scientific victory in the search for extraterrestrial life, NASA believes that it has found evidence of water flowing on Mars. Alex Stone writes that the presence of water greatly increases the likelihood that living organisms once thrived on the planet, and perhaps still inhabit Mars today. And so, Stone states: Pictures taken by the camera on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor suggest that rivulets of liquid water were flowing on the Red Planet within the past few years and may still be flowing today, welling up from beneath the Martian surface and streaming down gullies along the sloping walls of impact craters. †¦. But is the liquid flowing down these gullies really water? Probably, say experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but more evidence is needed to seal the case. â€Å"You can never be certain from orbit,† says Ken Edgett, a member of the research team that made the discovery. â€Å"But this is the best evidence yet of liquid water being present on Mars right now† (20). If we are only searching for extraterrestrial life that resembles what we have on earth, it may or may not take a long time to find extraterrestrial life. The search would not be futile still, for we will gather much evidence about other aspects of our universe in the process. All the same, IS THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE DOOMED TO FAIL? Page # 4 according to historical and religious traditions of humanity, angels are made of light and jinns are made of fire. It would perhaps be best for scientists to try finding life that is based on light and fire to boot. In other words, scientists have to consider the possibility that extraterrestrial life may be based on an infinite number of elements. Water, air, and sunlight may not be necessary to support other forms of life. Seeing that we have not by now discovered everything we possibly can about our universe, we also must assume that we have failed to consider the possibilities of other elements making up extraterrestrial life. Hence, scientists must be more open to exploration than before, taking into account both the historical and religious traditions of extraterrestrial life, in order for their knowledge base to be complete. After all, they still debate about the origins of life on earth – about God versus Darwin. In both of these belief systems, our understanding of life is incomplete. Neither God nor evolution has explained to human minds everything to know about the universe. Therefore, assumptions are necessary. Moreover, it is crucial for scientists to open themselves up to alternate theories of life. They may decide to start by trying to see angels of light and jinns of fire simply because these beings are referred to in the historical and religious traditions of humanity. Eventually, we are bound to find extraterrestrial life, even if it means that our earth may be destroyed by an asteroid before scientists can capture on a massive scale images of angels and jinns. In that case, we all might go through the experiences of those who have been near death, that is, there would appear an angel of light to each one of us and tell us what we needed to know. IS THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE DOOMED TO FAIL? Page # 5 Works Cited 1. Dick, Steven J. â€Å"The Search for Life. † NASA (2005, June 26). Retrieved from http://www. nasa. gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/index. html. (28 February 2007). 2. â€Å"Extraterrestrial Life. † Wikipedia (2007). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life. (28 February 2007). 3. Kasting, James F. â€Å"Habitable Zones Around Low Mass Stars and The Search for Extraterrestrial Life. † Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, Volume 27, Numbers 1-3 (1997, June), pp. 291-307. 4. Stone, Alex. â€Å"Like Water For Mars. † Discover (2007, February), pp. 20.

An editorial about the writings of Ida B. Wells Essay

Ida B. Wells wrote the three pamphlets â€Å"Southern Horrors† (1892), â€Å"A Red Record† (1895), and â€Å"Mob Rule in New Orleans† (1900) as an attempt to publicize the atrocities being committed against African Americans in the New South. These writings are important today, not because lynching of African Americans occurs with any regularity, but because they are accounts contemporary with the events they detail and because the pamphlets illustrate the dangers of: mob rule, justifying immoral acts by claiming to have a moral purpose, and the tendency of people everywhere to strike out against anything new or different with violence. This message is even more relevant today when the current president is so willing to suspend the rights of others so that the people of America can be â€Å"safe†. The fear of one group of people who mistrust another group should never result in suspension of rights of another. Just like the eroding of the rights of African Americans during the time when Wells was writing, the suspension of rights of people who look as if they are or might be terrorists in the current world is wrong and should not be tolerated. Ida B. Wells wrote with two purposes in mind: one was educational, the other was to publicize the atrocities committed in the New South with the hope of eliciting reaction from people who would then help bring an end to â€Å"Lynch Law† and other injustices committed against African Americans. Wells wanted to educate those people who were unfamiliar with the New South regarding the violence and double standards far to common in the South. Wells wrote to tell the facts about lynchings in the South so that people would no longer believe lynching was a response to an egregious crime. â€Å"She sought to recast lynching in the public eye so that it was not perceived as an understandable though unpleasant response to heinous acts, but as itself a crime against American values† (Wells 27). According to Wells the perception that all white women were pure and uninterested in have African Americans as husbands is untrue, â€Å"there are many white women in the Sought who would marry colored men if such an act would not place them at once beyond the pale of society and within the clutches of the law† (Wells 53). At the same time laws forbade African American men and white women from â€Å"commingling,† Wells points out â€Å"they leave the white man free to seduce all the colored girls he can† (Wells 53). Although Wells writing centers on lynching because of alleged rape she makes an important point when she cautions that â€Å"a concession of the right to lynch a man for any crime, . . . concedes the right to lynch any person for any crime, . . . † (Wells 61). Wells also wanted to call citizens of the North, government officials and people in Great Britain to act to end lynch law. She urged them â€Å"employ boycott, emigration and the press . . . to stamp out lynch law . . . † (Wells 72). Ida B. Wells wrote to three different audiences. To those people living in the New South Wells wrote not so much about horrific events that occurred, but about the justifications they used to excuse their behavior. As mentioned above, she wrote of the double standard between the races and of the potential danger of expanding lynching to suit the whims and fancies of any mob at any time. To those Americans living outside the South Wells wrote to shock them with the descriptions of the horrid events, to educate them about how African Americans were still being treated despite the Civil War and despite the Constitutional Amendments guaranteeing rights to African Americans. Wells writes to the people of the North to show them that all is not well in the South and that the advances made in the past were being pushed aside. In her first pamphlet, â€Å"Southern Horrors,† Wells wrote about the existing injustices and ongoing terrorist acts performed against African Americans. To the rest of the world, particularly Great Britain, Wells wrote â€Å"A Red Record† she â€Å"respectfully submitted [this pamphlet] to the Nineteenth Century civilization in ‘the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave† (Wells title page). This pamphlet recounts the numbers and details of more than four hundred lynchings occurring in the United States against African Americans. Wells hoped to appeal to the sensibilities of British people who were potential investors in the South so they would invest elsewhere â€Å"the appeal to the white man’s pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience. † To those in power in the United States Wells wrote â€Å"Mob Rule in New Orleans† to those in power in hopes of their bringing to an end to authorities who allow, and at times encourage mobs to act. Although it is difficult to quantify what the actual affects of Wells’ writing were, it is clear that during the next century, the groups she wrote for did make great strides toward establishing equality and eliminating injustices based on race. It is not unreasonable to suggest that Wells’ writing had a hand in starting this process. Wells’ writings are certainly among the earliest of Post-reconstruction writing to reintroduce the difficulties of African American lives, but they were not the last. It is likely that her writing influenced and encouraged others to continue the work Wells began. As I read through the accounts of these horrible, disgusting lynchings I felt saddened and depressed. Clearly there were many injustices committed and many were people hurt, imprisoned, or killed. Some of these are particularly gruesome such as Chapter III of A Red Record, â€Å"Lynching Imbeciles: An Arkansas Butchery† where Henry Smith was tortured and burned at the stake (Wells 88-98). According to figures gathered by the NAACP (an organization with Wells as one of the founding members) there were 3,318 African Americans killed by lynching between 1892 and 1931. Certainly one cannot dismiss or excuse these egregious acts in any fashion. However I was not particularly surprised or shocked by these events. Perhaps it is because I live in a world where the Jewish Holocaust of World War II is well known, a world where a country, Cambodia, went mad, and slaughtered between 1. 5 and 3 million of 7 million its own citizens. Perhaps it is because I live in a world where the recent genocides in Rwanda and Somalia were largely unknown until made into a wide screen blockbuster movie. Perhaps it is because of the 9/11 attacks (coincidentally the number killed on 9/11 and the number of dead American soldiers in Iraq are remarkably similar to the 3300+ listed in the NAACP’s figures). For whatever reason, I find myself somewhat inured against these accounts. I am not sure whether this reveals more about me or about the society I live in, but I cannot help but wonder if Ida B. Wells were writing today would there be any impact at all.Perhaps not: more’s the pity. Works Cited Wells, Ida B. Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1900. Ed. with intro Jacqueline Jones Royster. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997.

Critical Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Critical Analysis - Coursework Example It is for this reason that the new mantra of sustainable event management has begun to become almost inseparable with the planning of most large scale events that intend to leave a positive legacy. INTRODUCTION The holding of special events whether they are sports events, film festivals, music festivals or conferences have become an activity that is integral to modern western culture. As a result events management has become a recognizable discipline of its own. This discipline attempts to address the various planning processes and activities that revolve around the staging of a successful event. As stated earlier any event that is held is likely to have a substantial impact on the community in which it occurs and its ecosystem. This can include: physical infrastructure, environmental impacts, economic impacts, tourism destination impacts, image enhancement, social impacts, cultural impacts, political impacts and urban renewal (The Higher Education Academy, 2007). The impact can be b oth positive and negative and it is entirely possible that one aspect such as physical infrastructure may be positively impacted while another such as the environmental impact may be negative. ... For the purposes of this paper the primary focus will remain on the various environmental impacts of staging an event. The environmental impact is an aspect of events that has traditionally been ignored by organizers along with other potentially negative impacts (The Higher Education Academy, 2007). ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS The environmental impact of an event is not something that becomes immediately obvious to the event manager. In fact, the nature and extent of environmental impact may not even be measurable. Generally the environmental impacts of an event can be grouped into positive and negative impacts. Positive impacts may include the raising of environmental awareness, development of waste land and the long-term conservation of an area. Negative impacts can include short-term and long-term damage to the location, pollution created by noise or by littering, congestion caused by traffic and the increase in energy usage caused by the event. It can be said that the majority of the e nvironmental impact is not because of the event itself but rather indirect yet natural occurrences that can be associated with the event. However, any event will undeniably have an environmental impact by virtue of the fact that attendance of the event will have an impact on the environment. For example, reaching the event itself causes the burning of fuel which in turn leads to the production of greenhouse gases that are said to cause climate change (Sawford, 2010). The most obvious of environmental impacts are those which can be measured or can be considered somewhat tangible. As mentioned above the burning of fuel and emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide can be considered as