Modern motivation theory and Buddhist teaching for Motivation Essay

One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to perform to the best of their abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three stages:1. A felt need or drive 2. A stimulus in which nodes have to be aroused 3. When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals. Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan. Motivation Theories According to subject of Management have some kind of motivation theories. These theories were introduced by most of scholars in the world. However when considers about history can motivation theories categorize as ï‚ · Classical Motivation Theories ï‚ · Modern Motivation Theories Under the classic motivation theories can introduce following three theories. Classical Motivation Theories 1. The Hierarchy Of Needs Theory Abraham Maslow is well renowned for proposing the Hierarchy of Needs Theory in 1943. This theory is a classical depiction of human motivation. This theory is based on the assumption that there is a hierarchy of five needs within each individual. The urgency of these needs varies. 1. Physiological needs- These are the basic needs of air, water, food, clothing and shelter. In other words, physiological needs are the needs for basic amenities of life. 2. Safety needs- Safety needs include physical, environmental and emotional safety and protection. For instance- Job security, financial security, protection from animals, family security, health security, etc. 3. Social needs- Social needs include the need for love, affection, care, belongings, and friendship. 4. Esteem needs- Esteem needs are of two types: internal esteem needs (self- respect, confidence, competence, achievement and freedom) and external esteem needs (recognition, power, status, attention and admiration). 5. Self-actualization need- This includes the urge to become what you are capable of becoming / what you have the potential to become. It includes the need for growth and selfcontentment. It also includes a desire for gaining more knowledge, social- service, creativity and being aesthetic. The self- actualization needs are never fully suitable. As an individual grows psychologically, opportunities keep cropping up to continue growing. According to Maslow, individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs. As each of these needs is significantly satisfied, it drives and forces the next need to emerge.. 2. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioral scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the motivator-hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. Herzberg, the opposite of â€Å"Satisfaction† is â€Å"No satisfaction† and the opposite of â€Å"Dissatisfaction† is â€Å"No Dissatisfaction†. Herzbergss view of satisfaction and dissatisfaction Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation at the workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for the long-term. But if these factors are absent / if these factors are non-existent at the workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. Hygiene factors include: 1. Pay – The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and competitive with those in the same industry in the same domain. 2. Company Policies and administrative policies – The company policies should not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc. 3. Fringe benefits – The employees should be offered health care plans (mediclaim), benefits for the family members, employee help programs, etc. 4. Physical Working conditions – The working conditions should be safe, clean and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and well-maintained. 5. Status – The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and retained. 6. Interpersonal relations – The relationship of the employees with his peers, superiors and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation element present. 7. Job Security – The organization must provide job security to the employees. Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an additional benefit. Motivating factors include: ï‚ · Recognition – The employees should be praised and recognized for their accomplishments by the managers. ï‚ · Sense of achievement – The employees must have a sense of achievement. This depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job. ï‚ · Growth and promotional opportunities – There must be growth and advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well. ï‚ · Responsibility – The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work. The managers should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control but retain accountability. ï‚ · The meaningfulness of the work – The work itself should be meaningful, interesting and challenging for the employee to perform and to get motivated. 3. Theory X and Theory Y In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y suggests two aspects of human behavior at work, or in other words, two different views of individuals (employees): one of which is negative, called as Theory X and the other is positive, so called as Theory Y. According to McGregor, the perception of managers of the nature of individuals is based on various assumptions. Assumptions of Theory X ï‚ · An average employee intrinsically does not like work and tries to escape it whenever possible. ï‚ · Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or warned with a punishment so as to achieve organizational goals. A close supervision is required on the part of managers. The managers adopt a more dictatorial style. ï‚ · Many employees rank job security on top, and they have little or no aspiration/ ambition. ï‚ · Employees generally dislike responsibilities. ï‚ · Employees resist change. ï‚ · An average employee needs formal direction. Assumptions of Theory Y ï‚ · Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal. They exercise their physical and mental efforts in an inherent manner in their jobs. ï‚ · Employees may not require only threat, external control and coercion to work, but they can use self-direction and self-control if they are dedicated and sincere to achieve the organizational objectives. ï‚ · If the job is rewarding and satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty and commitment to the organization. ï‚ · An average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility. In fact, he can even learn to obtain responsibility. ï‚ · The employees have skills and capabilities. Their logical capabilities should be fully utilized. In other words, the creativity, resourcefulness and innovative potentiality of the employees can be utilized to solve organizational problems. Thus, we can say that Theory X presents a pessimistic view of employees’ nature and behavior at work, while Theory Y presents an optimistic view of the employees’ nature and behavior at work. Modern Motivation Theories Under the modern motivation theories can illustrate following six theories. 1. ERG Theory To bring Maslow’s need hierarchy theory of motivation in synchronization with empirical research, Clayton Alderfer redefined it in his own terms. His rework is called as the ERG theory of motivation. He recategorized Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into three simpler and broader classes of nodes: ï‚ · Existence needs- These include the need for basic material necessities. In short, it includes an individual’s physiological and physical safety needs. ï‚ · Relatedness needs- These include the aspiration individual’s have for maintaining significant interpersonal relationships (be it with family, peers or superiors), getting public fame and recognition. Maslow’s social needs and external component of esteem needs fall under this class of need. ï‚ · Growth needs- These include need for self-development and personal growth and advancement. Maslow’s self-actualization needs and intrinsic component of esteem needs fall under this category of need. Managers must understand that an employee has various needs that must be satisfied at the same time. According to the ERG theory, if the manager concentrates solely on one need at a time, this will not effectively motivate the employee. Also, the frustration- regression aspect of ERG Theory has an added effect on workplace motivation. For instance- if an employee is not provided with growth and advancement opportunities in an organization, he might revert to the relatedness need such as socializing needs and to meet those socializing needs, if the environment or circumstances do not permit, he might revert to the need for money to fulfill those socializing needs. The sooner the manager realizes and discovers this, the most immediate steps they will take to fulfill those needs which are frustrated until such time that the employee can again pursue growth. 2. McClelland’s Theory of Needs David McClelland and his associates proposed McClelland’s theory of Needs / Achievement Motivation Theory. This theory states that human behavior is affected by three needs – Need for Power, Achievement and Affiliation. Need for achievement is the urge to excel, to accomplish in relation to a set of standards, to struggle to achieve success. Need for power is the desire to influence other individual’s behavior as per your wish. In other words, it is the desire to have control over others and to be influential. Need for affiliation is a need for open and sociable interpersonal relationships. In other words, it is a desire for a relationship based on co-operation and mutual understanding. The individuals with high achievement needs are highly motivated by competing and challenging work. They look for promotional opportunities in the job. They have a strong urge for feedback on their achievement. Such individuals try to get satisfaction in performing things better. High achievement is directly related to high performance. Individuals who are better and above average performers are highly motivated. They assume responsibility for solving the problems at work. McClelland called such individuals as gamblers as they set challenging targets for themselves and they take the deliberate risk to achieve those set targets. Such individuals look for innovative ways of performing the job. They perceive achievement of goals as a reward, and value it more than a financial reward. The individuals who are motivated by power have a strong urge to be influential and controlling. They want that their views and ideas should dominate and thus, they want to lead. Such individuals are motivated by the need for reputation and self-esteem. Individuals with greater power and authority will perform better than those possessing less power. Generally, managers with high need for power turn out to be more efficient and successful managers. They are more determined and loyal to the organization they work for. Need for power should not always be taken negatively. It can be viewed as the need to have a positive effect on the organization and to support the organization in achieving its goals. The individuals who are motivated by affiliation have an urge for a friendly and supportive environment. Such individuals are effective performers in a team. These people want to be liked by others. The manager’s ability to make decisions is hampered if they have a high affiliation need as they prefer to be accepted and liked by others, and this weakens their objectivity. Individuals having high affiliation needs prefer working in an environment providing greater personal interaction. Such people have a need to be on the good books of all. They generally cannot be good leaders. 3. Goal Setting Theory In 1960’s, Edwin Locke put forward the Goal-setting theory of motivation. This theory states that goal setting is essentially linked to task performance. It states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance. In simple words, goals indicate and give direction to an employee about what needs to be done and how much efforts are required to be put in. The important features of goal-setting theory are as follows: ï‚ · The willingness to work towards attainment of goals is the main source of job motivation. Clear, particular and difficult goals are greater motivating factors than easy, general and vague goals. ï‚ · Specific and clear goals lead to greater output and better performance. Unambiguous, measurable and clear goals accompanied by a deadline for completion avoids misunderstanding. ï‚ · Goals should be realistic and challenging. This gives an individual a feeling of pride and triumph when he attains them, and sets him up for attainment of the next goal. The more challenging the goal, the greater is the reward generally and the more is the passion for achieving it. ï‚ · Better and appropriate feedback of results directs the employee behavior and contributes to higher performance than the absence of feedback. Feedback is a means of gaining reputation, making clarifications and regulating goal difficulties. It helps employees to work with more involvement and leads to greater job satisfaction. ï‚ · The employee’s participation in goal is not always desirable. ï‚ · Participation of setting goal, however, makes the goal more acceptable and leads to more involvement. ï‚ · Goal setting theory has certain eventualities such as: Self-efficiency- Self-efficiency is the individual’s self-confidence and faith that he has potential of performing the task. The higher the level of self-efficiency, greater will be the efforts put in by the individual when they face challenging tasks. While, lower the level of self-efficiency, less will be the efforts put in by the individual or he might even quit while meeting challenges. Goal commitment- Goal setting theory assumes that the individual is committed to the goal and will not leave the goal. The goal commitment is dependent on the following factors: 1. Goals are made openly, known and broadcasted. 2. Goals should be set-self by individual rather than designated. 3. Individual’s set goals should be consistent with the organizational goals and vision. 4. Reinforcement Theory Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his associates. It states that an individual’s behavior is a function of its consequences. It is based on â€Å"law of effect†, i.e, individual’s behavior with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated. Reinforcement theory of motivation overlooks the internal state of individuality, i.e., the inner feelings and drives of individuals are ignored by Skinner. This theory focuses totally on what happens to an individual when he takes some action. Thus, according to Skinner, the external environment of the organization must be designed effectively and positively so as to motivate the employee. This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for individual’s behavior. However, it does not focus on the causes of individual’s behavior. The managers use the following methods for controlling the behavior of the employees: ï‚ · Positive Reinforcement- This implies giving a positive response when an individual shows the positive and required behavior. For example – Immediately praising an employee for coming early for the job. This will increase the probability of outstanding behavior occurring again. The reward is a positive reinforce, but not necessarily. If and only if the employees’ behavior improves, the reward can said to be a positive reinforcer. Positive reinforcement stimulates occurrence of a behavior. It must be noted that more spontaneous is the giving of reward, the greater reinforcement value it has. ï‚ · Negative Reinforcement- This implies rewarding an employee by removing negative / undesirable consequences. Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used for increasing desirable / required behavior. ï‚ · Punishment- It implies removing positive consequences so as to lower the probability of repeating the undesirable behavior in future. In other words, punishment means applying undesirable consequence for showing undesirable behaviors. For instance – Suspending an employee for breaking the organizational rules. Punishment can be equalized by positive reinforcement from an alternative source. ï‚ · Extinction- It implies absence of reinforcements. In other words, extinction implies lowering the probability of undesired behavior by removing the reward for that kind of behavior. For instance – if an employee no longer receives praise and admiration for his good work, he may feel that his behavior is generating no fruitful consequence. Extinction may unintentionally lower desirable behavior. 5. Equity Theory of Motivation The core of the equity theory is the principle of balance or equity. As per this motivation theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated with his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management. Higher is an individual’s perception of fairness, greater is the motivation level and vice versa. While evaluating fairness, employee compares the job input (in terms of contribution) to outcome (in terms of compensation) and also compares the same with that of other peer of equal cadre/category. D/I ratio (output-input ratio) is used to make such a comparison. An employee might compare himself with his peer within the present job in the current organization or with his friend/peer working in some other organization or with the past jobs held by him with others. An employee’s choice of the referent will be influenced by the appeal of the referent and the employee’s knowledge about the referent. Moderating Variables: The gender, salary, education and the experience level are moderating variables. Individuals with greater and higher education are more informed. Thus, they are likely to compare themselves with the outsiders. Males and females prefer same sex comparison. It has been observed that females are paid typically less than males in comparable jobs and have less salary expectations than males for the same work. Thus, a woman employee that uses another women employee as a referent tends to lead to a lower comparative standard. Employees with greater experience know their organization very well and compare themselves with their own colleagues, while employees with less experience rely on their personal experiences and knowledge for making comparisons. Choices: The employees who perceive inequity and are under negative tension can make the following choices: ï‚ · Change in input (e.g. Don’t overexert) ï‚ · Change their outcome (Produce quantity output and increasing earning by sacrificing quality when piece rate incentive system exist) ï‚ · Choose a different referent ï‚ · Quit the job ï‚ · Change self perception (For instance – I know that I’ve performed better and harder than everyone else.) ï‚ · Change perception of others (For instance – Jack’s job is not as desirable as I earlier thought it was.) 6. Expectancy Theory of Motivation The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom of Yale School of Management in 1964. Vroom stresses and focuses on outcomes, and not on needs unlike Maslow and Herzberg. The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular manner is dependent on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be followed by a definite outcome and on the appeal of the outcome to the individual. The Expectancy theory states that employee motivation is an outcome of how much an individual wants a reward (Valence), the assessment that the likelihood that the effort will lead to expected performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will lead to reward (Instrumentality). In short, Valence is the significance associated with an individual about the expected outcome. It is an expected and not the actual satisfaction that an employee expects to receive after achieving the goals. Expectancy is the faith that best efforts will result in better performance. Expectancy is influenced by factors such as possession of appropriate skills for performing the job, availability of right resources, availability of crucial information and getting the required support for completing the job. Instrumentality is the faith that if you perform well, then a valid outcome will be there. Instrumentality is affected by factors such as believe in the people who decide who receives what outcome, the simplicity of the process deciding who gets what outcome, and clarity of the relationship between performance and outcomes. Thus, the expectancy theory concentrates on the following three relationships: ï‚ · Effort-performance relationship: What is the likelihood that the individual’s effort to be recognized in his performance appraisal? ï‚ · Performance-reward relationship: It talks about the extent to which the employee believes that getting a good performance appraisal leads to organizational rewards. ï‚ · Rewards-personal goals relationship: It is all about the attractiveness or appeal of the potential reward to the individual. Vroom was of view that employees consciously decide whether to perform or not on the job. This decision solely depended on the employee’s motivation level which in turn depends on three factors of expectancy, valence and instrumentality. Buddhist Teaching For Motivation â€Å" ïÆ' £hi passikï‚ ¯Ã¢â‚¬  = â€Å"come and see† When consider about Buddhist teachings can identify good management systems focusing on various subject. According to the Buddhist teaching for motivation can not be categorized or can not be compared with modern or classic motivation theories. However as a teacher Buddha mentioned about his damma as â€Å" ïÆ' £hi passikï‚ ¯Ã¢â‚¬ . That mean â€Å"come and see†. According to that Buddha mentioned mainly self motivation. In most of the occasions the Buddha explains about self motivation is only way to get rid of that Samsara. As a result of that the teaching of Buddha mostly depends on self motivation. When examining about Tipitaka, gives lots of Damma preached about motivation. In the Kalama Sutta mentioned about self motivation as follows Kalamas, as you yourselves say, do not follow the leader, do not go by the examination of reasons, do not stick to wrong views, don’t go by this has to be so, don’t go by the words of your teacher, the recluse. Kalamas, you, yourselves should know: these thoughts are demerit, these thoughts are faulty, these thoughts are blamed by the wise, these thoughts undertaken and accomplished are not for welfare, they conduce to unpleasantness: Kalamas, then you should dispel them. If it was said, it was said on account of this. Come Kalamas, do not go on filling your mind persistently with what you hear, do not go by tradition, do not guess, do not go on the grounds of authority, do not turn to logical thinking, do not follow the leader, do not go by the examination of reasons, do not stick to wrong views, don’t go by this has to be so, don’t go by the words of your teacher, the recluse. Kalamas, you, yourselves should know: these thoughts are meritorious, these thoughts are not faulty, these thoughts are not blamed by the wise, these thoughts undertaken and accomplished are for welfare, they conduce to please: Kalamas, then you should grow them. (Anguttara Nikaya. Thika niapata. 3.2.2.5) In MahÄ gopÄ laka sutta mentioned these eleven factors, it is possible that the bhikkhu could come to growth and increase in this Teaching and Dispensation Bhikkhus, 1. How does the bhikkhu know matter. The bhikkhu knows as it really is, that all matter, is a matter of the four great elements and the matter that is held as mine. Thus, the bhikkhu knows matter. 1. How is the bhikkhu clever in marks? The bhikkhu knows as it really is, the fool by his actions, and the wise one of his actions. Thus the bhikkhu is clever in marks. 3. How does the bhikkhu dispel nits. Here the bhikkhu does not endure sensual thoughts chases them out, and makes them not rise again. Does not endure angry thoughts, chases them out, and makes them not rise again. Does not endure hurting thoughts, chases them out, and makes them not rise again. Does not endure arisen demerit chases it out, and makes it not rise again. Thus the bhikkhu dispels nits. 4. How does the bhikkhu dress the wounds? Seeing a form with the eye does not take the sign and details. To one abiding uncontrolled in the faculty of the eye, evil demerit of covetousness and displeasure may trickle down, to its control he feels, protects the faculty of the eye. Hearing a sound with the ear-Cognizing a smell with the nose-Coignizing a taste with the tongue, -Cognizing a touch with the body, Cognizing an idea with the mind, does not take the sign or the details. To one abiding uncontrolled in the faculty of the mind, evil demerit, of covetousness. and displeasure may trickle down. To its control he feels, protects the faculty of the mind. Thus the bhikkhu dress wounds. 5. Bhikkhus, how does the bhikkhu make smoke? Here the bhikkhu, explains the Teaching to others as he has learned and experienced, Thus the bhikkhu makes smoke. 6. Bhikkhus, how does the bhikkhu know the ford: The bhikkhu approaches learned bearers of the Teaching and Discipline, who know the headings, from time to time, to question and cross question, to know the meanings. So that those venerable ones would explain the hidden meanings and would dispel doubts. Thus the bhikkhu knows the ford. 7. Bhikkhus, how does the bhikkhu experience joy? In the Teaching and Discipline declared by the Thus Gone One the bhikkhu experiences meanings, in the Teaching and the resulting joy from it. Thus the bhikkhu experiences joy. 8. How does the bhikkhu know the paths. Here the bhikkhu knows the noble eightfold path as it really is. Thus the bhikkhu knows the path. 9. How is the bhikkhu clever in finding pastures? Here the bhikkhu knows, as it really is, the four establishments of mindfulness. Thus the bhikkhu is clever in finding pastures. 10. How does the bhikkhu make no mistake of not leaving a reminder? Here the bhikkhu accepts robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill, offered by householders out of faith, knowing the amount to accept. Thus the bhikkhu makes no mistake of not leaving a remainder. 11. How does the bhikkhu not pay attention to the forefathers of the Community. Here the bhikkhu attends with bodily actions of loving kindness, verbal actions of loving kindness, and mental actions of loving kindness, towards the leaders of the Community. Those with a long standing and needing special attention. Thus the bhikkhu attends to the forefathers of the Community. It is possible that the bhikkhu endowed with these eleven characteristics should come to growth and development in this Teaching and Discipline. (Majjima Nikaya, MahÄ gopÄ laka sutta Vol.i,4,3)As well as most famous venerable chulla panthaka’s story also mentioned that the Buddha only teaches the way to get rid of Samsara. Because in that story mentioned chulla panthaka there also learn in self motivation. Not only that story Kisa gothami, Patachara , Khema, stories also mentioned Buddha saw the only way of getting rid of that Samsara for those people. According to above mentioned statement illustrate self motivation is most important thing to understand the Buddhist teaching. In Dhammapada which is Most famous as Handbook of the Buddhist also mentioned some kind of motivation facts in their verses. The glory of him who is energetic, mindful, pure in deed, considerate, self-controlled, right-living, and heedful steadily increases. (Dhammapada 24) By sustaining effort, earnestness, discipline, and self-control let the wise man make for himself an island, which no flood overwhelms. (Dhammapada 25) Indulge not in heedlessness; have no intimacy with sensuous delights. Verily, the earnest, meditative person obtains abundant bliss. (Dhammapada 27) Heedful amongst the heedless, wide awake amongst the slumbering, the wise man advances as do a swift horse, leaving a weak guard behind. (Dhammapada 29) Even as rain does not penetrate a well-thatched house, so does lust not penetrate a well-developed mind. (Dhammapada 14) Though little he recites the Sacred Texts, but acts in accordance with the teaching, forsaking lust, hatred and ignorance, truly knowing, with mind well freed, clinging to naught here and hereafter, he shares the fruits of the Holy Life. (Dhammapada 20) Make haste in doing good; check your mind from evil; for the mind of him who is slow in doing meritorious actions delights in evil. (Dhammapada 116) Should a person commit evil, he should not do it again and again; he should not find pleasure therein: painful is the accumulation of evil. (Dhammapada 117) Should a person perform a meritorious action, he should do it again and again; he should find pleasure therein: blissful is the accumulation of merit. (Dhammapada 118) The flickering, fickle mind, difficult to guard, difficult to control – the wise person straightens it as a fletcher straightens an arrow. (Dhammapada 33) As a conclusion Buddhist teaching for motivation basically mean self motivation. It is helpful to the people to fulfil their aims and goals certain. â€Å"attï‚Å'hi attano nï‚Å'to- kohi nï‚Å'to parosiyï‚Å'† hoping someone’s help is useless. Because of that we can get only help from ourself. If someone can think like that he absolutely attains his goals without any barriers.

Fundamental Positions

Carinosa †¢Is a Philippine dance of Hispanic origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances, where the fan or handkerchief plays an instrumental role as it places the couple in romance scenario.. Folk dance †¢Is a form of dance developed by a group of people that reflects the traditional life of the people of a certain country or region. Folk dancing originated in the 18th century to distinguish dance forms of common people from those of the upper classes. Folk dances, unlike most other dance forms, tend to have no stringent rules, and are sometimes formed spontaneously among groups of people.The steps of folk dances are passed through generations, rarely being changed. Folk dancing is usually associated with social activities, although some folk dances are performed competitively. Terminology †¢Is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the m eaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other things how such terms of art come to be and their interrelationships within a culture.Terminology differs from lexicography in studying concepts, conceptual systems, and their labels (terms), whereas lexicography study words and their meanings. Terminology is a discipline which systematically studies the labeling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity. It does this through research and analysis of terms in context for the purpose of documenting and promoting consistent usage. 5 Fundamental Positions †¢Standing Fundamental Position †¢Knee-standing Fundamental Position †¢Sitting Fundamental Position †¢Lying Fundamental Position †¢Hanging Fundamental Position

Confident Interval

Fall 2012 Assignment 5 (Total Points Possible: 15) Name: Banner ID: Instructions: Use this page as your cover page, and attach your groupwork behind your work. Your assignment answers should be in complete and grammatically correct sentences. 1. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (2004), 22. 4% of adults are smokers. A random sample of 300 adults is obtained. (a) Describe the sampling distribution of phat, the sample proportion of adults who smoke. (b) In a random sample of 300 adults, what is the probability that at least 50 are smokers? c) Would it be unusual if a random sample of 300 adults results in 18% or less being smokers? Explain your answer.2. A machine at K&A Tube & Manufacturing Company produces a certain copper tubing component in a refrigeration unit. The tubing components produced by the manufacturer have a mean diameter of 0. 75 inch with a standard deviation of 0. 004 inch. The quality-control inspector takes a random sample of 30 components once each week and calculates the mean diameter of these components. If the mean is either less than 0. 748 inch or greater than 0. 752 inch, the inspector concludes that the machine needs an adjustment. a) Describe the sampling distribution of the sample mean diameter for a random sample of 30 such components. (b) What is the probability that, based on a random sample of 30 such components, the inspector will conclude that the machine needs an adjustment when, in fact, the machine is correctly calibrated?3. In a random sample of 678 adult males 20 to 34 years of age, it was determined that 58 of them have hypertension (high blood pressure). Source: The Centers for Disease Control. (a) Obtain a point estimate for the proportion of adult males 20 to 34 years of age who have hypertension. b) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the proportion of adult males 20 to 34 who have hypertension. Interpret the confidence interval. You wish to conduct your own study to determine the proportion o f adult males 20 to 34 years old who have hypertension. (c) What sample size would be needed for the estimate to be within 3 percentage points (interval length is 0. 06) with 95% confidence if you use the point estimate obtained in part (a)? (d) What sample size would be needed for the estimate to be within 3 percentage points with 95% confidence if you don’t have a prior estimate (use phat=. )? 4. A random sample of 60 married couples who have been married 7 years was asked the number of children they have.The results of the survey are as follows: 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 3 2 2 3 1 3 2 4 0 3 3 3 1 0 2 3 3 1 4 2 3 1 3 3 5 0 2 3 0 4 4 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 3 2 2 1 4 3 2 4 2 1 2 3 2 The data is also in Excel format on Blackboard: FamilySizeData. xls. (a) Obtain a point estimate for the mean and standard deviation number of children of all couples who have been married 7 years. (b) What is the shape of the distribution of the sample mean? Why? c) Compute a 95% confidence interval for the mean number of children of all couples who have been married 7 years. Interpret this interval. (d) Compute a 99% confidence interval for the mean number of children of all couples who have been married 7 years. Interpret this interval. (e) You wish to conduct your own study to determine the mean number of children of all couples who have been married 7 years. What sample size would be needed for the estimate to be within 0. 25 (interval length is 0. 5) with 99% confidence if you use the point estimates obtained in part (a)?

Combat Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Combat Operations - Essay Example This theory evolved as far back as industrial age. Like mechanical sciences, Clausewitz's Center of Gravity is not a point of strength but a focal point where physical forces act or come together. Thus it is not a capability based warfare but an effect based warfare. As in physics, any force that acts on the center of gravity of an object has a profound effect on the object as a whole. Hence, if similar force is applied militarily on the center of gravity of a nation, it will have a far more dramatic effect not only on military of the adversary but also the nation as such. Since Clausewitz's war is nothing else but a direct extension of national policy, it will also bring about the desired results much faster than any other means. Further, Clausewitz did not classify CoGs as Strategic, Operational or Tactical. The whole system functioned as one united entity, and any effect was felt on the total system rather than on individual units. On the other hand, Liddell Hart during World War I suggested a strategy that was designed to upset the opponent's morale and confuse his thinking process well before even bringing him on the battlefield, or forcing a defeat without clash of arms. He thus advocate"In most campaigns the dislocation of the enemy's psychological and physical balance has been the vital prelude to a successful attempt at his overthrow." (Liddell Hart, 1929) He thus advocated attack along a line of lesser expectations like base, communication network, road or rail links thereby mystify, mislead and surprise the enemy. Guerilla warfare employed by many rulers across the world used this strategy very successfully when fighting against much larger and stronger adversaries. The effect to be sought is the dislocation of the opponent's mind and dispositions - such an effect is the true gauge of an indirect approach. -Sir Basil H. Liddel-Hart (Strategy, 1954) The Comparison As both the theories are based on entirely different concepts, it is a bit difficult to compare them across the table and satisfactorily come out with a justifiable and clear victor. The strategy to be chosen in this respect can be arrived at only after all the mitigating circumstances have been evaluated and a consensus arrived at after a deliberate appreciation of the situation. However, in most cases of modern warfare, it can be stated that countries prefer to opt for Center of Gravity option due to one simple reason, that most modern wars have been initiated by the militarily stronger nations against a perpetually irksome adversary, and these wars had clear and well-stated objectives, whether it was Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971, Falklands in 1982, or Iraq during the two Gulf wars. The attackers in these situations had a clear military superiority, well-established reasons for going into war and followed specific strategies. Further, the attacking power was so strong i n most cases that the outcome of the war was never in doubt. The only aspect under doubt was the time factor and the military losses on both sides. Hence, in such cases, it can be

Imperialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Imperialism - Essay Example n instance, Michael Parenti depends on the economic exploitations of imperialism as the basis of his definition, as he says, â€Å"By imperialism I mean the process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people† (24). A true impartial tone about the core nature of imperialism is Lake’s definition, as he says, â€Å"Imperialism is a form of international hierarchy in which one political unit, or polity, effectively governs or controls another polity† (7232). Since Lake’s political perspective focuses on the core political aspect of imperialism, it, though implicitly, implicates other aspects also through the two terms â€Å"effectively governs or control† and â€Å"another polity†. The term â€Å"effective control† refers to suppressions in various economic and cultural forms because the dominant polity in imperialism cannot assimilate â€Å"another polity† within itself by obliterating the otherness and the distance that prevails between the dominant and the dominated. Lake refers to this failure of the imperialistic dominant to shed the otherness as a primary cause of suppression in the following quote: â€Å"Exploitation of the weak by the stron g is not essential to imperialism, but it is an often natural outgrowth of effective domination. The affinity between domination and exploitation explains the typically pejorative status of the term.† (7232) In fact, the definition of imperialism is such that it cannot shed off its oppressive and repressive apparels. The existential basis of Imperialism essentially lies in the early European Colonialism. Though the overall concept of imperialism is different from early European colonialism, the underlying motif to rule the weaker people is existent at the core of these two forms of dominance. Indeed the later one is more associated with the political systems of ruling the people of an area than the colonialism

The advantages and disadvantages about solar power in replacing the Essay

The advantages and disadvantages about solar power in replacing the original power (gas, oil) in United States - Essay Example In truth, most people, probably, do not even think about where their energy and fuel comes from until it is turned off. Few things do not require a power or fuel source, especially today, when that energy not available everything can begin to fall apart. Unfortunately, fossil fuel based energy sources commonly used bring with them serious consequences to the environment, as well as, not being limitless. The initiative to encourage power and fuel alternatives continues to be debated. The â€Å"go green† movement suggest â€Å"renewable† energy sources. Climate changes, continuing pollution, and the insecurity of the existing power and fuel sources are serious considerations. (Jacobson, and Delucchi 1154) Renewable sources may be exactly the solution that is needed, which includes the use of wind, geothermal, hydropower, and, particularly, solar power that could easily help secure a brighter future for the generations to come. Given the potential success and efficiency it is only common sense to investigate further and consider solar power, along with other â€Å"green† energy possibilities; feasible solutions to our modern energy needs. History Many researchers feel that the acquisition of and the ability to use fire, along with the development of language, is what, decidedly, made us human. It was, however, the understanding and utilization of fossil fuels that made us officially modern. As populations began to increase, in any given locations, the need to provide clothing, shelter, warmth, food, and transportation became paramount. Fossil fuels helped such large industrial populations to achieve that. Between 1880 and 1913, along with the natural born citizens, 60 million immigrants joined the population of the United States. (McNeill) As these growing populations in America continued to grow larger it became more and more necessary to engage in greater and greater usage of energies derived from fossil fuels. However, the abundant usage re sults in the excessive accumulation of â€Å"green house gases,† which is, generally, a mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. The green house gases literally change the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the harmful gases contribute to global warming. Researchers confirm that our planet’s surface temperature has, markedly, increased over the past two decades.(Mingyuan 359) This is a serious problem involving serious consequences. Not only are fossil fuels causing environmental damage it is, also, not an unlimited resource. Oil, coal, gasoline, the fuels and energy sources most are familiar with, are not going to be sufficient to meet the United States demand forever. Since the 1980s much research has been geared towards finding renewable energy sources that could wean us from our fossil fuel dependency in exchange for environmentally friendly, more reliable energy sources. There are multiple options within the parameters of renewable energy, bu t, the majorities agree that it is any resource that is naturally replenished by the earth or nature. Solar power, of all the environmental friendly green options, is probably, so supporters claim, the most viable and available renewable energy resource.(Mingyuan 356) Yet, as seen in the chart below, the United states has continued to rely on coal, petroleum, natural gas and, even, nuclear energy more than upon any of the renewable alternatives. The United States uses only a small fractions of the potential; at least in comparison of the to the usage of fossil fuels.("Solar") The sun, essentially, plays a huge part of what makes it possible to grow plant life to be harvested. Before

Critical analysis case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Critical analysis case study - Essay Example This paper reveals how interdependent sub-groups of decision-makers are when dealing with clinical cases. It is important that all parties involved in the clinical cares of a patient should offer strategic decisions that would be helpful in making the patient recovered quite quickly. The medical decision is needed to prescribe the right medical treatment for the patient; the nurses’ decisions are vital for handling the clinical requirements of the patient; the relatives of the patient also have to make serious decisions about the way to take good care of their family member who is sick. On several occasions, all these parties come together to work out the efficiency of their decisions so as to provide only the needed healthcare for the patient (Berner, 2007: pp.3-28) Daniel Young (name changed) was a construction worker that was diagnosed for kidney problem when he sought a medical advice as he constantly felt weak, tired, shortness of breath and perceived some swollen parts of his body. Dr. James (name changed) recommended that he should undergo Peritoneal Dialysis when he noticed that diet and medication would not help him recover soon from the rapidly failing kidney problems—this was due to the fact that Daniel sought medical help later than expected. He had previously thought that his demanding construction job was responsible for his body weakness and lethargy. His first few weeks at the hospital had produced an encouraging medical report: normal fluid exchanges, maintenance of appropriate weight, good metabolic activities and reduction in the frequency of symptoms appearance. Unfortunately, in a couple of weeks later, the patient’s condition had become quite worse: he grew hypotensive because of losing much fluid than necessary in his body, and doctor also detected there was some bacterial infection in the abdomen (peritonitis). Despite the application of appropriate medication

Persuasive Arguments For Gay Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Persuasive Arguments For Gay Marriage - Essay Example Gay marriages rights should be enforced considering gay people are born gay, they adopt children who would have been in problems despite their failure to procreate failing to prolong the human race. Gay marriages should be legalized considering that every citizen in America has the liberty of choice and ones choices should not be curtailed because of the long-held traditions. This is because homosexuals are same as heterosexual people only that they possess gay genes as recently found by medical researchers (LeVay). Therefore, it is not gays or lesbians choice to be so, it is only that they are naturally gays and we should respect them as they are as part of our society. In this case, considering these people do not choose to be in gay marriages but nature has forced them to be in them we should respect their gay marriage choices. Furthermore, we should not rationalize that since heterosexuals are the majority then marriage involving a man and a woman are the best. Moreover, considering the great number of orphans and poor families who are not in a position to provide effectively for their children, and most of them ending up as criminals, malnourished and others die off. Even though people should practice family planning and at the same time raise children, they can afford, our society would be much better off currently if they legalized gay marriages. This is because gay marriages do not procreate and consequently adopt children in order to form a family (Cline). Therefore, through adopting children they will have played a key role in alleviating the woes of these children, poor families and our great nation at large. In addition, this will also reduce crime rates in our country since most of the children once they lack a means of generating income for their sustenance result to crimes as a means of getting their daily bread.

Arabic writing system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Arabic writing system - Essay Example 800 B.C.), whence came the letters of the ancient Roman alphabet, and ultimately all Western alphabets. The North Arabic script, which eventually prevailed and became the Arabic script of the Quran, relates most substantially and directly to the Nabatian script, which was derived from the Aramaic script. Old Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the Apostles, dates from the 2nd millennium B.C., and some dialects of which are still spoken by tiny groups in the Middle East. Arabic script still shares with Aramaic the names of the alphabet letters (Alef, Jeem, Dal, Zai, Sheen, etc.); similar graphic representation for phonetically similar letters (Sad and Dad, Ta and Tha, etc.); connections of letters in the same word and several forms of each letter depending on its location in the word, except for letters that cannot be connected to the letters which come after them (Alef, Dal/Dthal, Raa/Zai, Waw). The Arabic alphabet contains 18 letter shapes, by adding one, two, or three dots to letters with similar phonetic characteristics a total of 28 letters is obtained. These contain three long vow els, while diacritics can be added to indicate short vowels. With the spread of Islam, the Arabic alphabet was adapted by several non-Arab nations for writing their own languages. In Iran Arabic letters were used to write Farsi, with the addition of four letters to represent the phonetics that did not exist in Arabic: p, ch, zh, and g. The Ottoman Turks used the Arabic alphabet until 1929 and added still another letter. This alphabet was also used to write other Turkish languages and dialects, such as Kazakh, Uzbek, etc. Several other languages used the Arabic alphabet at one time or another, including Urdu, Malay, Swahili, Hausa, Algerian Tribal, and others. Arabic script is not used solely for writing Arabic, but for a variety of languages. In each language, it has been modified to fit the language's sound system. There are sounds not found in Arabic, but found in, for instance, Persian, Malay and Urdu: such sounds don't correspond to any sound from the Arabic system of sounds for which the Arabic alphabet can be used. For example, the Arabic language lacks a [p] sounding letter, so many languages add their own letter for [p] in the script, though the symbol used may differ between languages. These modifications tend to fall into groups: all the Indian and Turkic languages written in Arabic tend to use the Persian modified letters (and those are the languages that are "geographically closer" to Persia), whereas West African languages tend to imitate those of Ajami, and Indonesian ones those of Jawi. A writing system in which the Persian modified letters are used is called Perso-Arabic script by the scholars. Generally, in countries wher e national education is effective and where the national language is written in Arabic script, Arabic script is also used to write the other languages used in that country (Coulmas 20). The Arabic alphabet is written from right to left and is composed of 28 basic letters. Adaptations of the script for other languages such as Persian and Urdu have additional letters. There is no difference between written and printed letters; the writing is unicase (i.e. the concept of upper and lower case letters does not exist). On the other hand, most of the letters are attached to one another, even when printed, and their appearance changes as a function of whether they connect to preceding or following letters. Some

Feminist Epistemology Essay Example for Free

Feminist Epistemology Essay Abstract In this paper I analyze the potential of Allison Jaggar’s suggestion that emotions in general, and outlaw emotions in particular, be incorporated into feminist epistemology. Jaggar advocates a standpoint theory of emotions, and suggests that the emotions of the oppressed in particular are helpful rather than inimical to acquiring knowledge. I argue that although there are some potential problems with Jaggar’s approach, these problems are common to standpoint theories and can be addressed by applying the solutions offered by other feminist theorists. One common criticism made by feminist epistemologists[i] is the critique of traditional epistemology’s notions of objectivity and neutrality. As Naomi Scheman puts it, in traditional epistemology â€Å"[t]hose who are taken to be in the best position to know are those who are believed to be objective, distanced, dispassionate, independent, and nonemotionally rational† (3-4). [ii] According to Allison Jaggar, the result of this conception of the knower in modern epistemology is a sharp distinction between reason and emotion where reason is privileged because emotions are viewed as involuntary responses that distort our rational observations of the world, which in turn distort the knowledge we can gain from these observations (1992). She further argues that this distinction contributes to the denial of women’s epistemic authority since women are associated with emotions and men with reason, and so men became the standard by which epistemic authority is judged. This is just one of many concerns feminist epistemologists share. However, there are many dissimilarities between feminists as to how to deal with the problems in traditional epistemology. [iii] One approach that I will focus on in this paper is feminist standpoint theory, particularly the standpoint theory offered by Jaggar in â€Å"Love and Knowledge: Emotions in Feminist Epistemology. † What Jaggar aims to accomplish in her paper is to â€Å"begin bridging the gap [between emotion and knowledge] through the suggestion that emotions may be helpful and even necessary rather than inimical to the construction of knowledge† (1992, 146). The bridge she wants to build includes a methodology for identifying biases of the dominant group that leads to false appraisals of the world. This methodology relies on the notion that perspective can be altered by the way one is situated in the world, particularly how one’s situatedness can affect one’s emotional perspective and response. I will explain the concept of emotional perspective and response in a moment, but I want to first note that the type of emotions she thinks are important to feminist epistemologists are outlaw emotions—which are emotional responses that do not follow or support the values and norms we have been taught to accept. Because outlaw emotions are usually a negative response to norms and values, they can help us identify which biases are causing errors in our methods of seeking knowledge. The point that Jaggar wants to make clear is that impartiality in our epistemic methods is impossible, therefore, we should give up on the notion of impartiality and work towards identifying biases that will better guide our epistemic endeavors. There is much debate between feminists over the potential of feminist standpoint epistemologies, yet, I think that Jaggar’s methodology warrants some consideration. [iv] However, because she offers just a sketch of how emotions might be incorporated into epistemology, there are some aspects of her theory that are problematic. The first problem is that standpoint theories seem to neglect the differing experiences of particular individuals within groups by trying to speak about the experiences of these groups in general. The second problem is that Jaggar needs to address how to distinguish which outlaw emotions could potentially further feminist interests from the other emotions, outlaw or otherwise. The general aim of this paper, then, is to initiate an investigation into whether Jaggar’s proposal will be a fruitful endeavor for feminist epistemologists. The more specific aim of this paper is to point out some of the potential problems that arise from her theory, as a feminist theory, and to offer some potential solutions for these problems, some of which are solutions that feminists have previously used to answer similar problems in other feminist theories. 1. Jaggar’s View Jaggar argues that theories that make the distinction between reason and emotion as it pertains to knowledge are mistaken in that they falsely assume emotions are involuntary responses that can be separated from reason. Jaggar contends that most emotions are socially constructed, intentional, and can influence our perceptions of the world. For example, when someone feels anger at a slight from a friend, this anger arises not as an involuntary response, but rather there is a judgment being made about the way friends ought to behave and the response of anger is the appropriate emotion that corresponds with one’s expectations being disappointed. We form beliefs about what constitutes a slight by a friend at the same time as we learn what our society values as appropriate friendship behavior and appropriate responses to different experiences—say affection as a response to respect from one’s friends and anger to disrespect. The idea that emotions are constructed suggests that socialization influences our appraisals of the world and the judgments we make are often emotional responses to observations that reflect the norms and values of our society. For example, when someone tells a joke the expected response is for a person to be amused. However, my being amused by a joke presupposes a number of social conditions. For instance, when we hear something like ‘a priest, a rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar’ we immediately feel an anticipatory amusement, since we recognize this as a joke formula. [v] If I do not recognize this formula then my lack of understanding could cause me to not share the same social experience as the other people who are hearing the same joke. Second, in order to find the joke amusing I must not only understand the language in which the joke is told, but also the content of the joke. I must share the same appraisal of the world in order to actually be amused by the punch line. Third, emotional responses are neither automatic nor passive in the sense that we have no control over them. I may be amused and laugh at a joke of this type. However, I may not laugh if I find the joke to be in bad taste even though not laughing when amusement is anticipated often creates moments of social tension and discomfort. The important thing to note here is that in both cases whether or not I am amused can be a deliberate conscious decision. From this example, we can see why Jaggar suggests that, â€Å"every emotion presupposes an evaluation of some aspect of the environment while, and conversely, every evaluation or appraisal of the situation implies that those who share the evaluation will share, ceteris paribus, a predictable emotional response to the situation† (1992, 153). Just as I would have to share a similar appraisal of the world in order to understand the punch line of a joke, I am also influenced by those preconceived notions to think the joke is funny. At the very least, I am conditioned to some extent to recognize a joke when I hear one and laugh when I think laughter is the expected response. Jaggar thinks it is important to recognize that emotions play a role in how we seek knowledge, given that if we maintain the distinction between emotion and reason in epistemology, then this distinction will influence whom we think are good epistemic agents: namely, dispassionate investigators who can keep their emotions from interfering with their observations. Ironically, because the notion of a dispassionate investigator is considered the ideal, we are biased in our assessment of who is a good investigator and who is not. Note that Jaggar is not saying we are not being impartial enough in our assessment of investigators; rather she is saying our bias in favour of the dispassionate is inhibiting because emotion is an essential part of knowledge. Moreover, the distinction between emotion and reason is problematic, as Jaggar points out, because â€Å"reason has been associated with members of dominant political, social, and cultural groups and emotion with members of subordinate groups†, like â€Å"people of color†¦and women† (1992, 157). The result of the false distinction between emotion and reason is that it produces a myth about investigators that functions in a circular pattern where the myth reinforces the oppression of those who are perceived as emotional, while the oppression reinforces the myth that it is bad to be emotional. In order to give a full account of what it means to be a good investigator, then, we should acknowledge how emotions function to produce passionate investigators who are reliable observers. The first point Jaggar thinks a full account should include is that in many ways emotions are socially constructed in a way that reflects the norms and values of our society, and that this emotional construction influences our evaluations and observations of the world. The second aspect of the social construction of our emotional constitution she wants to point out is that our emotional construction is not complete in the sense that there are people who do not always respond to or evaluate particular situations in a manner that reflects social norms and values. Jaggar calls these unconventional emotional responses and evaluations â€Å"outlaw† emotions, and states that they are usually experienced by â€Å"subordinated individuals who pay a disproportionately high price for maintaining the status quo† (1992, 160). However, when the distinction between emotion and reason is maintained biases against emotional responses in general and unconventional emotional responses in particular, are disregarded. For example, a woman may feel anger or fear when a sexist joke is made, but when she tries to voice her opinion she is told either that she did not understand the joke or that she has no sense of humour. Thus, when the distinction is maintained it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to realize that the joke is not funny because it is based on a negative stereotype. That is to say, it is not acknowledge that the stereotype and the expected emotional response is dictated by the current norms and values. Furthermore, because a woman, who may already be identified as a bad observer, is pointing out that there may be a mistake in our way of thinking, her response is disregarded as emotional and unreliable, and the oppressive norms and values go unquestioned. 2. Jaggar’s Methodology and Potential Problems The benefit of ridding ourselves of epistemologies that do not acknowledge the role of emotions, both conventional and unconventional, is that we can begin to recognize which norms and values are causing harmful biases and negative stereotypes. Furthermore, Jaggar claims that feminist outlaw emotions—which are outlaw emotions that â€Å"incorporate feminist perceptions and values†Ã¢â‚¬â€are particularly useful in feminist epistemology because they â€Å"can help in developing alternatives to prevailing reality by motivating new investigations†¦Feminist emotions provide a political motivation for investigation and so help determine the selection of problems as well as the method by which they are investigated† (1992, 161). Although Jaggar meant to offer a rough sketch of some of the changes that need to be made to our epistemic theories and practices, I think there are  some potential problems that need to be addressed. For one, I think she needs to say more about how we should determine which emotions will lead to fruitful norms and values, and which emotions we should reject. To her credit, it seems that Jaggar recognizes this is a question that needs to be addressed given that she tries to give reasons for why â€Å"certain alternative perceptions of the world, perceptions informed by outlaw emotions, are to be preferred to perceptions informed by conventional norms† (1992, 161). She claims the reason women’s outlaw emotions should be given consideration is because women are not members of the group that conventional beliefs about emotions privilege. Given that women experience the consequences of not being privileged, they are not as likely to adhere to these norms without question. Hence, they are better able to articulate the negative aspects of their experiences because they do not fear that this questioning of norms will threaten their privileged status. The problem with this response is that it does not seem to fully answer the question, because some outlaw emotions will not provide reliable guides to identifying biases, and so the difficulty will be distinguishing which emotions are reliable from those that are not. In order to give a more robust argument for why we should give special consideration to the emotions of oppressed people she needs to first address the fact that the â€Å"oppressed† do not share one perspective. As pointed out by Marilyn Frye, one problem with making claims about the standpoint of women’s emotional perspectives is that such claims seem to presuppose there are universal types of emotions—outlaw or otherwise—that are consistent throughout the emotions experienced by women. Frye notes that this is a mistake often made by feminists given that it is common for epistemological theories to espouse that â€Å"all knowers are essentially alike, that is, are essentially like oneself: one thinks that one speaks not just as oneself, but as a human being† (35). What happens in feminist theorizing as a response to this attitude is feminists become convinced they need to speak as â€Å"Women† in order to be taken seriously. As Frye points out, feminists often face the difficult task of trying to articulate â€Å"the circumstances, experience and perception of those who are historically, materially, culturally constructed by or through the concept women. But the differences among women across cultures, locales and generations make it clear that although all female humans may live lives shaped by the concepts of Woman, they are not all shaped by the same concept of Woman† (36). [vi] The point I want to stress from this passage is that not all women will experience the same emotions in the same contexts because we are formed by different concepts of â€Å"Woman† even though women in general face oppression in one form or another. In response to the problem of women’s differing experiences, Frye suggests feminists approach epistemology with a different methodology. That is, a methodology that will allow women to give meaning to their own experiences even though they are not experiences that are shared by all women. Part of this project entails that feminists give up the notion of a universal women’s experience. Another part is that they listen to many different women’s experiences and look for patterns of similarity. Frye suggests this methodology will result in the following: The experiences of each woman and of the women collectively generate a new web of meaning. Our process has been one of discovering, recognizing, and creating patterns—patterns within which experience made a new kind of sense, or in instances, for the first time made any sense at all. Instead of bringing a phase of enquiry to closure by summing up what is known, as other ways of generalizing do, pattern recognition/constructions opens fields of meaning and generates new interpretive possibilities. Instead of drawing conclusions from observations, it generates observations. (39) I think this methodology will be helpful in pointing out the outlaw emotions that can offer guidance as to which of our norms and values are questionable, and opens a dialogue over potential ways to change them. The methodology Frye advocates can be further developed if we consider potential ways in which women can express their experiences such that patterns can be recognized. One approach that I find particularly convincing is offered by Morwenna Griffiths. Griffiths suggests that feminist epistemologists can employ autobiographical accounts of women’s experiences as a means of articulating the differences between women’s experiences. Like Frye, Griffiths also notes that there is no one experience common to all women. However, Griffiths further claims that, â€Å"[i]ndividuals are not entirely of one group or another. On the contrary, individuals are fragments of an uncertain number of groups† (62). The conclusion she draws from this point is that it is an oversimplification to limit the types of knowledge humans can acquire into categories like women’s knowledge. One person can experience oppression from the perspective of more than one position. To name a few, one may experience oppressions from the perspectives of a particular race, class, gender, or sexual orientation, and intersections of these. For example, the oppression experienced by a native woman is not the same as that experienced by a native man or that experienced by a white woman. Hence, Griffiths suggests that one’s positions in the world at different times can contribute to her understanding of the world, which in turn will influence the knowledge she can acquire about the world. Noting the different positions from which an individual can have experiences and acquire knowledge is important because it suggests that there can be similarities between the positions we occupy and the individual experiences we have. This potential to have similar experiences of the world further suggests that similarities in experience make it the case that we are not completely denied access to other people’s understanding of the world. The reason Griffiths thinks autobiographical accounts are a crucial feature of feminist epistemology is because the way in which individuals come to find similarities in experiences is through language. To further clarify her point, she argues that, language has a considerable power to determine what we see and do, but this power is not absolute. We also create new language, by working on the languages in which we live. Individual experience can be used in creation knowledge in combinations with the experiences of others. Groups can develop languages of their own if they share particular psychosocial, social and linguistic experiences. Thus women in society, for instance, who share particular positions within it can develop a way of talking about this. (66) In short, Griffiths suggests that language is key to feminist epistemology because it points out how women with different experiences can nonetheless come to some consensuses on the oppressions they experience and the knowledge developed from these experiences. 3. Conclusion I think that if we incorporate Griffiths’ and Frye’s approach on Jaggar’s theory what we will find is a more tenable response to questions about which outlaw emotions can be regarded as being particular to women: namely, patterns of outlaw emotions that feminists have recognized through the expression of different women’s autobiographical accounts. And once we can start pointing out the commonalities between the different perspectives that arise from the standpoint of different women, we can begin show that there is something about women’s reality that makes it the case that they are experiencing the world differently than men. I have not even scratched the surface with respect to giving a detailed explanation of exactly how Jaggar thinks a fully functional theory of outlaw emotions might look. However, I am assuming that once theorists start admitting that emotion is an integral part of epistemology the intricate details of how to identify fruitful outlaw emotions will be worked out. For instance, we might be able to start identifying patterns of emotions that could be considered outlaw emotions and which norms and values that they are a response to. And this recognition will further our abilities to start questioning the norms and values that guide our epistemic practices. I think this is the sort of thing Jaggar had in mind when she states that the benefit of bridging the gap between emotion and knowledge is that our emotions, when properly accessed, â€Å"may contribute to the development of knowledge, so the growth of knowledge may contribute to the development of appropriate emotions† (1992,163). The development of this project may be slow and arduous, but given the problems that exist in traditional epistemology I think Jaggar’s project seems worthy of consideration as a potential contributor to a solution. NOTES [i] For the purposes of this paper I will equate feminist epistemologists with feminists philosophers of science given that there are many overlapping interests between the two. [ii] For similar arguments, particularly with respect to how positivism had contributed to the notion of the ideal objective knower, see Jaggar (1992) and (1983), especially pp. 355-358; Code (1993). [iii] As noted by Louise Antony, â€Å"For discussions of epistemological frameworks available to feminists, see Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, (Ithaca, N. Y. : Cornell University Press, 1986), especially pp. 24-29; Mary Hawkesworth, â€Å"Feminist Epistemology: A Survey of the Field,† Women and Politics 7 (1987): 112-124; and Hilary Rose, â€Å"Hand, Brain, and Heart: A feminist Epistemology for the Natural Sciences,† Signs 9, 11 (1983): 73-90. † (Antony 2002, Note 3). [iv] For discussion of Feminist Standpoint Theory, see Bar On (1993); Harding (1993); Longino (1993). For a more general analysis of essentialism in feminist theorizing, see Spelman (1988). [v] Thanks to Elizabeth Brake for clarifying the distinction between the emotion of amusement and the behavior of laughter, as well as supplying me with an example of amusement anticipation. [vi] Jaggar does mention that she is speaking â€Å"very generally of people and their emotions, as though everyone experienced similar emotions and dealt with them in similar ways† (Jaggar 1992, 157). And she further notes that â€Å"it is an axiom of feminist theory†¦that all generalizations about ‘people’ are suspect† (Jaggar 1992, 157). So she does, at the very least, seem to recognize that she may fall prey to Frye’s criticism. However, she goes on to argue that making generalizations about the emotionality of women is part of how the epistemic authority of men is perpetuated, and she does not address the issue of how she should deal with the problem as it applies to standpoint theory. I find this particularly odd given that in another work she claims that part of the project of feminist ethics entails that feminists be sensitive to the fact that all women are not similarly situated in such a way that universal claims can be made about them even though there are commonalities between women’s situatedness at times. (Jaggar 1991). So, although I am uncertain as to why she does not deal with problems that might arise from this issue as it applies to standpoint theory, I gather that she would welcome rather than reject feminist theories that could aid her in avoiding this problem as it would apply to feminist epistemology. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alcoff, Linda, and Elizabeth Potter. 1993. Feminist epistemologies. New York: Routledge. Antony, Louise. 2002. Quine as a feminist: the radical import of naturalized epistemology. In A mind of one’s own 2nd edition, ed. Louise M. Antony and Charlotte E. Witt. Colorado: Westview Press. Bar On, Bat-Ami. 1993. Marginality and epistemic privilege. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Code, Lorraine. 1993. Taking subjectivity into account. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Frye, Marilyn. 1996. The possibility of feminist theory. In Women, knowledge and reality 2nd edition. ed. Ann Garry and Marilyn Pearsall. New York: Routledge. Griffiths, Morwenna. 1995. Feminisms and the self. New York: Routledge. Harding, Sandra. 1993. Rethinking standpoint epistemology: â€Å"what is strong objectivity†?. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Jaggar, Alison M. 1992. Love and knowledge: emotions in feminist epistemology. In Gender/body/knowledge. ed. Alison M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. . 1991. Feminist ethics: projects, problems, prospects. In Feminist ethics. ed. Claudia Card. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. . 1983. Feminist politics and human nature. New Jersey: Rowman Allanheld Publishers. Longino, Helen E. 1993. Subjects, power and knowledge: description and prescription in feminist philosophies of science. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Scheman, Naomi. 1993. Engenderings: constructions of knowledge, authority, and privilege. New York: Routledge. Spelman, Elizabeth V. 1988. Inessential women: problems of exclusion in feminist thought Boston: Beacon Press.

Study on the Variable Star XX Andromeda

Study on the Variable Star XX Andromeda Abstract We present the results of a month long V-Band study on the RRab type variable star XX Andromeda. 4526 data points are used to plot a light curve, with 3 maxima observed and added to data from the GEOS database to create an O-C diagram. Three methods of estimating the pulsation period are used, including two Phase Dispersion Minimisation methods and an O-C method, resulting in a best estimate of the period of days. This value is in excellent agreement with the literature values for the period of XX And, from both the Hipparcos catalogue and the GCVS. The distance to XX And is estimated to be pc using a main sequence fitting method to estimate the absolute magnitude, and the mean radius is estimated to be . A flatfielding improvement to the â€Å"photom.py† pipeline is suggested to combat dust artefacts on the CCD. Physical reasons are discussed for the distinctive features present in the light curve, namely the â€Å"Hump† and the â€Å"Bump†. I. Introduction In 1893 Solon I Bailey started a program of globular cluster study[i]. He noticed that some clusters (e.g ω Centuri) were extremely rich in variable stars with similar properties they had periods of less than a day, and light curve amplitudes of around 1 mag. The mean value of apparent magnitude of these stars in a particular cluster was also approximately the same across the sky. Bailey named these â€Å"Cluster Type Variables†. However an increasing number of stars with these properties were being found outside of clusters indeed the brightest star of this type ever found was a field variable, RR Lyrae (after which the class is now named). Discoveries then began to come thick and fast, and it is currently estimated that over 85000 exist in the Milky Way alonei. RR Lyrae variables have also been observed in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud and other Local Group dwarf galaxies[ii]. Measuring the properties of these variables has become increasingly important to astronomers, as it was realised that they could be used to gauge astronomical distances through a period-luminosity (P-L) relation, in a similar way to Cepheids. Various catalogues have studied their properties, for example the General Catalogue of Variable Stars[iii] or the more recent Hipparchos Catalogue[iv]. Until recently however, no distinct P-L relation had been found, and instead astronomers had to use a relation between metallicity and visual magnitude or the Baade-Wesselink method, the drawbacks of which are discussed later. Currently there is still no P-L relation for V-band observations, although there are now relations for most of the infrared spectral bands[v]. RR Lyrae variables are also of importance for the study of the population of both the Galactic Bulge (via Baades Window for example) and the Galactic Halo. Their advanced age and low metallicity combined with distinctive pulsation properties provides an excellent â€Å"tracer† for the development of the Milky Way in its early stages, as well as current kinematic analysis[vi]. They have also been used as a means of quantifying the interstellar reddening caused by dust in the galactic plane, thanks to the fact that the colour excess is a function of minimum (V-I) colour only[vii]. Using this reddening data with other distance indicators (for example red clump stars in the bulge[viii]), a meaningful approximation of the distance to the centre of the bulge can be obtained. Clearly then the study of RR Lyrae variables is useful for the understanding of the evolution of both the Milky Way and the rest of the Local Group. The star to be observed in this study is XX Andromeda (abbr. XX And), an F2 spectral class RRab type variable, located in the constellation of Andromeda at RA: 1h 17m 27.4145s, Dec: +38 °57 02.026† (see 1). Its moderately high position in the sky at Durham means that it is circumpolar, whilst not exceeding the +65 ° limit for the telescope fork mount, resulting in minimal atmospheric interference and the maximum possible observing time. The GCVS lists a period of. It is also known to exhibit the Blazhko effect, a long-period modulation of the amplitude of an RR Lyrae star (the cause of which is currently under investigation), with a period ofiii, and has an [Fe/H] value of -1.94. II. Theory Observational Theory CCD Theory Perhaps the most important advance in astronomy in the last 20 years has been the widespread use of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) to replace photographic plates. Invented in 1969 at Bell Labs by Boyle and Smith, CCDs are a thin piece of semiconductor material (e.g. silicon) upon which lies an grid-like array of metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors[x]. During an exposure, if a photon impacts on the silicon an electron/hole pair can be produced, as an electron is pushed up into a higher energy state. The MOS capacitors act as deep potential wells (pixels), which hold the electrons until the exposure is finished. The charge is then read-out to an amplifier at one edge, in a specific order so that that the position of the original pixel can be identified, and related to the magnitude of the detected charge. The charge is converted from a raw number of electrons into ADUs (analogue to digital units), the conversion factor of which is the gain of the CCD[xi]. They are preferred to photographic plates in modern astronomical photometry for several reasons: * High quantum efficiency (QE) for each incident photon there is upwards of 90% certainty[1] that an pair will be produced. On the other hand, with photographic plates one can achieve (at best) an efficiency of 3%[xii], so using CCDs will increase the likelihood of detection of distant objects. * Large dynamic range, allowing them to detect objects with a range of magnitudes in the sky in the same exposure. * Strong linearity up to the saturation point, so that for longer exposure times the number of electrons produced is proportional to the integration time, whereas photographic plates will experience a drop in their efficiency. Their linearity will also mean that the magnitude of charge in each pixel is linearly proportional to the luminosity of the object. CCDs have also brought some inherent problems however, for example the noise associated with each image. Because photons obey Gaussian statistics for large counts, there will be a shot noise (uncertainty in the count rate) for each pixel of whereis the number of photons detected. Error in an image also stems from both the bias of the CCD, and the â€Å"dark current† present. The bias of a CCD is a systematic voltage offset across the whole CCD to prevent digital underflow during analogue to digital (A-D) conversion. It includes the read-out noise, a result of the manipulation of the pixel charge values during the A-D process and any charge-loss which occurs during the transfer[xiii]. A CCDs dark current is an unwanted flow of electrons which have been released from the surface of the semiconductor by thermal excitation, and is purely dependant on the surface temperature, rather than being a function of illumination. For this reason the CCD was cooled by both the Peltier method (electrically) and with an active assisting fan[xiv], to around 35 °C below ambient temperature, as the thermal current is approximately halved for each 7 °C reduction in CCD temperaturexii. To remove noise from an image, a set of calibration images may be taken alongside each raw exposure. These are called bias and dark frames. The bias frame is a zero-time exposure which will include both bias and read-out noise. A dark frame can be found by leaving the shutter on the camera closed and taking an exposure seconds long. It can be expressed as , [xv](2) whereis the dark current, andis the thermal noises statistical variation. Ideally one would be taken before each exposure, as temperature routinely varies slightly with time. A â€Å"master dark† frame can be found by taking the average of a large number of dark frames, and will include the equivalent of a master bias. This master dark can then be subtracted from each image to leave a final, processed image with as low a random error as possible. The Automated Photometry Process Since the experiment involved a large number of images, the photometry processes were automated using several Python scripts and FORTRAN routines. The script â€Å"all.py† was used to iterate the â€Å"photom.py† script over a range of images within a directory and print a string detailing which file was currently being processed. â€Å"photom.py† was the main script run, and was used to call several other processes which ran the photometry calculations, among other things. Firstly, it read in the file specified, and split the filename into the file and the extension, by using the find function to search for the full stop as the delimiter. i=file_name.find(.) Using the extension to determine the file type, the script then either subtracted the master_dark.sdf frame (if it was a FITS file, and hence a DRACO output file) or converted it to a FITS file (if it was an ST9 file, and hence 14-inch, which had already had the dark frame removed). The conversion is achieved using two separate routines: sbig2ndf, a routine from the SBIG python module which converts compressed output ST9 files created in CCDOPS into NDF files, and ndf2fits, which is a routine from the convert set of variables that converts the NDF files to FITS images. The subtraction of the dark frame is made using the kappa package from Starlink. â€Å"photom.py† then reads the variable star position from a user-created ‘var_sky_position† file. Using this, the script runs â€Å"find_astrom.py†. This attempts to match the stars in the image to the USNOA2 catalogue, and produce a new FITS file with the derived header solution. Firstly it takes the given star position as the centre of the image, and runs sextractor to find all the objects in the image. Next, it runs the WCS Tools routine scat at that RA and Dec to attempt to find any known objects in the region from the catalogue and prints it to a new file, usnoa_ref.cat: commands.getoutput(scat+ -d -c ua2 -n 200 -m 17 r 600 +ra+ +dec+ j2000 > usnoa_ref.cat) The pixel scale is taken from the directorys automag_driver file, and used by Andrew Pickles starfit script to match each object found by sextractor to the catalogues objects. This is achieved by the matching of triangles created between sets of objects in the sky to similar triangles created from the catalogues objects. Starlinks astrom routine is then used to correct the solution: out=commands.getoutput(/star/bin/astrom fits=asc) print astrom returns:, out Finally, â€Å"find_astrom.py† edits the header keys using pyfits to reflect the newly derived solution, and creates a new FITS image with the file ending â€Å"_ast.fits†. â€Å"photom.py† then runs sextractor again, to product a new catalogue of the objects from the image, complete with their RA and Dec. The script then performs the aperture photometry using â€Å"automag.py†. This measures the relative aperture magnitudes for the objects defined in the new object catalogue, by taking the number of counts within the specified aperture radius from the driver, and applying the formula: (3) Here is a constant offset defined in the driver, is the number of counts within the aperture (which is pixels in size) minus the background, and is the integration time. Background errors are calculated by measuring the counts within the two â€Å"sky† aperture radii to find the mean and rms sky-counts over pixels,and, and firstly deriving the signal to noise ratio for the star, by applying Equation (4) below[xvi]. (4) In the above equation, is the gain of the CCD. By using the flux based definition of the magnitude difference and manipulating the logarithm equation, the signal to noise value can be used to find the error on a measured magnitude, as shown in Equation (5). (5) These instrumental magnitudes are appended to the catalogue file, next to each object. â€Å"auto_mag2list.py† is subsequently run to pull the calibration stars from the catalogue, by matching the RA and Dec to those in the â€Å"cal_sky_positions†. The variable stars data, as well as the calibration stars data and the observation time in Modified Julian Days (MJD) are then appended to a file called â€Å"summary.obs†. Once â€Å"photom.py† completes, the raw2dif routine can then be run to perform the differential magnitude calculation. This routine takes each line from the â€Å"summary.obs† file and subtracts the average of the two comparison stars instrumental magnitudes from the variable stars instrumental magnitude, . A zero-point constant is then added to put the differential magnitude on the standard scale. This can be measured by taking images of photometric standard stars (from the Tycho catalogue for example), and comparing their instrumental magnitudes to their known apparent magnitudes, as described in the next section. (6) raw2dif outputs simply the observation time, variable stars standardised magnitude, and the error on the magnitude to a user-defined file. Magnitude Zero-point Measurement The zero-point is found by measuring the magnitudes of photometric stars with the telescopes, and comparing these to the values found for the stars in the Tycho catalogue. This catalogue uses a separate magnitude system, which can be converted into standard V-band magnitudes using the following formula: (7) The difference in these catalogue magnitudes and the observed values can then be used to show the difference that the specific equipment has made. This is the zero-point magnitude. Period Determination Two programs are used for the period determination, the routine bforce and PDM win 3.0[xvii]. bforce uses a brute force method to find the period of the variability. It attempts to fit the data onto a user generated model of the light curve (with a phase resolution of 0.1), and wrap (or â€Å"fold†) it around a suggested period. The routine then splits the data into a series of bins and estimates the variance in each, as follows; , (8) for observations in each bin. If the trial period is incorrect, there will be a large scatter of magnitudes in each bin, i.e. a large variance. This is compared to the variance of the data set as a whole using an F-test, which is achieved by finding the ratioof bin variance (the explained variance) to total variance (the unexplained variance). For an incorrect estimate of the period ≈ 1, whereas for the correct period The PDM program works in a similar, if more refined way, implementing some of the recent changes in the accepted way of calculating a phase dispersion minimisation period. While still using a variation-based method, it finds the period using a beta-distribution method (designated PDM*) rather than an F-test, as this has been shown to be the correct probability distribution to use[xviii]. It also utilises a GUI with a series of user-set options, for example variable phase resolution. RR Lyrae Theory Subclasses of RR Lyrae Variables From his observations, Bailey noticed three separate subclasses of variable, which have subsequently been compacted into two subclasses (as subclasses a b were very similar). The following is paraphrased from Baileys original description[xix]: * Subclass â€Å"ab†: Very rapid increase of magnitude, with a moderately rapid decrease in mag. Nearly constant mag for approx one half of the full period. Amplitude of roughly one mag and a period of between 12 and 20 hours. * Subclass â€Å"c†: Magnitude always changing, with moderate rapidity. Range generally half a magnitude, with a period of 8 to 10 hours. As our study concerns an RRab type variable, this class shall be primarily discussed. Typical characteristics of RRab stars RR Lyrae stars are large red stars with a low mass, occupying the area of the instability strip on the H-R Diagram (see Fig. 1) between ÃŽ ´-Scuti and Cepheid variables, where it intersects the horizontal branch. They are in the core helium burning stage of their evolution, having exhausted their core hydrogen fuel. Mean physical properties of these variables are under some contention, but a summary of current approximations is provided in Table 1. Period 0.2 1.1 days Mv 0.78  ± 0.02 Te 6404  ± 12 K [Fe/H] -1.56  ± 0.25 Mass 0.55  ± 0.01 Mà ¢Ã‚ ¨Ã¢â€š ¬ Radius 5  ± 1 Rà ¢Ã‚ ¨Ã¢â€š ¬ Table 1. Typical properties of RRab variables. All values are mean values of 335 variable stars[xxi], except period which is a typical rangei. Evolutionary theory It is thought that the progenitor of an RR Lyrae star was a typical low-mass main sequence star, with M* ≈0.8Mà ¢Ã‚ ¨Ã¢â€š ¬. For the first 15 Gyr of its life, the star burns core hydrogen, fusing it into helium. Once the hydrogen supply in the core is exhausted, the star expands to become a red giant, moving off the main sequence and up the giant branch of the Hertzprung-Russell diagram (see Fig. 1), and shell-burning of hydrogen now occurs around an inert helium core. The helium core eventually collapses, becoming electron degenerate, and increases in temperature until the helium in the core ignites using the triple -ÃŽ ± process, causing the â€Å"helium flash†. The cores degeneracy is lost and the star moves off the giant branch asymptotically, down towards the instability strip. At this point it can develop the pulsational properties of an RR Lyrae star, although this will be dependent on its mass, its chemical composition, and its temperaturei. Once the helium core is also used up after around 0.1 Gyr, the star begins to expand and cool again, fuelled only by shell burning of hydrogen and helium. The core never becomes hot enough for the fusion of heavier elements. Eventually all the usable fuel is expended and the star will jettison off its outer layers of material to leave a white dwarf star, shining only through the radiation of internal thermal energy. Pulsation theory The study of pulsation theory owes much to Arthur Eddington, who wrote a series of papers detailing a mathematical description of the properties of stars. Having realised that a radial pulsation in a static star would have a decay time of around 8000 years (much shorter than the length of time stars spend in the instability strip), he proposed that stars behaved as thermodynamic heat engines, using some â€Å"valve mechanism† to regulate energy flow[xxii]. In order to fulfil pulsation, this valve would need to make the star more thermally opaque as the star was compressed, and less opaque as it expanded. Effectively this would cause energy to build up when the star was compressed, forcing the star to swell in size until some turning point was reached and the opacity was small enough that energy could escape, leading to the star contracting again. The Rosseland mean opacity shows the overall opacity of a stellar region, and is defined as follows, (9) where is a constant, is the density of the region, and is temperature. Eddington was unable to come up with a particular material that would possess these properties in a star, particularly as during his time it was not believed that hydrogen or helium made up significant proportions of the inside of stars. It is also the case that neutral hydrogen or helium regions cannot be the â€Å"valve† region, as for these regions and i.e. as increases will decrease. This would lead to the pulsation dying out extremely quickly as all the radiative pressure was lost during contraction. However in 1953 Sergei Zhevakin found that regions of doubly ionised helium would provide an area wherebecomes small or negative, resulting in the desired properties for the gas. It was later shown by R. F. Christy[xxiii] that hydrogen ionisation can play a smaller, but still important, role in the mechanism. Ionisation zones can make another possible contribution to the â€Å"valve† in a star. If the energy from fusion processes cause ionisation in gas regions instead of raising their temperature, then the gas will absorb heat during compression stages, causing a pressure maximum near the minimum volume and thus aiding pulsation. This is known as the mechanism. Different classes of RR Lyrae variable pulsate with different modes. For instance RRab stars all vary in the fundamental mode, whilst RRc stars are pulsating in the first overtone. This is one of the reasons that types â€Å"a† and â€Å"b† can be separated from type â€Å"c† as a separate class. A third class of variables has also been observed, termed RRd type stars, which have a double-mode pulsation, pulsating in the fundamental and first overtone modes simultaneously. However, some RRab stars show a long-timescale second periodicity, known as the Blazhko effect. This is an overarching period that can be anywhere between 30 days and several years. The cause of this effect is unclear, but is believed to come from either a nonlinear resonance effect between the radial fundamental mode and some non-radial mode, or a cyclical rotating magnetic field that deforms the main radial mode of pulsation[xxiv]. Estimation of Absolute Magnitude and Distance RR Lyrae stars are useful for the determination of astronomical distances, especially to regions such as clusters in the Halo, and the Bulge. However, unlike for Cepheids, accurate parallax measurements of distance do not exist for RR Lyrae variables (with the exception of a very few the star RR Lyrae itself for example[xxv]), as the majority of stars are simply too far away for resolution currently[2]. Instead, astronomers look to alternative measurement tools, for example main sequence fitting or the Baade-Wesselink method. Main sequence fitting is the process of determining the distance to a cluster by fitting its colour-magnitude diagram to that of nearby main sequence stars which have a parallax-determined distance. This has produced a wide variety of relations over the last twenty years, but a general relation (that is within error of the majority of current estimates) is given by H. Smithi: (10) The currently favoured method of finding the metallicity is to use the relation, described by Jurcsik Kovà ¡cs in their seminal paper â€Å"Determination of [Fe/H] from the light curves of RR Lyrae stars†[xxvi]. This used a sixth order Fourier decomposition of the light curve to find multiple properties of an RR Lyrae star. When they plotted the data they found the following linear relation: (11) This allows the metallicity to be determined accurately, and then used in the main sequence fitting method to find an accurate absolute magnitude for a star. Finding the absolute magnitudeis important, because it allows for the use of the magnitude equation to determine distance to an object, taking into account the galactic extinction in the direction of the object due to dust and gas in the galactic plane, : (12) The Baade-Wesselink method, originally applied to Cepheid variables, was based on the assumption that a star will have the same surface temperature and brightness at all points of equal colour on the ascending and descending sides of the light curve. This implies that any luminosity variation between two half-phases can be said to be the result of radial differences in the star. Thus a fractional radius change can be measured as. If a radial velocity curve is also plotted for the star, the radius change over the period can be directly measured, and through the combination of these two results a value for the luminosity of the star can be found. This can be used to show the distance to an RR Lyrae star through the relation (13) whereis Stefans Constant, andis the stars effective temperature. However RR Lyrae variables do not behave exactly like Cepheids; for example during stellar expansion the surface gravity is much greater than when the star is contracting, leading to flux redistribution across the surface. This, combined with shock waves permeating through the stellar atmosphere causing distorted radial velocity curves, means that V band photometry is unfortunately useless for applying the Baade-Wesselink method to RR Lyrae stars. The procedure must instead be carried out in (V-H) or (V-K) colours for example, as infra-red wavelengths are less sensitive to the expansion phase distortions[xxvii]. Estimation of Radius Marconi et alxxv have published an equation relating the period of a fundamental mode RR Lyrae star to its average radius; (14) whereis the mean radius (in units of solar radii), is the period (in days), and is the heavier-than-iron metallicity of the star, defined as; xxi, (15) whereis the alpha-enhancement with respect to iron, and is taken to be equal to 1. This is derived from their theoretical predictions of the radial oscillations of a metal poor RR Lyrae, and applies to stars with helium abundances of between (0.24 and 0.28). III. Experimental Methods Preparing the experiment Inital sessions were spent becoming aquainted with the computers Linux-based operating systems, understanding the basics of photometry and exploring the provided software. Several rooftop sessions were attended to gain knowledge of the telescopes provided, and to learn safety procedures associated with the use of the equipment. Due to initial poor weather, previous years data was analysed in order to improve understanding of the provided scripts. A list of RRab targets from the NSVS catalogue[xxviii] was examined to find a suitable object, with a magnitude range visible on the telsecopes available, a period of less than a day, and a high position in the sky. Table 2. Properties of the Telescope and CCD combinations for each dome. Both telescopes were fitted with the same model of V-band filter. Background information on the chosen star (XX And) was found using the SIMBAD database[xxix], and examined to find previous studies, including estimates of period, metallicity, and star type, as well as dates of previously observed maxima. A plot of the field around the star was taken, and used to identify two calibration stars for the photometry ( 3): The calibration stars used were USNOA2.0 numbers 1275-00765817 (cal-star 1) and 1275-00761527 (cal-star 2). They were searched for in various catalogues to verify that they were not known to be variable. The best exposure time for our field was estimated to be 30 seconds with the 14-inch telescope, and 60 seconds with DRACO, so as not to saturate the image. By taking some sample images and viewing them in GAIA, suitable sizes for the apertures were chosen for each telescope. The sizes of the apertures were chosen to enclose the whole star, whilst giving the minimum error. These were then converted from scaled values to numbers of pixels, and entered into seperate â€Å"automag_driver† files for each telescope, along with the specific pixel scale, gain and read-out noise. Telescope Star Sky Inner Sky Outer 14-inch 4.7 14.9 21.4 DRACO 7 25.7 35.1 Table 3. The aperture radii (in pixels) used for each telescope. Firstly, the â€Å"convert† variables were set up. XX Ands RA and Dec in decimal degrees were inserted into a file called â€Å"var_sky_position†, and â€Å"photom.py† was run on the first frame (called for example â€Å"filename.fits†). This produced an output file called â€Å"amag.out† which contained the positions of all the recognised stars in the image, as well as a calibrated image â€Å"dfilename_ast.fits†. By comparing the (x,y) pixel locations in GAIA for the two calibration stars with the data in â€Å"amag.out† the RA and Dec of the calibration stars were noted, and inserted into a text file named â€Å"cal_sky_positions†. Observation of the Variable Observations of the field containing XX And were then taken over a period of 1 month, using both the 14-inch â€Å"Far East† and the 10-inch DRACO telescopes. For the 14-inch, the observing process was as follows: The object was located using the Earth Centre Universe program, the telescope synched and set to track, and the CCD programmed to take around 30 images per sequence at 30 seconds each, with an 8 second dark frame before each new image. For DRACO, the object was found using the provided G.U.I., with care taken to place the variable star and both comparison stars away from dust grains on the CCD. The telescope was set to track, and programmed to take a large number of images with a 60 second exposure. For each new observing session a seperate file was created, containing all the images and the scripts required for automated photometry. For DRACO processing, a master dark file was also copied from the archive. The file â€Å"all.py† was then amended to iterate ov er all the images in the directory, and set running. Once the photometry had completed, the raw2dif routine was run, and the results viewed by running qplot. The data were adjusted to Heliocentric Julian Days by running the cor2hjd routine, and the final tables were copied across to a main results directory to be added to the full table of data. bfplot was run on the full dataset using an estimate for the period, and the phase values from the output file â€Å"fort.30† were killed out and yanked into the dataset file using EMACS. This table was viewed in TOPCAT, and a light curve created. Any clear and accountable anomalies were removed in TOPCAT. To gain a value for the absolute magnitude of XX And, rather than simply an instrumental magnitude, a series of observations were made of photometric stars which had known magnitudes. These are shown in table 4 below: Photometric Star RA Dec Apparent V-band Magnitude 1 1h 18m 20.581s 38 ° 55 38.23 9.847 2 1h 14m 50.729s 38 ° 29 55.80 9.961 3 1h 15m 12.229s 38 ° 49 10.95 9.048 4 1h 16m 39.436s 39 ° 09 38.64 9.735 Table 4: Properties of photometric stars used in the magnitude calibration of XX And. This gave a value for the correction which had to be made to all the observed values for each telescope. The corrections were then applied to the full dataset. An O-C diagram was constructed using the data from the Hipparcos mission, the GEOS RR Lyrae Survey, and also archive data from the GEOS database[xxxi]. The period used was the Hipparcos estimate. Since the newly observed data used HJD, and the archive data was in â€Å"modified HJD†, an addition of 0.5 HJD has to be made to the new data in order to be comparable. The newly observed data was then added to the diagram, and the input period was altered to give the flattest line possible, thus providing a new estimate of the period. The error on the period is given by the slope of the line[xxxii]. Any historical period changes were searched for in the line of the O-C plot. The fast_solve routine was run on all of the summary.obs files, and the comparison stars were checked to see whether or not they were varying. The output model file from fast_solve was edited to include estimates of bin values where there was no actual observational data, and then used in the routine bforce. This was run using the period quoted in the Hipparcos catalogue as the initial period to give an estimate of the new period and its error. The period was also estimated using PDMwin, using an output table from TOPCAT. Errors in the period-finding were estimated using the Jackknife method on both the PDM and bforce programs. This was achieved by recomputing the period, but leaving out one observa