Business Analytics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Analytics - Assignment Example 2. Of the six potential data quality problems such as currency, completeness, relevance, duplication, outliers and inconsistent values and coding, which do you consider as the most difficult to detect and fix and why? This has to be the completeness and relevance of data. In a project involving Big Data, it is almost impossible to correctly anticipate future data requirements. Data that may be useful right now may be of no purpose in future. It is also hard to fully understand what data is relevant for the project and what data is of no purpose. Fixing data incompleteness and irrelevance is a delicate task, as it usually results into altering the entire structure of databases and sometimes affecting the integrity of the entire databases. I consider currency, duplication, outliers and inconsistent values and coding to be relatively easy to fix. Currency conversion is inbuilt in data management systems. Duplication of data is also simple to detect and can be eliminated through the use of primary keys. Outliers, inconsistent values and coding can be removed by the use of tools which detect discrepancies in

Theological Reflection Approach on Practice

Theological Reflection Approach on Practice A written reflection on practice (1,500 words) Rational of the Theological Reflection Approach I have decided to use the Imagination and Spiritual Wisdom approach to this theological reflection because it allows for a deep understanding of the experience and the feelings involved. Then it progresses into creating an image from those feelings and by questioning the image we may develop an insight to what was really happening and use theology to help us to understand this insight. Thus, leading to action or an understanding of future actions in similar events.[1] Thick Description Someone in the church (A) was organising a surprise party for the vicar and his wife (VW) for their 25th wedding anniversary with permission from the rest of the family. They were organising it as a friend and not as a member of the congregation and therefore it was a non-church event. It was mentioned to people in the church as they would obviously be invited as friends of the couple. There was an element of tension between certain members of the congregation as they felt that it should have been done through church and this was expressed to the church wardens, who had also been asked to help with the party, and A. This led to a disagreement between A and another member of the congregation (B) one Sunday morning before the service. This was witnessed by a few people although they could not hear what was being said. It did however turn out that this issue was resolved quickly once tensions had calmed down. The pastoral situation came from someone (J) who had witnessed this altercation. J has been a member of the congregation for many years and has developed a close pastoral relationship with the vicar and his wife and the member of the congregation. She was concerned about how B had be treated through this situation. Over the course of the week various messages had been sent via social media between A, J and various others in the congregation about this altercation, the party in general and views about it. The messages had become somewhat hurtful and not appropriate. J had become quite upset about it and went to speak to the VW to ask if A would stop sending messages to her. J did say that she could not go into detail about the messages and why they had started in the first place as she did not want to spoil the surprise. It transpires that the messages continued to be sent with A convinced that the surprise had be spoiled and was placing the blame towards J. Due to wanting to keep the surprise J contacted myself. I met with J on a Friday evening in church with most of the meeting explaining what had transpired over the past week. J was very agitated and angry about what was happening in terms of the messages. I allowed her to speak and reassured her that I was listening to what was being said but clear that I was not agreeing with her opinion about A although was sympathetic towards her feelings about what had happened. I was also aware that J did not like A but the reason for this was unknown to me. Others had also noticed this dislike and I mentioned this to J. I also pointed out that A was a liked person and people were viewing Js actions as not very nice. J took exception to this comment and defended what she had said and done by saying that something had happened with A in a previous church that none of us were aware of. The meeting concluded with a decision that I would speak to A and ask for the messages to stop, that I would reassure A also that J had not spoiled the surprise, J agreed that she would not respond to any messages that were sent to her in regards to the party or anything else along similar lines. We finished by praying and J thanked me for listening. Feelings 2.1 Reflections on Personal Feelings of the Situation Personally, the whole situation felt a little petty and had no feelings towards this situation and felt that this could be sorted out. Yet I was aware there would need to be further reconciliation of J and A as feelings ran deep of dislike towards each other. 2.2 Reflection on Js Feelings of the Situation The feelings that were clearly visible by J in this situation were: Anger towards A because of the altercation with B Frustration asked for the messages to stop and they had continued Shock she had been challenged over her attitude towards A Power knew information that no one else knew about A When reflecting on these feelings being displayed I felt that the underlying elements to all of this was a sense of jealousy towards A and the VWs newly formed friendship and therefore an element of displacement by J in her relationship, which was ultimately a pastoral one, with VW. Image Based on the feelings mentioned above the image that comes to mind is: This image shows the child-like nature of the situation (the messages sent via social media), the exclusion or perceived exclusion of one from a group, and finally the two who have paired off not being aware of the person or the feelings of the person who has been excluded. Theology 4.1 Biblical Passages The biblical passages that reflect jealousy which could speak into this situation are: Genesis 37 Joseph and his brothers being jealous of his relationship with their father. Proverbs 27.4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand against jealousy? Luke 10.38-42 Mary and Martha being with Jesus Genesis 4 Cain and Abel and the jealousy of how God favoured them Mark 10:35-45 James and John asking to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus and the reaction of the rest of the disciples Reflections on the Biblical Passage Genesis 37 The passage that I felt reflected this situation the best was of Joseph and his brothers being jealous. Joseph receiving his coat from Jacob is a sign of love towards his son to the exclusion of the other sons/brothers. The brothers reaction to this situation was one that led to Joseph being separated from his family as they sold him to be a slave. The brothers reaction could not be hidden within them but was publicly acknowledged between them and towards Joseph himself with a lack of greeting or salutation.[2] The selling of Joseph should not have happened, and was not actually planned but the opportunistic nature of the brothers, brought a situation to pass which ultimately was used by God for a greater purpose (Gen. 50.20). The hatching of a plan to tell Jacob about the death of Joseph had wider issues for the brother as their fathers grief was great. [3] The brothers jealousy led to the pain of Joseph as a slave and then in prison. The pain of Jacob in the act of grief over Joseph, the story does not tell us of the life of the brothers and Jacob but the grief would have been a long running issue within the house hold. The brothers had to live with knowing that they had caused this grief. Parallels between the Thick Description and Biblical Passage If the people in the thick description were the biblical characters it would be: A was Joseph, J was the brothers, VW was Jacob and to an extent I was the caravan of Ishmaelites. Js jealousy of A was great and in effect trying to sell A to me as someone who was of no value and a trouble maker. Reflecting on this now I could see that if this was to carry on then there could be great pain for VW in the long term and then the ripple effect of this amongst the church community. New Insights and Action Reflecting on the theology of Joseph and this pastoral care situation I would have addressed it in the following way: Not challenged Js behaviour towards A in the initial instance. I should have listened to the problem that was being raised and dealt with that in the way that I did. I would have then arranged another meeting with J to discuss her behaviour and attitude towards A. In a follow up pastoral care situation I would have addressed the feelings of J towards the relationship between A and VW. I would have asked her to share how seeing the relationship form made her feel and why she felt that this might be an issue. Hopefully over time she would have seen her jealousy was not necessarily something that should have been an issue. This may have taken a few pastoral encounters to come to a conclusion. There may have also been a need for a time of reconciliation between J and A and also a session between J, A and VW to discuss the feelings between the three of them. I would have been a good person to facilitate this as I was neutral in the situation and had a relationship with the people involved where there could be honesty and openness. Word Count: 1563 Appendix 1 This situation was part of a larger situation that soon unravelled within the church community so the new actions and insights are speculative as to how I would have handled the situation if it had continued. Bibliography Killen, Patricia OConnell, and John De Beer, The Art Of Theological Reflection, 1st edn (New York: Crossroad, 2014) Longman, Tremper, How To Read Genesis, 1st edn (Downers Grove, Ill.: Authentic Media, 2005) Mounce, William D, The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance Of The Holy Bible, 1st edn (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2002) Thompson, Judith, Stephen Pattison, and Ross Thompson, SCM Studyguide To Theological Reflection, 1st edn (London: SCM Press, 2008) UpChurch, John, and Association Counselors, Genesis 37:4 Commentary John Gills Exposition Of The Bible, Bible Study Tools,2017 [accessed 17 March 2017] [1] Killen and Beer, The Art of Theological Reflection, p. 21 [2] UpChurch, Exposition of the Bible, [3] Longman, How to Read Genesis, p.151

Utilitarianism And Kantian Ethics Essay -- essays research papers fc

Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics Ethics is one part of philosophy that will always be studied, and like most subjects in philosophy, will never be viewed the same by everyone. There are so many cultures that have so many different beliefs about the way a person's life should be lived out. Things like religion, poverty, and mental health all contribute to our beliefs in ethics. Some people believe that the mental state of a person or the motive for that person committing a crime should be factors when sentencing time comes. Others think that no matter the situation, a crime is a crime, and no compassion should be felt for the guilty. In the studies of philosophy these beliefs are put into two categories: utilitarian, witch would give leeway to the guilty depending on the circumstances, and Kantian, were a crime is a crime, no matter the motives involved. John Stuart Mill (1808-73) believed in an ethical theory known as utilitarianism. There are many formulations of this theory. One which is, "Everyone should act in such a way to bring the largest possibly balance of good over evil for everyone involved." However, good is a relative term. Utilitarians disagreed on what good really is. Mill made a distinction between happiness and sheer sensual pleasure. He defines happiness in terms of higher order pleasure (i.e. social enjoyments). In his Utilitarianism (1861), Mill described this principle as follows: According to the Greatest Happiness Principle †¦ The ultimate end, end, in reference to and for the sake of all other things that are desirable, (whether we are considering our own good or that of other people), is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and is rich in enjoyments. Therefore, based on this statement, three ideas may be identified: (1) The goodness of an act may be determined by the consequ ences of that act. (2) Consequences are determined by the amount of happiness or unhappiness caused. (3) A "good" man is one who considers the other man's pleasure (or pain) as equally as his own. Each person's happiness is equally important. Mill believed that a free act is not an undetermined act. It is determined by the unconstrained choice of the person performing the act. Either external or internal forces compel an unfree act. Mill also determined that every ... ...rue to their soul. To have a "healthy personality" one must believe in his decisions. Everyday people make decisions that affect other people. Weather the decisions are made by weighing the consequences that affect other people or if the decisions are made without debate on who it will hurt is up to each individual. No matter the choice, the basic concept is to choose good over evil to ones best ability. The moral way to make decisions will never be written in stone, even modern law is mixed up in the Utilitarian and Kantian beliefs. The law says that a crime is a crime, but in our courts lawyers debate over motives, consequences, and push for sympathy for the accused. The debate over whose way is the right way will never be resolved, but man will always ask who is right. Word count: 1,138 Works Cited Lavine, T.Z. From Socrates to Sartre: the Philosophic Quest New York: Bantam Books. 1984 Wolff, Robert Paul Ten Great Works of Philosophy New York: New American Library, 1996 Wolff, Robert Paul About Philosophy New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 7th Edition, 1998 Microsoft Corporation Encarta Encyclopedia 1999

The Role of Education in Plato’s Republic

The role and significance of education with regard to political and social institutions is a subject that has interested political philosophers for millennia. In particular, the views of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, as evidenced in The Republic, and of the pre-Romantic philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau in his Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, present a striking juxtaposition of the two extremes of the ongoing philosophical and political debate over the function and value of education. In this paper, I will argue that Rousseau's repudiation of education, while imperfect and offering no remedy to the ills it disparages, is superior inasmuch as it comes closer to the truth of things than does Plato's idealized conceptions. To do so, I will first examine Plato's interpretation of the role of education and its function in shaping the structure of society and government and in producing good citizens. I will then introduce Rousseau's view of education and the negative effects of the civilized culture which it produces, and using this view, will attempt to illustrate the naivete and over-idealization of Plato's notions. Finally, I will attempt to demonstrate that it is Rousseau's view, rather than Plato's, that is ultimately more significant in assessing the actual (vs. idealized) merits (or lack thereof, in Rousseau's case) by which education should be judged with regard to the nurturance of good citizens. For Plato, the question of the role of education arises near the end of Book II (377e), after a discussion of both the necessary and consequent attributes of Socrates' kallipolis or â€Å"Ideal City. Such a city, Socrates argues, will, before long, have need of both a specialization of labor (in order for the greatest level of diversity and luxury of goods to be achieved) and of the establishment of a class of â€Å"Guardians† to protect the city from its envious neighbors and maintain order within its walls (i. e. , to police and govern the city). This, in turn, leads inexorably to the question of what attributes the Ideal City will require of its Guardians, and how best to foster such attributes. The early, childhood education of the Guardians, Socrates argues, is the key. What, then, asks Socrates, should children be taught, and when? This quickly leads to a discussion of censorship. Socrates cites a number of questionable passages from Homer which cannot, he thinks, be allowed in education, since they represent dishonorable behavior and encourage the fear of death. The dramatic form of much of this poetry is also suspect: it puts unworthy words into the mouths of gods & heroes. Socrates suggests that what we would call â€Å"direct quotation† must be strictly limited to morally-elevating speech. Nothing can be permitted that compromises the education of the young Guardians, as it is they who will one day rule and protect the city, and whom the lesser-constituted citizens of the polis will attempt to emulate, assimilating, via the imitative process of mimesis, to the Myth (or â€Å"noble lie†) of the Ideal City in which justice is achieved when everyone assumes their proper role in society. The process of mimesis, is, of course, yet another form of education, in which those of Iron and Bronze natures are â€Å"instructed† and inspired by the superior intelligence and character of the Gold and Silver members of the Guardian class. It is therefore a form of education without which the polis cannot operate. Thus, for Guardian and ordinary citizen alike, the education of the young and the continuing â€Å"instruction† of the citizenry are crucial. In addition to these aspects, Plato also conceives of another function of education, and one which is quite significant in its relation to Rousseau's views. For Plato, education and ethics are interdependent. To be ethical, in turn, requires a twofold movement: movement away from immersion in concrete affairs to thinking and vision of unchanging order and structures (such as justice) and then movement back from dialectic to participation and re-attachment in worldly affairs. It is a temptation to become an abstract scholar. But the vision of the good is the vision of what is good for oneself and the city — of the common good. If one does not return to help his fellow human beings, he becomes selfish and in time will be less able to see what is good, what is best. An unselfish devotion to the good requires an unselfish devotion to the realization of this good in human affairs. Just as the purpose of understanding order and limits in one's own life is to bring about order and restraint in one's own character and desires, the understanding of justice requires application in the public sphere (through education). A man who forgets the polis is like a man who forgets he has a body. Plato thus advocates educating both the body and the city (for one needs both), not turning one's back on them. If education is, for Plato, the means by which man comes to fully realize (through society) his potential as a human being and by which society as a whole is in turn elevated, for Rousseau it is quite the opposite. Education, argues Rousseau, does not elevate the souls of men but rather corrodes them. The noble mimesis which lies at the heart of education in Plato's kallipolis is for Rousseau merely a slavish imitation of the tired ideas of antiquity. The ill effects of this imitation are manifold. Firstly, argues Rousseau, when we devote ourselves to the learning of old ideas, we stifle our own creativity and originality. Where is there room for original thought, when, in our incessant efforts to impress one another with our erudition, we are constantly spouting the ideas of others? In a world devoid of originality, the mark of greatness, intelligence, and virtue is reduced to nothing more than our ability to please others by reciting the wisdom of the past. This emphasis on originality is in marked contrast with Plato, who finds no value in originality, deeming it antithetical to a polis otherwise unified by shared Myths of the Ideal City and of Metals. Rousseau rejects this â€Å"unity†, rightly denouncing it as a form of slavery , in which humanity's inherent capacity for spontaneous, original self-expression is replaced with the yoking. of the mind and the will to the ideas of others, who are often long dead. In addition to suppressing the innate human need for originality, education (and the appetite for â€Å"culture† and â€Å"sophistication† that it engenders) causes us to conceal ourselves, to mask our true natures, desires, and emotions. We become artificial and shallow, using our social amenities and our knowledge of literature, etc. , to present a pleasing but deceptive face to the world, a notion quite at odds with the ideas of Plato. We assume, in Rousseau's words, â€Å"the appearance of all virtues, without being in possession of one of them. Finally, argues Rousseau, rather than strengthening our minds and bodies and (a critical point) moving us towards that which is ethical, as Plato contends, education and civilization effeminate and weaken us physically and (perhaps most significantly) mentally, and cause us, in this weakness, to stoop to every manner of depravity and injustice against one another. â€Å"External ornaments,† writes Rousseau, â€Å"are no less foreign to virtue, which is the strength and activity of the mind. The honest man is an athlete, who loves to wrestle stark naked; he scorns all those vile trappings, which prevent the exertion of his strength, and were, for the most part, invented only to conceal some deformity. † Virtue, as opposed to Plato's conception, is an action, and results not from the imitation inherent in mimesis, but rather in the activity — in the exercise — of the body, mind and soul. Education, however, demands imitation, demands a modeling upon what has been successful. How, then, do we rightly assess the merits of education with regard to its it molding of the public character — in its ability to produce â€Å"good† citizens. The answer to this hinges, I submit, on how we choose to define the â€Å"good† citizen. Clearly, if obedience (or â€Å"assimilation to a political ideology†, or perhaps â€Å"voluntary servitude†) is the hallmark of the good citizen, then we must regard Plato's disposition towards education as the proper one. However, obedience, despite its obvious centrality to the smooth operation of society (as we would have social chaos were it completely absent), has its useful limits. Over-assimilation to a political idea or â€Å"blueprint† is every bit as dangerous — indeed, far more so — as the utter under-assimilation of anarchy. For those inclined to dispute this, I would urge them to review the history of Nazi Germany as perhaps the definitive example of what sad, awful spectacles of injustice we humans are capable of when we trade in our mental and spiritual autonomy for the convenient apathy and faceless anonymity of the political ideal. Furthermore, if , as Rousseau contends, our civilization is such that, â€Å"Sincere friendship, real esteem, and perfect confidence [in each other] are banished from among men,† what is the quality of the society for which education — any modern education — purports to prepares us? When, â€Å"Jealousy, suspicion, fear coldness, reserve, hate, and fraud lie constantly concealed under †¦ [a] uniform and deceitful veil of politeness,† what is left to us to educate citizens for, other than the pleasure we seem to derive in pedantic displays of hoary knowledge? If we remove the civility from â€Å"civilization†, what remains to us that any education will remedy?

Football teams for the prison inmates Essay

Starting in the early 1930’s, state penitentiary facilities began forming football teams for the inmates. Because many people of that time thought this was inappropriate, prison football teams did not become common until the 1970’s. They play a 16-game season in the fall and have a prison Super Bowl in December. Each facility has 3 teams of 25 players each, with 8 players per team on the field at a time (5 linemen and 3 backs) instead of the usual 11, due to the smaller fields. The convicts compete with the teams within the prison, as well as with teams from other prisons within the state, and willing semi-pro teams. The coaches and players are selected by the facility officials after tryouts, some of which who make it on the teams actually having experience from college and pro football leagues before incarceration. The equipment is donated by state colleges and high schools, and ultimately does not cost the prison hardly any money. But do the full-contact games ever get out of hand? â€Å"In the beginning, almost every game ended in a fistfight. But I think the program is more organized and better supervised now. Overall, the players display good sportsmanship, while at the same time venting a lot of frustrations† says prison guard and referee, Stan Cioccia. So what could prison football be compared to? Babe Wood, prison athletics director at the Tennessee State Prison, has an answer. â€Å"I’d say teams are equal to a junior college team. Once there was a player here from Memphis who could have made any major college team in the country. It’s so sad to see a talent like that wasted. † But what thoughts do students have on a prison football league? â€Å"I think it’s probably better that the inmates are relieving tension through football, as opposed to beating up each other† answered Briana Egger (10). However, Parents of the students had different opinions. â€Å"If you committed a crime bad enough to get yourself into the state penitentiary, then I don’t think you should have the privilege of playing sports† countered Carla Murphy.