The Chained Women: When Religion and the State Intersect :: Free Essays Online

The Chained Women: When Religion and the State Intersect When Israel was conceived as a Jewish state, questions arose over the division between the religious and the secular. Judaism is grounded in halakha, a detailed set of laws which guides observant Jews, but debate continues over whether Israel should adopt these religious laws to govern a largely secular population. Contradictions exist between the ancient laws and modern ideals, especially regarding women’s rights. Most developed states strive to enact laws that treat men and women fairly, but in Israel, where the rabbinical courts still adhere to ancient Jewish law, women’s rights suffer. Divorce laws in particular give men excessive power over their wives, resulting in large numbers of women being denied their basic human right to marriage and family. According to halakhic law, a marriage can only be terminated in two ways: the death of a spouse, or the giving of a get. A get is a formal statement of divorce which can only be granted by the husband to his wife, and he can refuse to give a get indefinitely. Until a get is both given and accepted, the wife remains an agunah, a chained woman. She cannot remarry, and any child born to an agunah becomes a mamzer, a bastard child (Haut 17). A husband who withholds a get is guilty of violating Article Sixteen of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the right to marriage and family), but is not violating halakhic law and has the support of the rabbinical courts in Israel. Usually giving and accepting a get is a routine part of divorce proceedings in Israel, but a get is sometimes used as a bargaining tool during a divorce. A man can refuse to release a â€Å"chained woman† until he receives a divorce settlement he prefers. If she refuses to accept an unfair or demeaning settlement, then she remains an agunah. According to the Israel Women’s Network, â€Å"estimates of the number of ‘anchored’ women in Israel today vary, the rabbinate claiming that there are ‘only’ some 500, while women’s organizations claim that there are thousands† (IWN).

Search for Identity in It’s Hard Enough Being Me :: Synthesis Essays

Search for Identity in It’s Hard Enough Being Me  Ã‚     Ã‚   In the essay "It’s Hard Enough Being Me," Anna Lisa Raya relates her experiences as a multicultural American at Columbia University in New York and the confusion she felt about her identity. She grew up in L.A. and mostly identified with her Mexican background, but occasionally with her Puerto Rican background as well. Upon arriving to New York however, she discovered that to everyone else, she was considered "Latina." She points out that a typical "Latina" must salsa dance, know Mexican history, and most importantly, speak Spanish. Raya argues that she doesn’t know any of these things, so how could this label apply to her? She’s caught between being a "sell-out" to her heritage, and at the same time a "spic" to Americans. She adds that trying to cope with college life and the confusion of searching for an identity is a burden. Anna Raya closes her essay by presenting a piece of advice she was given on how to deal with her identity. She was told that she should try to satisfy herself and not worry about other people’s opinions. Anna Lisa Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American as well as an important insight into how people of multicultural backgrounds handle the labels that are placed upon them, and the confusion it leads to in the attempt to find an identity. Searching for an identity in a society that seeks to place a label on each individual is a difficult task, especially for people of multicultural ancestry. Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American, because it is told from an actual multicultural author’s viewpoint. It gives the reader a sense that the information is accurate. It would be harder to accept the viewpoint if the author were for example, a white male writing about how a Mexican, Puerto Rican woman feels. As Connie Young Yu points out, information retold by someone who didn’t live the experiences is most often falsely perceived. Yu uses the example of white American historians writing about the lives of Chinese immigrants. Yu says that there is no accurate account for the lives of the immigrants, because they didn’t document their lives themselves. The little information that there is in history books only tells about their obvious accomplishments. There is no official understanding of their personal lives or feelings (Yu 30).

Global Communications Essay

While thanking you for the opportunity provided to research on Toyota company, there are several issues that neither be possible explained in detail in this letter nor directly in conversation. It is an agreeable fact that, Toyota is marginally successful in these global trade times in spite of stiff competition. A great strength of the company exists in its innovative and exchange of technology. There are several internal problems for the company in production process, workforce and even in marketing of cars. Toyota company is a middle class and commercial automobile company, which is meeting a great requirement of migrant workers and small businesses which are developing each new day especially in U. S, which is being cashed in by Toyota company. However there are major concerns of global crude oil price which has reached $100. 00 per barrel and a concern of global warming and emission of greenhouse gases, CO2, vehicle pollution are some of the major threats that Toyota has to work with in order to sustain in the market. Enclosing herewith a synopsis for your perusal and information. Sincerely, Paulbright Synopsis on Toyota Toyota company is a multinational company in manufacture of automobiles. There are millions of customers who are using Toyota cars on a daily basis for office going and for other commercial purposes. Especially in U. S. Toyota cars are extremely in use and even in the recent years, Toyota company has posted a rapid growth by its successful brand Prius Hybrid vehicle. Many experts in automobiles are of the opinion that Toyota has established â€Å"green image† in automobile market. Toyota company mark as a monopoly did not leave the company without problems in spite of its remarkable success. The problems are in various measures such as internal and external which the company’s management has to deal with. Although Toyota company is performing fairly well as compared with competitors there are problems of defective engines, designs and production problems which reflect in fall of sales. Particularly with regard to safety defects in Toyota vehicles is of a major concern to the company. Toyota company has a great experience in adoption of new technologies, innovation of technology and exchange of technology. However, with the emerge of globalisation, there is a stiff competition in the market, which brings in new kind of marketing problems, employment problems and other management problems to the company, whereas it is an agreeable fact that when there are problems, solution exists within the problem whether it is in production, workforce or marketing and these require proper identification of sources of problem, analysis and strategies to counter-attack the problem in order to keep the growth of the company. Especially with global fuel price rise in oil market, bringing a new major concern to Toyota company, which discourages customers to purchase petrol or diesel driven automobiles with the fact that fuel filling is quite expensive. Therefore Toyota company has launched Toyota FCHW which runs with Hydrogen have also entered consumer market as substitute vehicles for petrol and diesel. These hydrogen vehicles also help in less emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. In spite of the acute measure of problems, Toyota company has been endeavoring constantly pursuing comfort with technology aid and in introducing more outperforming and outstanding vehicles into the cars market. Running head: GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS 202, Chenoy Avenue St. Joseph’s street Las Vegas – 232 001 (xxx) (xxx xxx) paulbright@yahoo. com February 3, 2008 Mr. Noel Park Automobile Consultant 222, Business Trade center California – 452 005 Dear Mr. Park, Thanks indeed for the good opportunity to research on General Motors. It was a knowledgeable experience in finding some key facts about the company. General Motors is truly facing a halted position in U. S market and is doing very well outside U. S. However, retaining a proportionate share of domestic market is considered to be good at all times with the fact that â€Å"one does not lose battle on one’s own ground† . Have stated some of the alternative measures of strategies General Motors has to undertake with immediate effect and mode of change in operational methods. Enclosing herewith synopsis of General Motors for your perusal and for further necessary action. Sincerely, Paulbright Synopsis on General Motors Another multinational company General Motors with huge and massive successful track of business for several decades, has come to a stage of halt in U. S market as its competitors Toyota, Honda,Hyundai and Nissan have built a proportionate consumer market in U. S. It is an acceptable fact that, General Motors brands of cars are extremely of efficient functioning and due to changing times of global trade entering domestic market, GM has lost sales in an uneven field. This gives out another fact that losing U. S market does not mean that GM has lost consumer market in other countries viz. , Canada, Europe, Asia and many other parts of the world. GM luxury cars Chevrolet, Saturn, Pontiac, GMC, Saab, Hummer and several other models of car have to be made available in market with super special features of advanced technology with cost effective pricing. As a matter of fact, although middle class consumer market is extensive and wide, luxury cars have always retained a unique identity in the market such as in Benz cars, BMW and Lexus. In other words, General Motors must work on innovative manufacturing and marketing strategies in order to maintain its yester years reputation and to keep the sale of cars in high numbers even in losing ground of U. S. market. GM must also work to evolve new methods of marketing to prevent loss of consumer market in North America with the fact that North America has a huge market even if it is for luxury cars. Therefore, General Motors while pursuing other export market, a part of its concentration must also be ventured in North America consumer market. With an apparent fact of severe battle with competitors, General Motors has also been confronted with workforce problems by cutting 30,000 jobs and closure of a dozen plants due to company’s record of loss which posted nearly to $4 billion in 2005. â€Å"GM sought to destroy small dealers through their so-called secret Project 2000, which GM defined as the systematic elimination of small dealerships by the year 2000, and was designed to consolidate car sales at large auto malls,† (Horvath). Running head: GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS 202, Chenoy Avenue St. Joseph’s street Las Vegas – 232 001 (xxx) (xxx xxx) paulbright@yahoo. com February 3, 2008 Mr. Noel Park Automobile Consultant 222, Business Trade center California – 452 005 Dear Mr. Park, With regard to the synopsis of Toyota and General Motors, the following are some of the key findings. (a) The scenario of Toyota and General Motors is fair and competitive. Both the companies have internal, external and operational method problems. General Motors is partly facing a financial crunch due to its fall in sales and this can be prevented on undertaking of new marketing strategies in U. S as well in other parts of the world where GM branded cars are mostly in want. (b) Problems of production, workforce, management are plenty in Toyota whereas General Motors has slashed jobs and have closed plants in many countries as a precautionary measure. It can always be presumed that these plants would be restored to production as and when the company regains its market. (c) No company can meet every demand of a customer whereas every model of car has a particular design and technicality and with this fact, it can be concluded that branded cars always retain its reputation even though new entries are available in the market at low cost. The trend in market is never constant and it keeps changing and General Motors has an opportunity to watch this trend of consumer market and must restore its marketing strategies. References Michael Kowalski (2007), Rapid Growth has lead to problems for Toyota Accessed February 3, 2008 http://www. glgroup. com/News/Rapid-Growth-has-lead-to-problems-for-Toyota-18827. html Should President Bush be focused on moving forward with Hydrogen? Accessed February 3, 2008 http://hydrogendiscoveries. wordpress. com/ Books Cornelius Herstatt (2005) Management of Technology And Innovation in Japan Accessed February 3, 2008 http://books. google. com/books? id=KC7zgDeAnc8C&pg=PR22&lpg=PR19&dq=toyota+company+problems+and+solutions&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=7ATxnpTUENdyS6Dd22CkmAh24ko General Motors GM: Solutions for effective change Accessed February 3, 2008 http://ezinearticles. com/? GM:-Solutions-For-Effective-Change&id=152642 General Motors problems are no secret, but few know why they exist: Insider provides answer in New Book ‘Project 2000’

The Underwriting Challenges Facing P.S.V. Insurers in Kenya

Rational Choice Theory: An Overview by Steven L. Green Professor of Economics and Statistics Chair, Department of Economics Baylor University Prepared for the Baylor University Faculty Development Seminar on Rational Choice Theory May 2002  © 2002, Steven L. Green It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. -Winston ChurchillIt seems easy to accept that rationality involves many features that cannot be summarized in terms of some straightforward formula, such as binary consistency. But this recognition does not immediately lead to alternative characterizations that might be regarded as satisfactory, even though the inadequacies of the traditional assumptions of rational behaviour standardly used in economic theory have become hard to deny. It will not be an easy task to find replacements for the standard assumptions of rational behaviour †¦ hat can be found in the traditional economic literature, both because the identified deficiencies have been seen as calling for rather divergent remedies, and also because there is little hope of finding an alternative assumption structure that will be as simple and usable as the traditional assumptions of self-interest maximization, or of consistency of choice. – Amartya Sen (1990, p. 206) 1. Introduction Rational Choice Theory is an approach used by social scientists to understand human behavior.The approach has long been the dominant paradigm in economics, but in recent decades it has become more widely used in other disciplines such as Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology. This spread of the rational choice approach beyond conventional economic issues is discussed by Becker (1976), Radnitzky and Bernholz (1987), Hogarth and Reder (1987), Swedberg (1990), and Green and Shapiro (1996). The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of rational choice theory for the non-specialist.I first outline the basic assumptions of the ra tional choice approach, then I provide several examples of its use. I have chosen my examples to illustrate how widely the rational choice method has been applied. In the paper I also discuss some ideas as to why the rational choice approach has become more prevalent in many disciplines in recent years. One idea is that the rational choice approach tends to provide opportunities for the novel confirmation of theories. I argue that these opportunities are the result primarily of the mathematical nature of the approach.I then consider several issues raised by rational choice theory. First, I compare the limited meaning of â€Å"rationality† in rational choice theory with the more general definitions of the term use by philosophers. Second, I describe some of the main criticisms that have been levied against the rational choice approach. Third, I consider the limitations of rational choice models as guides to public policy. Fourth, I review some Christian perspectives on the rat ional choice appraoch.I end the paper by outlining three sets of questions I would like us to discuss in the faculty development seminar. Before I proceed, an apology and a caveat are in order. I apologize for the length of this paper. The British publisher Lord Beaverbrook once apologized to a friend for sending a five- page letter, saying he did not have time to write a one-page letter. I have the same sentiment here. The caveat is that my discussion of the rational choice theory in this paper is necessarily simplistic, so the reader should not take it as definitive.If some element of the theory seems suspect in some way, there will nearly always be an advanced version of the theory published somewhere that is more subtle and nuanced. Most statements in this paper are subject to qualification along many lines, so the reader should view what I present here keeping in mind the goal of the paper, which is only to give the reader some sense of the overall flavor of the rational choice approach. 2. Basic Assumptions about Choice DeterminationRational Choice Theory generally begins with consideration of the choice behavior of one or more individual decision-making units – which in basic economics are most often consumers and/or firms. The rational choice theorist often presumes that the individual decision-making unit in question is â€Å"typical† or â€Å"representative† of some larger group such as buyers or sellers in a particular market. Once individual behavior is established, the analysis generally moves on to examine how individual choices interact to produce outcomes.A rational choice analysis of the market for fresh tomatoes, for example, would generally involve a description of (i) the desired purchases of tomatoes by buyers, (ii) the desired production and sales of tomatoes by sellers, and (iii) how these desired purchases and desired sales interact to determine the price and quantity sold of tomatoes in the market. The typical toma to buyer is faced with the problem of how much of his income (or more narrowly, his food budget) to spend on tomatoes as opposed to some other good or service.The typical tomato seller is faced with the problem of how many tomatoes to produce and what price to charge for them. Exactly how does the buyer choose how much of his income to spend on tomatoes? Exactly how does the seller choose how many tomatoes to produce and what price to charge? One could imagine a number of answers to these questions. They might choose based on custom or habit, with current decisions simply a continuation of what has been done (for whatever reason) in the past. The decisions might be made randomly.In contrast, the rational choice approach to this problem is based on the fundamental premise that the choices made by buyers and sellers are the choices that best help them achieve their objectives, given all relevant factors that are beyond their control. The basic idea behind rational choice theory is tha t people do their best under prevailing circumstances. What is meant, exactly, by â€Å"best achieve their objectives† and â€Å"do their best? † The discussion in this section will emphasize the choices of consumers. 1] The rational choice theory of consumer behavior is based on the following axioms regarding consumer preferences:[2] 1) The consumer faces a known set of alternative choices. 2) For any pair of alternatives (A and B, say), the consumer either prefers A to B, prefers B to A, or is indifferent between A and B. This is the axiom of completeness. 3) These preferences are transitive. That is, if a consumer prefers A to B and B to C, then she necessarily prefers A to C. If she is indifferent between A and B, and indifferent between B and C, then she is necessarily indifferent between A and C. ) The consumer will choose the most preferred alternative. [3] If the consumer is indifferent between two or more alternatives that are preferred to all others, he or sh e will choose one of those alternatives — with the specific choice from among them remaining indeterminate. When economists speak of â€Å"rational† behavior, they usually mean only behavior that is in accord with the above axioms. I consider the definition of â€Å"rationality† in more detail near the end of the paper below. Rational choice theories usually represent preferences with a utility function.This is a mathematical function that assigns a numerical value to each possible alternative facing the decision maker. As a simple example, suppose a consumer purchases two goods. Let x denote the number of units of good 1 consumed and y denote the number of units of good 2 consumed. The consumer’s utility function is given by U = U(x,y), where the function U( ·, ·) assigns a number (â€Å"utility†) to any given set of values for x and y. [4] The properties of a large number of specific function forms for U( ·, ·) have been considered. 5] Th e analysis is by no means restricted to two goods, though in many cases the analyst finds it convenient to assume that x is the good of interest is and y is a â€Å"composite good† representing consumption of everything but good x. The function U( ·, ·) is normally assumed to have certain properties. First, it is generally assumed that more is preferred to less – so that U rises with increases in x and with increases in y. Another way of saying this is to say that marginal utility is positive – where the term â€Å"marginal utility† is the change in utility associated with a small increase in the quantity of a good consumed.The second property of U( ·, ·) is that of diminishing marginal utility, which means that the (positive) marginal utility of each good gets smaller and smaller the more of the good that is being consumed in the first place. One’s first Dr. Pepper after a workout yields quite a lot of satisfaction. By the fifth or sixth, the additional satisfaction, while still positive, is much smaller. An important result in consumer theory is that a preference relationship can be represented by a utility function only if the relationship satisfies completeness and transitivity.The converse (that any complete and transitive preference relation may be represented by a utility function) is also true provided that the number of alternative choices is finite. [Mas-Collel, Whinston, and Green (1995, p. 9)] If the number of possible alternative choices is infinite, it may not be possible to represent the preference relation with a utility function. Rational choice analysis generally begins with the premise that some agent, or group of agents, is [are] maximizing utility – that is, choosing the preferred alternative. This is only part of the story, however.Another important element of the choice process is the presence of constraints. The presence of constraints makes choice necessary, and one virtue of rational c hoice theory is that it makes the trade-offs between alternative choices very explicit. A typical constraint in a simple one-period consumer choice problem is the budget constraint, which says that the consumer cannot spend more than her income. Multi-period models allow for borrowing, but in that case the constraint is that the consumer must be able to repay the loan in the future.The use of utility functions means the idea of agents making the preferred choices from among available alternatives is translated into a mathematical exercise in constrained optimization. That is, an agent is assumed to make the feasible choice (feasible in a sense that it is not prohibited by constraints) that results in the highest possible value of his or her utility function. Constrained optimization methods (based on either calculus or set theory) are well developed in mathematics. The solution to the constrained optimization problem generally leads to a decision rule.The decision rule shows how uti lity-maximizing choices vary with changes in circumstances such as changes in income or in the prices of goods. A third element of rational choice analysis involves assumptions about the environment in which choices are made. Simple economic models are often restricted to choices made in markets, with emphasis on how much of each good or service consumers want to purchase (or firms want to produce and sell) under any given set of circumstances. A fourth element of rational choice analysis is a discussion of how the choices of different agents are made consistent with one another.A situation with consistent choices in which each agent is optimizing subject to constraints is called equilibrium. In the fresh tomato market, for example, the choices of buyers and sellers are consistent if the quantity of tomatoes consumers want to purchase at the prevailing price is equal to the quantity that firms want to produce and sell at that price. In this as in other simple market models, price pl ays a key role in the establishment of equilibrium. If consumers want to purchase more than firms are producing, the price will be bid upward, which will induce more production by firms and reduce desired purchases by consumers.If consumers want to purchase less than firms are producing, the resulting glut will force prices down, which will reduce production by firms and increase purchases by consumers. Fifth and last, in the absence of strong reasons to do otherwise such as the imposition of price controls by the government, the analyst employing rational choice theory will generally assume that equilibrium outcomes in the model are adequate representations of what actually happens in the real world.This means, in the above example, that a rational choice theorist would explain changes in the actual price of tomatoes observed in the real world by looking for possible causes of changes in the equilibrium price of tomatoes in her model. Extensions The basic rational choice theory des cribed above has been extended in a number of ways. I will consider four important ones in this section, though there are of course many others. First, the basic theory accounts only for choice at a given time – that is, the model is static.In contrast, a dynamic (or intertemporal) model allows the agent to plan for the future as well as make choices in the present. In a dynamic model, the agent is still assumed to maximize utility, but the concept of utility is generalized to include not only present satisfaction but also future satisfaction. The agent does not just make choices today – he makes a plan for current and future choices. In this case, it may well be â€Å"rational† to sacrifice (e. g. , consume less or work more) today in order to obtain some better outcome tomorrow. The dynamic formulation is an essential element of theories of saving and investment.One issue that arises in dynamic models is that of discounting. In most dynamic models, the agents under consideration are assumed to prefer (other things equal) a given level of consumption in the present to a given level of consumption in the future. Consider a model with two periods, 1 and 2. Let U1 denote the agent’s utility in period 1 and U2 denote utility in period 2. (U1 and U2 can depend on a number of factors, some of which can be controlled by the agent. ) The agent would then be assumed to formulate a plan for periods 1 and 2 to maximize the sum V = U1 + ?  ·U2, where 0 < ? < 1 is the â€Å"discount factor. [6] A specification of ? < 1 means that a given utility is worth less to the agent in the future than in the present, and is denoted a â€Å"positive rate of time preference† or simply â€Å"time preference. † A justification for time preference is given by Olson and Bailey (1981). Elster (1984, pp. 66ff) summarizes the opposing view that â€Å"†¦ for an individual the very fact of having time preferences, over and above what is justif ied by the fact that we are mortal, is irrational and perhaps immoral as well. † In any case, dynamic models with positive time preference are pervasive in the rational choice literature.The basic rational choice model assumes all outcomes are known with certainty. A second extension of the basic model involves explicit treatment of uncertainty. This is important in rational choice models of crime, for example, where a rational agent is assumed to consider the chance he or she will be apprehended while committing a criminal act. The rational choice model is extended to allow for uncertainty by assuming the agent maximizes expected utility. Uncertainty is characterized by a probability distribution that assigns a likelihood (probability) to each possible outcome.Suppose there are two possible outcomes (for example, the prospective criminal is apprehended while committing a crime, or not apprehended while committing the crime), which we can denote outcome A and outcome B. Let pA denote the probability that outcome A will occur pB denote the probability of outcome B. With these as the only possible outcomes, it is clear that pA + pB = 1 — that is, there is a 100% chance that either A or B will occur. Let U(A) be the agent’s utility with outcome A and U(B) be the agent’s utility with outcome B.The agent is then assumed to maximize expected utility, which is the sum of utility in each outcome weighted by the probability that outcome will occur: V = pA ·U(A) + pB ·U(B). In general, the choices of the agent can affect pA and pB as well as U(A) and U(B). A related (and third) area in which the rational choice model is extended involves incomplete information. In the basic model described above, the agent knows perfectly all the qualities of the goods under her consideration. More generally, an agent may have to make choices when she does not have full information.A university generally does not have full information about the future rese arch productivity of a new assistant professor, for example, and a used car buyer cannot be certain that he is not driving a â€Å"lemon† off the lot. The fourth area in which the basic rational choice model is extended involves strategic behavior. This generally occurs in situations in which there are only a few agents. The key issue is that each agent must take into account the likely effect of his actions on the decisions of other agents, all of whom are looking at the situation the same way.A classic ongoing example of this kind of interaction involves the crude-oil production decisions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Acting collectively, OPEC members have an incentive to restrict production to keep the world price of crude-oil high. Thus each OPEC country is given a production quota – a limit on the amount it can produce. Each country acting individually, however, has an incentive to â€Å"cheat† on its quota and thereby be able to sell more crude-oil at the high price. This will only be successful if the other countries maintain their quotas, however, thereby keeping the price high.Thus when a country is contemplating the breach of a quota, it must consider how other member countries may react. The branch of economics that deals with strategic interactions is called game theory. [7] 3. A Brief Description of the Rational Choice Method Like most scholarship, rational choice analysis usually begins with a question. What determines church attendance? Are suicide rates affected by the state of the economy? Do seat belt laws make highways safer? Under what circumstances are â€Å"cold turkey† methods necessary to end addictions?Why are drivers of certain minority groups more likely to be pulled over by police? Which soldiers are most likely to suffer casualties in a war? Why can’t Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon just get along? Why did large mammals become extinct in the Pelistocene era? When are workers most likely to â€Å"shirk† their job responsibilities? Does a reported decline in â€Å"consumer confidence† portend a slowdown in the economy? Varian (1997, p. 4) describes the model-building process as follows: †¦ all economic models are pretty much the same. There are some economic agents. They make choices in order to advance their objectives.The choices have to satisfy various constraints so there’s something that adjusts to make all these choices consistent. This basic structure suggests a plan of attack: Who are the people making choices? What are the constraints they face? How do they interact? What adjusts if the choices aren’t mutually consistent? I will provide a slightly more detailed description here. Rational choice analysis may be characterized as working through the following steps: 1) Identify the relevant agents and make assumptions about their objectives. 2) Identify the constraints faced by each agent. ) Determine the â⠂¬Å"decision rules† of each agent, which characterize how an agent’s choices respond to changes of one kind or another – for example, how the quantity of tomatoes purchased might change with price or income. This task is usually accomplished mathematically by the solution of a constrained optimization problem. 4) Determine how the decision rules of various agents may be made consistent with one another and thereby characterize the equilibrium of the model. [8] Effective analysis of complex interactions between agents normally involves the use of mathematical methods, which can sometimes be quite sophisticated. ) Explore how the equilibrium of the model changes in response to various external events. That is, determine the predictions or implications of the model. Again, this step can involve substantial use of mathematics. 6) Examine whether the predictions determined in step (5) are consistent with actual experience. This step often involves the statistical anal ysis of data and can involve sophisticated techniques (to control sample selection bias, for example). 7) Draw conclusions and any implications (for government policy, for example) implied by (6).It is often the case that the question at hand may be addressed by reference to standard theoretical results (e. g. , people generally want to consume less of a product when its price increases). In these circumstances the analyst often will not specify and solve a rational choice model explicitly. Instead, she will assume the reader understands that the model could be specified and solved if necessary and would have conventional implications. A. Preference Specification In rational choice theory behavior follows from the pursuit of objectives, so preference specification is crucial.Frank (1997, p. 18) describes two general approaches. The self-interest standard of rationality â€Å"says rational people consider only costs and benefits that accrue directly to themselves. † The presen t-aim standard of rationality â€Å"says rational people act efficiently in pursuit of whatever objectives they hold at the moment of choice. † Frank contends that neither approach is obviously satisfactory. Many people would seem to care about more than their own material well-being, so the selfish egoism implied by self-interest standard is probably too narrow.In contrast, the present-aim standard puts no restrictions at all on preference formation, which means that anything can be explained by an appeal to preferences. Again quoting Frank (1997, p. 18): Suppose, for example, that we see someone drink a gallon of used crankcase oil and keel over dead. The present-aim approach can â€Å"explain† this behavior by saying that the person must have really liked crankcase oil. The main strength of the self-interest standard is that the associated preference specifications are generally straightforward.This approach, which dominates basic economic theory, usually assumes th at utility depends only on the consumption of material goods and services and that, for any given good or service, more is strictly preferred to less. Bergstrom (forthcoming) presents an analysis based on evolutionary considerations showing circumstances under which selfish behavior will become dominant. The present-aim standard has also been used in rational choice models, but its use is nowhere near as prevalent as use of the self-interest standard. The reasons are threefold.First, the self-interest standard has often been successful in the sense of yielding predictions that are consistent with experience. Second, there is no compelling way to specify preferences when the only criterion is â€Å"more than self-interest matters. † (People may care about others, but are teh jealous or altruistic? ) Third, self-interest standard models are more tractable analytically and are more prone than present-aim models to imply specific observable predictions. In particular, models in w hich agents care about each other in some way are prone to have multiple equilibria (sometimes an infinity of equilibria).Frank (1987) makes an evolutionary argument that preferences should include concerns for others. Bergstrom (1999) explores some possible solutions to the â€Å"multiple equilibrium† problem. B. Theory Revision It many instances step (6) will find that one or more of the predictions of a model are not borne out by the data. In these cases, the typical rational choice theorist will not even consider abandoning the assumption of utility maximization. Instead, she will conclude that she must have missed something about constraints or preferences and attempt to revise her theory accordingly.This issue of theory revision is very tricky, and space limitations (not to mention by limited understanding) permit only a brief discussion here. Suppose a theory T has prediction P, when in fact available data indicate the opposite (not P, or ~P). The theory might then be revised in some way to become theory T’, where T’ predicts ~P rather than P. My impression is that most economists would much rather change assumptions about constraints rather than change assumptions about preferences. 9] This viewpoint reflects a desire to avoid meaningless tautologies such as â€Å"he consumed more tomatoes because his preferences changed in such a way that he wanted to consume more tomatoes. † One can explain any choice in this way. Hausman (1984) summarizes the thinking of Lakatos (1970) as follows: A modification of a theory is an improvement if it is not ad hoc. Modifications may be ad hoc in three ways. First of all, a modification of a theory may have no new testable implications at all. Lakatos regards such modifications as completely empty and unscientific.Modifications that are not ad hoc in this sense are â€Å"theoretically progressive. † It may be, however, that the testable implications of the theoretically progressive mod ifications are not confirmed by experiments or observations. In that case modifications are theoretically progressive but not empirically progressive. They are ad hoc in the second sense. An extended process of theory modification is progressive overall if the modifications are uniformly theoretically progressive and intermittently empirically progressive.As one is modifying one’s theory in the hope of improving it, modifications must always have new testable implications, and those testable implications must sometimes be borne out by experience. But one crucial feature of science has been left out. Throughout this history of repeated modifications, there must be some element of continuity. No theoretical progress in economics is made if I modify monetary by theory by adding to it the claim that copper conducts electricity. The expanded theory has testable (and confirmed) implications, but something arbitrary has simply been tacked on.Such a modification is ad hoc in the thir d sense. One needs to recognize the role of something like a Kuhnian â€Å"paradigm. † Modifications of theories must be made in the â€Å"right† way. (p. 23) I believe that most rational choice theorists would adhere to these criteria for effective theory modification. As Stigler and Becker (1977) note: What we assert is not that we are clever enough to make illuminating applications of utility-maximizing theory to all important phenomena – not even our entire generation of economists is clever enough to do that.Rather, we assert that this traditional approach of the economist offers guidance in tackling these problems – and that no other approach of remotely comparable generality and power is available. (pp. 76-7) †¦. We also claim †¦ that no significant behavior has been illuminated by assumptions of differences in tastes. Instead, they, along with assumptions of unstable tastes, have been a convenient crutch to lean on when the analysis has bogged down. They give the appearance of considered judgement (sic), yet really have only been ad hoc arguments that disguise analytical failures. p. 89) In any case, one can change assumptions about preferences only if the new assumptions not only fix the failure of the previous model (that is, they imply ~P rather than P) but also have new predictions that are not rejected by the data. C. Why is the Rational Choice Approach so Popular? [10] Defenders of the rational choice approach – e. g. , Becker (1976) — argue that the approach is useful because it tends to generate non-tautological predictions. Suppose a scholar wants to account for some observed phenomenon P.For example, P might be the fact that wage rates paid to workers (after adjustment for inflation) tend to rise during good economic times [expansions] and fall during bad economic times [recessions]. It is generally quite easy to develop a theory T that predicts P, especially for someone who has studied P ca refully. In fact, many such theories can be constructed. Importantly, however, it is generally not good scientific practice to use the same data to both formulate and test a hypothesis or theory. If so, all theories would be confirmed.Instead, good methodology will develop a theory T that not only predicts P, but that also has other predictions Q1, Q2, Q3, †¦ Ideally, many of these predictions will be observable – that is, one should be able to determine if Q1, Q2, Q3 †¦. do or do not in fact occur. If these predictions are not observed – say not Q1 (~Q1) is observed rather than Q1 – the theory may be judged inadequate and either revised or discarded. If I may be allowed a lapse into imprecise language, a theory can never be right if there is not at least some possibility in the first place for it to be wrong. 11] This is not to say that rational choice theorists are pristine with respect to this requirement. The history of economic thought is no doubt full of bad theories (â€Å"bad† in the sense that one or more key predictions are not consistent with the data) that have been saved by ad hoc modifications. It is to say that proponents of the rational choice approach contend that ad hoc theorizing and the resulting empty tautologies may be less prevalent with their approach than with other approaches.I certainly agree that the rational choice method does in fact tend to generate many testable predictions, and in Sections 4 and 5 below I discuss several illustrative examples. Despite the fact that advocates of rational choice theory justify their approach in this way, I know of no study that explicitly compares methodologies along these lines. Is it really the case that rational choice models have more non-tautological implications than the models implied by other approaches? I am not sure anyone has examined this issue carefully.I believe the rational choice methodology is gaining in popularity not just because it tends t o generate lots of observable predictions, but also because it tends to generate novel predictions. This is an extension of the idea of novel confirmation. Novel confirmation embodies the sentiment expressed by Descartes (1644) that we know hypotheses are correct â€Å"only when we see that we can explain in terms of them, not merely the effects we originally had in mind, but also all other phenomena which we did not previously think. † [Quoted by Musgrave (1974), p. 1)] Campbell and Vinci (1983, p. 15) begin their discussion of novel confirmation as follows: Philosophers of science generally agree that when observational equivalence supports a theory, the confirmation is much stronger when the evidence is ‘novel’. The verification of an unusual prediction, for example, tends to provide much stronger confirmation than the explanation of something already known of something the theory was designed to account for. This view is so familiar that Michael Gardner has r ecently described it as ‘a lengthy tradition – not to say a consensus – in the philosophy of science. ’As seems to often be the case in the philosophy of science, the usefulness of novel confirmation is not as well established as the above quote implies. Campbell and Vinci (1983) also note that â€Å"†¦ the notion of novel confirmation is beset with a theoretical puzzle about how the degree of confirmation can change without any change in the evidence, hypothesis, or auxiliary assumptions. † (p. 315) Kahn, Landsburg, and Stockman (1992) maintain that the question of novel confirmation can be addressed meaningfully only in the presence â€Å"of an explicit model by which hypotheses are generated. † (p. 04) They find that the idea of novel confirmation is valid if there are unobservable differences in the abilities of scientists or if there is some chance of error in observation. [12] Campbell and Vinci (1993) distinguish between epistemic novelty and heuristic novelty. Epistemic novelty occurs when a theory has an implication that would be considered highly improbable in the absence of the theory. There is of course a question over the proper definition of â€Å"highly improbable. † Heuristic novelty occurs when the evidence predicted by a theory plays no heuristic role in the formation of the theory.Descartes would seem to be referring to heuristic novelty in the above quote. Rational choice theory is a useful methodology in part (perhaps in large part) because it tends to lead the researcher to novel implications, thereby making novel confirmation more likely than may be the case with other methodologies. Space and time considerations do not allow me to attempt a full-blown analysis of this conjecture, which in any case I am not really qualified to undertake because of my limited exposure to alternative social science methodologies not based on rational choice and my limited knowledge of the philosophy of s cience.In Sections 4 and 5 below I describe several examples of rational choice theory and some associated novel implications. I should note that the mathematical nature of rational choice theory would appear (to me) to be crucial here. Mathematics allows the theorist to make some sense out of complicated interactions between decision-making units that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to untangle. It is precisely those kinds of situations in which rational choice theories are most likely to have novel implications, because the implications are not immediately apparent even to scholars with knowledge, experience, and intuition.We now proceed to Section 4, which provides a detailed discussion of a rational choice model of church attendance. Section 5 gives shorter summaries of several other rational choice models, including models of suicide, auto safety regulation, addiction, racial profiling, Congressional influence on military assignments, political revolutions, megafauna extinction, and the predictability of consumption spending. 4. A Detailed Example: Church AttendanceAzzi and Ehrenberg (1975) develop a rational choice model of church attendance. This is a classic paper, which Iannaccone (1998, p. 1480) calls â€Å"†¦ the first formal model for religious participation (within any discipline) and †¦ the foundation for nearly all subsequent economic models of religious behavior. † [Italics in original. ] Their analysis begins with the assumption that the utility of a household consisting of two members, a husband and a wife, is given by: (1)U = U(C1, s1, C2, s2, †¦ , Ct, st, †¦ Cn, sn, q), where Ci is the household’s consumption of market goods and services in period i (i = 1, †¦ n), and si denotes religious participation in period i. The model assumes â€Å"for simplicity† that both members of the household know how long they will live and that both will die at date n. This is a dynamic model, because t he household cares about future as well as current consumption. The remaining variable in the household utility function, q, is the â€Å"expected value of the household’s afterlife consumption. Azzi and Ehrenberg assume that church attendance follows from a â€Å"salvation motive† (the desire to increase afterlife consumption) and a â€Å"social pressure motive† (where church membership and participation increases the chances that an individual will be successful in business), rather than necessarily a pure â€Å"consumption motive† (people simply enjoy the time they spend at church). Consumption in period i (any year during which the husband and wife are alive) is given by: (2)Ci = C(xt, h1t, h2t), here xt is denotes the consumption of goods and services purchases in markets, while h1t and h2t are the amounts of time devoted by the husband and wife, respectively, to market-based consumption. The idea here is that satisfaction involves not only the purc hase of a good (such as a television) but also time spent using the good. The social value of church attendance in period i, denoted by si, is determined as follows: (3)si = s(r1i, r2i) where r1i and r2i denote the time spent on church-related activities by the husband and wife, respectively, in year i.People get more current satisfaction from going to church the more time they devote to church-related activities. After-life consumption q is determined as follows: (3)q = q(r11, r12, r21, r22, †¦ , r1n, r2n), That is, the more time spent on church-related activities during all periods of life means the more the household members will enjoy their afterlife. Azzi and Ehrenberg (p. 33, fn. 7) note that â€Å"Our household’s view of the afterlife is not one of an all-or-nothing proposition (heaven or hell), it is rather that there is a continuum of possible outcomes. †The choices of the household are constrained by time and money. The two household members can allocate time in labor [which generates income that can be used to purchase the goods and services denoted by xt in equation (1) above], consumption-related activities [reflected in h1t and h2t in equation (2) above], and church-related activities [reflected in the r1i and r2i in equation (3) above]. The constraint here is that each day has 24 hours. Hence the couple can spend more time on church-related activities only if they spend less time earning income and/or consuming.The second constraint in the model says basically that, over the course of their lives, the couple cannot spend more than their combined income. â€Å"Over the course of their lives† means that it is possible for them to borrow early in life as long as they repay the loan (with interest) later in life. It is also possible to lend early in life, which means that consumption can exceed income later. The amount of labor income the couple earns depends on the amount of time spent working by the husband and wife and t he wage rate each is paid.The model also allows for â€Å"non-labor income† in each period, which might reflect investment returns. The distinction between labor and non-labor income turns out to be rather interesting and important with respect to church attendance. Azzi and Ehrenberg’s analysis is complicated in some respects and simple in others. It is complicated because it considers consumption over several periods rather than just one, and it allows for â€Å"consumption† to depend on time (the h1t and h2t) as well as purchases of goods and services in the market (xt).The model is simple in that it does not consider the â€Å"supply side. † That is, the model simply assumes that the household can â€Å"buy† any amount that it likes of consumption goods (xt) and that there are no effective limits on religious participation (st). The power of the rational choice approach is that rational choice models tend to have lots of observable implications , some of which are novel. The Azzi and Ehrenberg model implies that: (i) The frequency of church attendance increases with age; †¢ (ii) Females attend church more frequently than males; †¢ (iii) Nonwhites attend church more frequently than whites; †¢ (iv) People who believe in an afterlife attend church more frequently; †¢ (v) Having a spouse of the same major religion increases participation; †¢ (vi) As health deteriorates church attendance declines; †¢ (vii) An increase in the number of pre-school age children present in the household reduces church attendance; †¢ (viii) An increase in the number of school-age children present in the household increases church attendance; (ix) Females’ hours devoted to religious activities will rise more rapidly with age than will the hours devoted by males to religious activities; †¢ (x) For males who show sharp earnings increases in their 20s, religious participation may first decline with age and then increase; †¢ (xi) An increase in nonlabor income will increase religious participation; and †¢ (xii) The effect of a proportionate shift in wages (say, a 10% increase in the present and all future periods) on church attendance is ambiguous. Many of these implications are not surprising, but (ix) would appear to be somewhat novel.Item (ii) means that 40 year old women will attend church more frequently than 40 year old men. Item (ix) means that the change (increase) in church participation associated with aging from 40 to 50 will be greater among women than among men. Item (ii) follows directly from the fact that females tend to have lower wages. Thus if one could find couples in which the wife earns more than the man, the model predicts for those couples that the wife will probably not be inclined to attend church more frequently. Also, allowing for an uncertain time of death may overturn (i): â€Å"†¦ nce an individual is faced with a relatively high probabilit y of death in a period it may become optimal for him to concentrate his religious participation as early as possible, since he may not survive to ‘invest’ in future periods. † (p. 38) 5. Several Brief Examples This section presents a brief overview of several applications of rational choice theory. Unlike the church attendance example above, in which the form of the utility function was written out explicitly, the discussions in this section for the most part present only brief descriptions of the relevant optimization problems and some of the resulting implications. A.Suicide Hamermesh and Soss (1974) develop a rational choice theory of suicide. They assume that the utility of an individual in any given period depends positively on â€Å"consumption† and negatively on â€Å"a technological relation describing the cost each period of maintaining [oneself] at some minimum level of subsistence. † (p. 85) â€Å"Consumption† is a function of age a nd of â€Å"permanent income,† which is a measure of current and expected future income. Individuals are assumed to vary exogenously (according to a probability distribution) in their distastes for suicide – that is, some individuals are more averse to suicide than others.This framework implies that â€Å"†¦ an individual kills himself when the total discounted lifetime utility remaining to him reaches zero. † (p. 85). Thus in this model we have a rational individual who is forward looking, considering not only his present utility but what his future utility is likely to be. If total utility over the rest of his life is higher with suicide and life ending in the present than it is with the continuation of life, suicide is the â€Å"rational† option. Here are some of the major implications of the model. (i) The suicide rate should rise with age. †¢ (ii) The suicide rate should fall with increases in permanent income[13] and decreases in the unemp loyment rate. †¢ (iii) The marginal absolute effect of permanent income on suicide declines as permanent income increases. The first two effects are by no means surprising, but the third effect is certainly by no means obvious ex ante (at least to me). (ii) means that suicide rates will fall as income rises. (iii) means that the effect of increases in income gets smaller the larger income is to begin with.A $10,000 raise is much more likely to prevent suicide if the person is earning $50,000 to begin with than if the person is earning $150,000. This is quite plausible, but the point is that it is not something most analysts would think about ex ante. B. Auto Safety Regulation. Peltzman (1975) considers the likely effects of â€Å"legally mandated installation of various safety devices[14] on automobiles. †[15] The devices in question for the most part were designed to reduce the damages caused by accidents rather than to reduce the likelihood that accidents occur. Peltzm an notes that the auto safety literature estimates the impact of afety mandates by assuming that (i) the mandates have no effect on the probability that an accident will occur, and (ii) the mandates have no effect on the voluntary demand for safety devices. In effect, the regulations were implemented based on analysis that assumed the same number and nature of accidents would occur, but that automobiles would be better equipped to protect drivers and passengers from injury and death. He notes that â€Å"[t]echnological studies imply that annual highway deaths would be 20 percent greater without legally mandated installation of various safety devices on automobiles. (p. 677) Peltzman considers the behavior of a typical driver and postulates quite reasonably that he or she is made worse off by traffic accidents – or, equivalently, that he or she benefits from safety. Peltzman also assumes, however, that the driver benefits from what he calls â€Å"driving intensity,† by which he means â€Å"more speed, thrills, etc. † (p. 681). Other things equal, the driver can obtain more driving intensity only by driving less safely. Thus the driver faces a trade-off between two goods, intensity and safety, in which more of one can be obtained only by giving up some of the other.This kind of trade-off is in standard fare for rational choice theorists. In basic consumer choice theory the consumer with a given income can obtain more of one good only if he or she consumes less of some other good (or goods). The standard consumer choice problem also considers what happens when the consumer’s income rises. Rational choice theory predicts that, in the absence of very unusual circumstances, the consumer will buy more of most goods when income rises. Put another way, it is typically not the case that a consumer will allocate one hundred percent of an increase in income to increased consumption of a single good.Income increases tend to be â€Å"spread aro und† over several goods. Peltzman argues that the imposition of mandated safety devices in automobiles is rather like an increase in income in the sense that the devices make it possible for drivers to obtain both more safety and more intensity. Technological studies in effect assume that drivers will respond by consuming only more safety, but rational choice theory indicates that drivers can also respond by consuming more intensity (that is, by driving less safely). The extent to which drivers choose between more safety and more intensity is ultimately an empirical question.Suppose drivers choose to increase consumption of both safety and intensity — which is what economists have come to expect in these kinds of situations. In this case, the rational choice model implies that the number of total driving accidents[16] should rise because of increased driving intensity, while the average amount of damage per accident – as reflected, say in the number of fatalities among passengers – should decrease because of the safety improvements. This means that it is actually possible for total traffic fatalities to rise as a result of the safety mandates!This would happen if the increase in the number of accidents is sufficiently large relative to the decrease in average damage per accident. Once again we have an example of a rational choice model yielding implications that are not obvious ex ante. The novel predictions here are that the imposition of auto safety mandates (i) should increase the occurrence of traffic accidents, and (ii) should decrease the relative frequency of accidents involving passenger fatalities, and (iii) may increase or decrease the total number of traffic fatalities.After extensive empirical testing based on several data sets, Peltzman concludes that â€Å"regulation appears not to have reduced highway deaths. † (p. 714). There is indeed some evidence that the number of deaths increased, but in most cases that ev idence is not strong. In any case, there is no evidence that the regulations decreased traffic fatalities. Peltzman also finds that the safety mandates were followed by an increase in the number of accidents involving pedestrians and by an increase in the number of accidents involving only property damage with no injury to vehicle occupants.A related paper by McCormick and Tollison (1984) considers the effect on arrest rates of an increase in the number of police officers. Rational choice theory indicates that the quality of law enforcement should not be judged by arrest rates alone. If the number of police officers increases and as a result the probability of arrest for any given crime increases, rational prospective criminals will see the expected cost of crime rise and therefore undertake fewer criminal acts.Total arrests reflect both the number of criminal acts (which should fall) and the percentage of criminal acts for which an arrest is made (which should rise). Total arrests rise only if the latter effect is stronger than the former. McCormick and Tollison test their theory using data from the Atlantic Coast Conference in men’s college basketball. In 1978, the conference increased the number of officials from two to three. In this context, one may think of officials as police officers and fouls called as arrests.McCormick and Tollison find that this 50 percent increase in the number of officials caused a 34 percent reduction in the number of fouls called (p. 229). When my son Aaron (now almost 5 years old) was an infant, he attended the Baylor Child Development Center during the day. In the room where the teacher changed diapers, there was a pad on the counter but no restraint of any kind (such as a belt or guard rail). When I asked the director about this, she said that there was no restraint because she (the director) did not want to give the teacher a false sense of security.With a belt or rail, the teacher might be tempted to walk away for â €Å"just a minute† to check on something in the room. Whether restraints increase or decrease changing table accidents is an empirical question, though Pelzman’s analysis suggests the director made the right decision. C. Addiction Stigler and Becker (1977) propose a rational choice theory of addiction, a theory subsequently elaborated by Becker and Murphy (1988). In this theory, â€Å"a person is potentially addicted to [some good] c if an increase in his current consumption of c increases his future consumption of c. (Becker and Murphy, 1988, p. 81) The key feature of these models is that a consumer’s utility in any given period depends not just on consumption in that period, but also on â€Å"consumption capital†. Consumption capital is essentially the consumer’s ability to enjoy a particular good, which depends on past consumption of the good and perhaps on other factors. If past consumption enhances current enjoyment ability, the addition is s aid to be beneficial. This might be the case, for example, with listening to classical music. The more one listens to classical music, the greater one’s capacity to appreciate it.Stigler and Becker note that beneficial consumption capital might also be positively influenced by education. Highly educated people might have a greater capacity to enjoy things like classical music, opera, and art. If past consumption reduces current enjoyment ability, the addition is said to be harmful. This is the case with substances such as heroin and other substances normally considered to be addictive. The more heroin a person consumes in the present, the less will be his or her future enjoyment (â€Å"high†) from any given amount of heroin consumption in the future. 17] The formal setup in Stigler and Becker (1977, p. 78) is relatively simple. First consider beneficial addiction – to, say, classical music. Consumer utility (U) depends positively on two goods, M (music appreciat ion) and Z (other goods): U = U(M, Z). Music appreciation depends positively on the time allocated to music listening â„ ¢ and on music consumption capital (Sm): M = M(tm, Sm). Music consumption capital at date j, Smj, depends positively on the time allocated to music consumption in the past, Mj-1, Mj-2, †¦. and positively (perhaps) on the person’s level of education at time j (denoted Ej): Smj = S(Mj-1, Mj-2, †¦ , Ej). The addition is beneficial if Smj depends on positively on the past values of M. Alternatively, for harmful addition we may replace M with H, where H denotes the consumption of a good such as heroin. In this case, consumption capital S depends negatively on past values of H. The elaborated model of Becker and Murphy (1988) views addictive behavior as a situation in which the consumption of a particular good begins to increase rapidly. [18] Their model has a number of implications. Perhaps he most interesting is their finding that the demand for ad dictive goods should be quite sensitive to permanent changes in price (where the â€Å"price† of illegal goods includes the expected costs associated with apprehension by authorities, as well as any foregone earnings that may result from becoming addicted and, say, unable to work), but not necessarily to temporary price changes. A second implication is that strong addictions, if they are to end, must end suddenly (â€Å"cold turkey†). â€Å"Rational persons end stronger addictions more rapidly than weaker ones. † (p. 692). Other implications are that â€Å"addicts often go on binges† (p. 75), â€Å"present-oriented individuals are potentially more addicted to harmful goods than future-oriented individuals† (p. 682), and â€Å"temporary events can permanently ‘hook’ rational persons to addictive goods† (p. 691). Stigler and Becker (1977) and Becker and Murphy (1988) do not perform empirical tests of their models of rational addic tion. Tests have been performed by other authors, however. Because good consumption data are not available for illegal substances, tests have focused on tobacco and caffeine. Tests based on tobacco consumption are reported by Becker, Grossman, and Murphy (1994), and Keeler, et. l. (1993). A test based on caffeine consumption is reported by Olekalns and Bardsley (1996). These tests are generally supportive of the rational addiction theory. Becker and Murphy (1988) note that with a simple extension their model can explain cycles of overeating and dieting. Their basic analysis assumes there is only one kind of consumption capital. Suppose that with respect to food there are instead two types of consumption capital, one of which is simply the person’s weight (which might be called â€Å"health capital†) and the other of which is â€Å"eating capital. That is, eating can be both harmful and beneficial in the senses defined above. As eating increases, health capital falls ( weight gain has detrimental effects on health) and eating capital rises (the capacity to enjoy food is greater the more one eats). Under appropriate conditions, utility maximization results in cycles of dieting and binging. [19] Rational addiction theory has been applied to the analysis of religious behavior – see Iannaccone (1984, 1990) and Durkin and Greeley (1991). Iannaccone (1998) summarizes this approach. Utility depends on â€Å"religious commodities† produced, the value of which depends on â€Å"religious human capital. The stock of religious human capital depends on time and money devoted to religious activities in the past. These models have the following predictions, â€Å"nearly all of which receive strong empirical support† (Iannaccone, 1998, p. 1481): †¢ Individuals tend to move toward the denominations and beliefs of their parents as they mature and start to make their own decisions about religion; †¢ People are more likely to switch de nominations early in life; †¢ People tend to marry within religions; if they do not, one spouse is likely to adopt the religion of the other.D. Racial Profiling Law enforcement authorities in many jurisdictions have been criticized in recent years for racial bias in their choice of cars to search for illegal drugs and other contraband. [20] The fact that police are more inclined to stop and search cars driven by members of certain minority groups is well established. Knowles, Persico, and Todd (2001) develop a rational choice model that â€Å"suggests an empirical test for distinguishing whether this disparity is due to racial prejudice or to the police’s objective to maximize arrests. In their model, the typical police officer â€Å"maximizes the total number of convictions minus a cost of searching cars. † (p. 209) Motorists â€Å"consider the probability of being searched in deciding whether to carry contraband. † (p. 209) At least some motorists percei ve a benefit to carrying contraband. If they do carry, their expected benefit is positive if they are not searched and negative (that is, there is a positive expected cost) if they are searched. The model implies that if police officers are not racially biased, the frequency of guilt among motorists conditional on being searched will be independent of race. 21] In their empirical analysis based on 1,590 searches on a stretch of Interstate 95 in Maryland between January 1995 and January 1999, Knowles, Persico, and Todd find support for this proposition. They interpret this result as â€Å"the absence of racial prejudice against African Americans† (p. 212). The fact remains, however, that African Americans are searched more frequently than whites. If this does not arise from racial bias by police officers, then why does it occur?One possibility noted by the authors is that â€Å"race may proxy for other variables that are unobservable by the policy officer and are correlated w ith both race and crime. Possible examples of such unobservables are the schooling level or the earnings potential of the motorist. † (p. 212) While one may quibble with some elements of this study, for our present purposes the main point is that the rational choice theory, at least potentially, yielded implications that allowed the analyst to gain some insight (if not a final resolution) into the issue of racial profiling. E. Congressional Influence on Military AssignmentsPrior to the 1960s, economic theory tended to view politicians and other government officials (bureaucrats) as disinterested observers and regulators of economic activity. A group of economics led by Nobel Laureate James Buchanan then developed a branch of economics known as public choice theory, which views government officials as self-interested maximizers. Goff and Tollison (1987) take a public choice approach to gain some understanding of casualties in the Vietnam War. The typical soldier is assumed to p refer not to be placed in risky combat situations, and this preference is shared by the soldier’s family.A solider (or more likely his family) might therefore try to gain a low-risk assignment by asking for intervention in military decisions by his Senator or Representative. Senators and Representatives are assumed to desire re-election, which implies a desire to please their constituencies. The ability of a Senator or Representative to have this kind of influence, however, varies according to committee assignments, ties to the military/industrial complex, etc. Goff and Tollison assume that political influence depends on seniority, with more seniority implying more influence.Taken together, all these assumptions have the straightforward implication that soldiers from states with more senior (and hence more influential) Senators and Representatives should, other things equal, have experienced fewer casualties in Vietnam than soldiers from states with less senior (and therefore less influential) Senators and Representatives. Their empirical analysis (using data from January 1961 to September 1972) supports the hypothesis: In the House, the Mississippi delegation had an average seniority of 27. 7, while Hawaii had an average seniority of 61. . [A seniority ranking of 1 indicates the member had the highest seniority in his or her party. ] In terms of lives, this represents about 6 fewer war deaths for every 100,000 of population in Mississippi relative to Hawaii. Ceteris paribus, this difference in House seniority leads to a 55 percent higher casualty rate for Hawaii than Mississippi. †¦ In the Senate, Arkansas had an average seniority of 6. 2, and Maryland had an average seniority of 45. 4. Other things equal †¦, this difference leads to an 86 percent higher casualty rate for Maryland than for Arkansas.In terms of lives, this translates into about 7 more war deaths for every 100,000 of population in Maryland than in Arkansas. (pp. 319-20) In this case, the value of the rational choice approach is not so much in the fact that it yields surprising answers to a well-established question, but that it suggests a unique question to ask in the first place. It is by no means obvious that someone not thinking about self-interested Senators and Representatives would even think to ask the question addressed by Goff and Tollison. F. Ideology and IntransigenceRoemer (1985) applies game theory to the analysis of political revolutions. Specifically, he presents a two-player game between â€Å"Lenin† and the â€Å"Tsar. † Lenin’s objective is to maximize the probability of revolution, while the Tsar’s objective is to minimize that probability. As in any game-theoretic setting, when making decisions each player keeps in mind how the other player might react. Lenin tries to create revolution by lining up coalitions, where people are induced to join a coalition with the promise of income redistribution.The Tsar tri es to prevent revolution by promising to punish anyone who participates in revolutionary activities (assuming the revolution attempt is unsuccessful). Increased penalties reduce the number of individuals who are likely to join the coalition but increase the revolutionary fervor of those who do. An individual will join a coalition attempting to overthrow the Tsar if the expected benefit to him or her of doing so exceeds the expected cost. There is of course some uncertainty about the outcome. Roemer’s results include the following: it is shown that various â€Å"tyrannical† aspects of the Tsar’s strategy, and â€Å"progressive† aspects of Lenin’s strategy need not flow from ideological precommitments, but are simply good optimizi

Who do you think was the most important figure in Russian history – Lenin or Stalin?

Both leaders play important roles in the Russian history. Lenin gave birth to Communism in Russia and helped it survive during its first critical years. He set up a one-party rule, his style of leadership was borrowed with only slight alterations by six consecutive leaders and command economy with Communism lasted till 1991. Stalin continued along Lenin's way, but took Russia more into ‘extremes'. Out of the backward Russia he created an influential and industrialised totalitarian state feared by the West. He expanded the Soviet Unions' borders up to Eastern Europe and helped in the spread of Communism right 100 km from the most dominant capitalist state, the USA. He introduced Collectivisation, helped Russia win the 2nd World War, but at the same time killed millions of people, most of them during the Purges. But could all this have happened without Lenin? It is possible that without Lenin Communism would have never emerged in Russia. If he wouldn't have returned from Finland twice, first to raise the Bolshevik's popularity – from a barely known Party to the third most influential one – and the second time to persuade other fellow party members to seize power, then the Bolsheviks might have never won enough support or might have failed to seize the right moment for the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Considering that Communism lasted for more than 70 year in Russia, his importance in the Russian history seems to be enormous. Furthermore, Lenin helped Communism to survive in perhaps the most critical times of a new regime: right after it has been set up. He closed down the Constituent Assembly and made peace with Germany so he can concentrate on Russia's internal affairs. During the Civil War in 1918 he made some very tactful decisions, like letting Trotsky to lead the Red Army and introducing War Communism to supply the soldiers. From all these, we can easily see that Lenin's role in the set up of Communism is absolutely crucial, making him a very important figure in the Russian history. Stalin had a huge impact on Russia as well. After emerging as the new ruler in 1922, he had great plans for Russia, which mostly were fulfilled. He industrialised Russia at an incredible pace and introduced Collectivisation. Both of these new reforms were carried out by 5 of his successors. However, Lenin was the one who first introduced a state planned economy, and quite a strict one, especially during the Civil War. Therefore Stalin's ideas were ‘ borrowed' from Lenin, proving that without Lenin Stalin might have never introduced the same reforms and thus have the impact that it created. Stalin had a great importance in Russia's history because he expanded greatly the boundaries of the country so they included 5 whole countries from Eastern Europe and the Baltic Countries up till 1990. With this he managed to increase the hostility between Russia and Western Capitalist Countries, who felt threatened by the rapidly expanding Communism throughout the world. Thus it can be seen that Stalin played an important role in the Cold War, especially in the early stages. However, this rivalry between Communist and Capitalist countries was commenced by Lenin, who with his idea of ‘Permanent Revolution' induced fear in the mind of the capitalist countries' leaders. Also during the Russian Civil war in 1918, the Red Army fought against foreign troops as well, who were trying to restore the old Tsarist rule. Therefore Stalin didn't start the rivalry between Capitalists and Russia (Communists); he simply carried on what Lenin started a longer time ago. During the 1930s Stalin began the Cult of Personality, when all types of media and communication glorified Stalin and the achievements of the USSR as an influential Communist power. The result of these was that many generation's minds were indoctrinated by the extensive use of propaganda. However, even thou Lenin didn't glorify himself as a God-like being, he introduced widespread propaganda much earlier in Russia during the Civil War. Stalin introduced the Purges to eliminate any kind of opposition and to assure his place as an unquestionable leader. During his ruling period the secret police was very active, arresting, executing or sending to exile any people who opposed or might oppose the current government. In this way millions of lives were lost, and the remaining surviving ones lived in fear and terror. This style of ruling, by keeping the nation under a strict, tight control was introduced by Lenin, who also made use of the secret police to calm down any possible resistance against the new regime. The same thing happened with religion as well. As a good Communist Lenin forbade the practice of religion, and Stalin – just like Lenin – continued the suppression of religious freedom. Therefore we can see that Stalin had an important role in the Russian history, but if we look more closely, it is easy to spot that he just followed Lenin's path. All this prove, that even thou Stalin might have had a greater impact on Russia, Lenin had a greater importance than him, because he was the one who was mostly involved in the set up of Communism and putting it into practice using different new reforms. Ultimately, Stalin might have never emerged as a leader if Lenin wouldn't have gave him the position as the general secretary of the Communist Party, which allowed Stalin to win the power struggle. Therefore his importance in the Russian history is less than Lenin's.

On mona lisa smile

The film which is about a young and an idealist teacher who want to change something. The film which involves the reflections of feminism and functionalism. In this essay I analyze these reflections. Firstly,according to the functionalism,everyone in society has a role and everyone play their role contribute to the smooth functioning of society. Children learn and internalize the norms and expectations which are accepted in a society. In this wise,they adopt sex roles. So,gender roles are compatible with sex.Because there are innate differences. N the movie,the girls who study at the college take courses not only physics and art history but also speech and marriage. Because they will graduate in a few years and they will find a good husband and then they will be housewife. They will have responsibilities such as providing comfort a man and care of children. Because gender roles are innate. Gender roles are learned and internalized with the help of agencies such as family,educational institutions. There are these agencies in this movie.Furthermore,functional approach suggest that gender differences contribute to social stability and integration. Namely,the women should concentrate on domestic and family responsibilities while men work outside the home. There are expressive roles for women and instrumental roles for men. The females should provide care and security of children and offer them emotional support. Men,on the other hand,are the breadwinner in the family. For example,in this movie,the girls are given courses about the importance of expressive roles.But there is a unequal division of labor within the Emily. Functionalism believes that this state is necessary for the maintenance of social stability. There are examples of giving importance of this necessity in the movie. Divorce is seen a bad state by people in that society and the mother don't accept her daughter who want to back home. Functionalists emphasize the importance of moral consensus which exis t when most people in a society share the same values and it is important to maintain order for them. In the movie,there is a order and balance in the society.Because there are rules,arrangements,traditions and values which interlink the people. In this way,the moral consensus exist in a society. For instance,there are traditional competitions which are about marriage having a baby in college. Secondly,feminist approaches reject the idea that gender inequality IA natural. Feminism is based on women's freedom. The women should not be representative of their gender roles which are given them in innate. Instead,they should live by their own definition. In the movie,the teacher is defender of feminism.Her opinion is that her students should be more free when they take their own decisions. She provide that the students discuss on the subject in the class. In the way,their ideas will occur and they will not copy other people's opinion. Also,feminist approach emphasizes that there must be equal opportunity between women and men. For example,the range of education. The teacher encourage the student in studying law. To sum up,it is possible to see that the reflections of functionalism and feminism in the movie. Essay on Mona Lisa smile By kickball

Online Dating in India

Introduction: The topic of my dissertation is â€Å"taking online relation offline† . India being a nation of youngest population of the world had have very young history of online dating just a decade old but it still have very promising market which have around 25 million estimated online user base with 200million US $ projected market by 2014(Source: industry estimate by stepup. com) this growth is the result of changed mindset of young middle class who want to live in virtual space, which itself is eased by cheap computers and cheaper and faster internet connectivity.Rising income, access to World Wide Web helped Indian youth to finally come out of that traditional bubble which tell then that fraternizing with any women other than their fiance is wrong. We are now leaving back inhibitions; do not care for social norms and anonymity of cyber space act as icing on this cake of dating. We are using online dating to find new friends and partners on this space as it help us to make our new identity and thus bring out real in us.Today, youths are more interested in finding a likeminded person with whom they can share their life without being judged and talk about fluid topics like movies or fantasies rather than ticking off qualities mostly physical through pre-set list given by their parents. CMC partners exchanged proportionally more self-disclosures and questions than did face-to-face partners. Moreover, the questions they asked were about more personal topics than those the face-to-face partners exchanged.At the same time, the deeper the disclosures and questions used by partners in CMC, the more effective they were rated by their partners, in comparison to those who met in Face to Face discussions (Walther, 1993, pp. 147–148). â€Å"Dating culture in India is evolving rapidly. Changing cultural dynamics like the increase in average marriage age†¦ are shifting the dating paradigm significantly,† StepOut co-founder and CEO Adam Sachs This change in mind set had brought change in dating pattern . here in my dissertation I am trying to cover this WHY and WHAT of changing pattern of cyber dating space. ike all space this cyber space is also a result of confluence of spatial and temporal pattern, but unlike physical space it has compression of time and space boundaries. in cyber space there are no geographical boundaries. in this space we can create our own identity’s which can be different from real one. Here my objective is to study this dating pattern and objectives of my research are as follows: 1. To draw regional profile of the users of these dating sites. 2. To examine if these space supplement real spaces for meeting and dating. 3. To identify the sites where users would like to meet in person. 4.Do users found it safe to date online. To study these objectives I had taken sample size of forty people by random method. All of them are students of age between 20-25. Surveys are done by questionnaire meth od which has both open end and close multiple choice questions. Survey is done online by the help of Google forms and personally by interviews.. I had chosen this topic to highlight the social importance of online dating and its effect on real space dating. My title of this dissertation â€Å"taking online relation offline â€Å"lay emphasis on the study of HOW online relations are taken to OFFLI NE meetings and WHERE they are conducted and WHY. y survey is done on small sample of 40 students randomly selected from social networking site Facebook and online dating site ‘indiandating’ . commercial dating sites become increasingly accepted as a means of forming romantic relationships, more and more couples are meeting online (Rosenfeld, 2010). One industry trade report estimated that almost 25 million unique users around the world accessed an online dating site in April, 2011 alone (Subscription Site Insider, 2011). In India 6 million singles have joined online dating s ervices in India. The market is estimated to be worth $130 million USD in 2012.By 2015 it is estimated India will have 115 million users of dating services. (source:www. onlinedatingmagzine. com) Young India provides large market for online dating services. Some statistics of Indian dating scenario are: oBy 2015 it is estimated India will have 115 million users of dating services. o20 percent of current committed relationship began online. o17 percent of marriages in 2012 began on an online dating site. ? WHY ONLINE DATING: Dating is a form of courtship consisting of social activities done by two people with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse.While the term has several meanings, it usually refers to the act of meeting and engaging in some mutually agreed upon social activity in public, together, as a couple. When we say online dating then it really means dating in cyber space. Online dating (OD) or Internet datin g is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship.Online dating services usually provide immoderate matchmaking over the Internet, through the use of personal computers or cell phones. It is a form of dating which is COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC). Here bond created between potential partners takes different path than normal or traditional dating relationship. it is an alternative medium for experiencing new and creative romantic endeavors with few spatial-temporal limits. Online dating promises to offer new possibilities and creativities not found in the real-life world scenario Firstly I would like to define the terms before proceeding further . had use the term dating sites to those web sites that primarily focus on offering the user opportunities to form a new relationship, I had compared this term with co nventional offline dating which denotes various ways by strangers meet each other to form alliance like meeting in some get together, being introduced by some mutual friend, approaching a class mate or coworker . this type of dating pattern had limited success in countries like India where dating is conceived as something un traditional and a trend of west.Here marriages are alliances formed by the family consent with many cases where couples have there their first meeting on the eve of their marriage. It is a country where we cannot hit on a girl or boy in some cafeteria or book shop leave alone the option of bar or pub. Here it is not conductive to use pick-up lines like â€Å"hello, how are things going? I am looking for like-minded people and found u†¦ †but online dating chat rooms allow these lines as ice breakers and even if someone get offended he can ignore that person. verall online research had shown that online daters are more confident then offline daters(sou rce: online dating magazine;2005) A study by BURMASTER (2005) of 3400 adults in Asian sub-continent found that one out of three internet users would opt to go online to meet potential dating partner and that internet is the third most popular mode of getting a date followed by meeting through friend and meeting someone at club or pub. To understand how online dating is better than conventional dating we have to consider three important facilities which are offered by online dating sites.They are : †¢ACCESS †¢COMMUNICATION †¢MATCHMAKING Here access refers to opportunity a user gets to evaluate potential partner which are not easily available in conventional dating. Communication refers to users’ opportunity to use various forms of Computer mediated communication (cmc) to communicate with potential partner before meeting face to face. And matching refers to a sites use of Matching refers to a site’s use of a mathematical algorithm to select potential partn ers for users. Online dating’s these three services had altered the dating landscape all together.As firstly its major element of internet flexible accessibility, creative opportunities and perhaps most importantly, anonymity. These freedoms remove the moral tangles of society and provide a â€Å"free play† . this feature of anonymity make online dating free from the oversight of others and thus do not carry any fear of stigma. The main idea of this dissertation is to provide an insight to the status of online dating in India and do these sites replace the real spaces for meeting and dating (conventional dating). Secondly does the users find it safe to use it and the sites where would like to meet after taking it offline.Ben-Ze-ev(2003) book ‘love online; emotions on the internet’ stated that cyber space provides a private world in which the information that is revealed about a person is the information he wants to reveal. He claims that online disclosure is very prevalent as people feel safer in cyber space than in actual space. He says that shame an important emotion is less common in space which leads to very open behavior of the people. The popularity of online dating is because of Internet’s flexible accessibility, creative opportunities, and perhaps Most importantly, anonymity and new freedoms attending that anonymity.These freedoms remove and disentangle emotions from the moral and social qualms which we in face in the world and thus facilitate a â€Å"free play† with identity and imagination. Today internet dating industry generates revenue of 800$ million in 2008 thus making it forth highest internet industry after online gambling, digital music and online gaming. (Mitchell,2009) Online dating services had altered the dating landscape. in particular online dating, which is becoming important way of finding potential partners had altered both the romantic acquaintance process.For example in online dating person gets a snapshot of potential partner before meeting face to face. He had learned about the person through his profile picture and profile details and other facts before deciding whether to meet them in person or not. Some dating sites also use some mathematical algorithm to find best match based on values, personality, style, interest, race, religion, gender and even pin codes. Though are plenty of places where people could potentially find the love of their life. There are bars, outdoor events, group activities, and even on a park bench as you read your favorite book.Members of the opposite sex are everywhere. They live and breathe among us. However even when surrounded by an incomprehensible number of options that pass us by every day, it can still seem impossible to find that one person that you may want to spend your life with. For a lot of people, online dating websites have become that key instrument in finding the love of their life. Source:http//www. photoillustrationthinks. com Mainly the benefits of all dating are many. In the real world you’d have to go on a large amount of dates to find someone that even slightly comes close to your liking.You may go on a lot of these dates only to realize that you wish you got to know them better before you actually got to meet them. Dates take a lot of time, effort, and money. Going out weekly or even monthly with people you barely know can lead to a lot of wasted and disappointing evenings. When you meet someone online you could move slowly and really get to know each other. You could move from one form of communication to another. Before you actually decide that this is someone you’d like to meet in person, you could move from messaging each other online to instant messaging to talking on the phone.Before going out on a real date and dealing with all of the potential stress involved, get to know someone online. No commitment, it's all about getting to know someone new in a safe environment, at a c omfortable distance without forcing yourself to sit though dinner with someone you have nothing in common with. In Indian scenario though with the help of communication technology world had become a smaller place. We are globalized but it had also increase expectation to perform and communicate in these spaces.We are rooted deep to our traditions but in the same time want to be a part of this large cyber world where there is no inhibitions, moral code of conduct and we have power of anonymity. Today’s youth do not opt for online dating to find someone to have one night stand but they do so to find there soul mate or friend who fulfill their requirement of a friend or partner with the qualities they want (mainly demanded by their family) In this dissertation I am making my all efforts to study the indian dating scenario from a student standpoint. METHODOLOGY: Basically there are four main objectives of this research.They deal with: 1. To draw regional profile of the users of t hese dating sites. 2. To examine if these space supplement real spaces for meeting and dating. 3. To identify the sites where users would like to meet in person 4. Do users found it safe to date online A number of studies have been conducted, both using quantitative and qualitative approaches, to examine the feature of dating which occurs in online environments. They focus on wide range of features, such as the structure and power-dynamics involved in online communities, and how this is facilitated by technology.However, perhaps the most prominent area of inquiry, and the main concern of this paper, is the participant’s view on online dating and how they perceive it when it is taken offline, it also study about how their online identity relates to the everyday offline personality. Method used for collecting samples is: Purposive Sampling: A common strategy for sampling in qualitative research studies, purposive sampling places participants in groups relevant to criteria that fits the research question. Factors that affect sample size include available resources, study time, and objectives.To study this I had collected samples from two sources firstly from online source like Facebook and indiandating. com by the help of Google forms and survey monkey. Out of these forty adult subjects twenty are male and twenty are female belonging to the age group of (20-25) of age and mostly belonging to Delhi. The survey sample is kept short because of prevalence of homogeneous answer of students and also because of shortage of time. They all are student; student sample is chosen as they represent the taste of Indian youth. And they use these sites most.Secondly, ten subjects were again interviewed about their experience of online dating. These ten subjects were chosen from same survey group as they have different experiences and they were ready to share it. Their interviews are transcribed and quoted where they are needed. SURVEY METHOD: Questionnaire method: Survey instrument consist of questionnaire mostly of multiple choice and few being open end questions. They start with enquiry about subject’s sex, age and their occupation. The rest of questionnaire are mixed up to answer the pre-defined objectives. t queried about their preference to date online or in real space or how they assess others profile and decide whom to approach and whom to not. it also collect data about where they want to go out on date and why. An obvious strength is that the research question can be addressed in a relatively short space of time. The questionnaire consist of FACTUAL questions dealing with demographic information, education status or their sex and also some BEHAVIORAL questions dealing with views, opinion ,beliefs and values of the subject. This help to get both qualitative data which helped me to treat the data and check the hypothesis.Interview method: Following questionnaire was used by me to collect data followed by some open end personally interv iewed questions. Which mainly aim at recording subjects experiences of taking online dating offline. These questioned were asked to ten subjects who had admitted dating online and had met potential partner in offline/real life space. There answers are trans scripted to avoid my personal biasness. These subjects were informed that there personal information are used in dissertation. The subjects were also asked about open end questions like ‘what help them to distinguish fake profile from a eal one. ’, ‘why they use online dating or where they would like to meet their potential partner and why. ’ In this following dissertation I had taken subject from two famous dating and social networking sites: Facebook and indiandating. com. I had chosen indiandating . com as it is top ranking Indian dating site catering to the need of whole India. Facebook is also taken even though it is not a dating site but networking site as Indian youth use it a lot to date as there are less chances of fake profile, its free and site itself gives option like ‘people you may know’ so and help in meeting new people.Relevance of study: My dissertation deals with broad canvas of cyber space. Online dating is one of the most important part of it. In Indian context though online dating is not much old still not much work is done on this topic. Ratings of dating sites are not published and net user base is also not know. Material is available only for the sites which have foreign backdrop. Though country has the world's third largest Internet users with over 121 million users (of whom 59% who only access the internet via mobile devices) as of December 2011. 137,000,000 Internet users for June 30, 2012, 11. % penetration, per IAMIA and 62,713,680 Facebook subscribers on Dec 31, 2012, 5. 2% penetration rate. (source: http://www. internetworldstats. com/) still not much research is done to study cyber space by geographers. My study does not deal with region al profile as it is very difficult to trace it in small sample size and quite irrelevant as cyber space compress spatiality. I deal with the hypothesis which state that do these cyber space can replace the real space dating sites and how and why of it. I had also tried to mark out those places where they would like to meet in real space and why.My research aim to know if the reason of using online dating is different among both sex group and do our social cultural traits affect our cyber behavior. My study also aim to find out if these online dating is supplementing real life dating and while concluding I’ll also look at pros and cons of online dating. The rise use of dating sites has been driven by several trends in society. One of these is that people now move around more often for work, distancing themselves from friends and family members who could play matchmakers. Another is that they are living longer, and hence more likely o look for new love later in life. The spread of fast broadband connectivity in many countries has also encouraged people to dabble in online dating. My study is relevant as it is a qualitative research of the online behavior of my subject. It is not based on past trend and neither has it predicted future. It is just an analysis of current dating scenario and how it is taken to real world. Limitation of the study: My research is limited in several ways. First in this dissertation i used a convenience sample that is very small in comparison to vast user base.With small sample size of 40 subjects for questionnaire method and ten for personal interview, a caution must be applied and result should not be universally applied. This small sample size is the result of lack of time to survey. my research is not designed to evaluate the dating scenario of students but to study how and why they bring it offline. All the subjects are student hence my sample also miss a large chunk of online daters who are employed personals ,married coupl es and people above age 25. due to shortage of time the no of interview taken are also less i. . 10 persons and they are transcribed and quoted in examples. Though care has been taken to inscribe personal biasness but at some point I failed to maintain unbiased opinion. LITERATURE REVIEW: My dissertation topic is â€Å"taking online relationship offline† on this topic not much work is done on Indian context. The articles which help me to clear my basics about this topics are : 1. Online Dating: A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science By: Eli J. Finkel1, Paul W. Eastwick, Benjamin R. Karney, Harry T.Reis ,and Susan Sprecher Northwestern University; Texas A;M University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Rochester; and Illinois State University This article deals with information analysis and synthesis focusing on finding and drawing conclusion from it. This article study and check the claim of the online dating sites which claims th at online dating sites had promoted better romantic outcomes than conventional dating’s and online dating sites are fundamentally different from conventional dating sites.This article start with the history of dating in world and how society the arranged marriages still prevalent in parts of Southeast Asia where two individuals are bought together by the intervention of the third person/party who had a relatively broader social network and power to apply judgments. (Ahuvia ;Adelman,1992) It explain that how with the presence of these three elements online dating are superior to conventional form of dating by a. access to potential romantic partners b. communication with potential romantic partners c. atching with compatible romantic partners The overarching goal of this article is to draw upon the accumulated scientific literature on romantic relationships and other psychological phenomena to evaluate (a) whether online dating represents a fundamental rather than an increment al shift in the process of relationship initiation (the uniqueness question) and (b) whether online dating yields better romantic outcomes than does conventional offline dating (the superiority question). this article had outlined the development of dating leading to development of online dating.This historic trend line help us to understand the development of dating and importance of third party intervention. it also explain the changing view of mass about online dating earlier as it was seen something attempted by people who can’t date in real world and were assumed as ‘nerd’ ‘the desperates†and the socially inept (Goodwin, 1990; Orr, 2004; Smaill, 2004;Whitty ; Carr, 2006; Wildermuth ; Vogl-Bauer, 2007). as it was observed that early adapter of this technology â€Å"a little on the shy side or a little on the sleazy side† (Orr, 2004, p. 29). his article had studied slow and steady early growth of online dating and how it get stigmatized befo re but today enjoying its boom days. secondly it deals with the fact that Has online dating fundamentally altered the romantic acquaintance process? this article deals with famous nine step as follows: This article also deals with the issues that how online dating provides superior access, communication and matching then conventional dating. it finally draw the conclusion that Online dating offers access to potential partners whom people would be unlikely to meet through other avenues, and this access yields new romantic possibilities.On the other hand, the heavy emphasis on profile browsing at most dating sites has considerable downsides, and there is little reason to believe that current compatibility algorithms are especially effective. Online dating functions best to the degree that it introduces people to potential partners they would have been unlikely to encounter otherwise and facilitates a rapid transition to face-to-face interaction, where the two people can get a clearer sense of their romantic potential.Though this reading provide guidance to start this dissertation but it do lack in few aspects as it only cover the spatial and cultural settings of western world (America) this article do not deal with the situations and the reasons stating how online relations survive in offline world. But in a nut shell this article had helped in finding that Online dating is now the easiest way to meet other people who are looking to date or looking for a potential relationship.In addition, some key reasons as to why people like online dating are: * Online dating allows people to cast a wider â€Å"dating net† in search for a â€Å"perfect† potential long-term partner or soul-mate. * Online dating allows busy people to better organize and plan their dating life. * Online dating gives shy people a voice since it’s easier for shy people to initially communicate while behind a computer monitor. * Online dating allows people to see if there is ch emistry before going out on a date. Online dating allows people to filter matches, being able to better sort the type of person they want to date based on religion, interests, political beliefs, etc. * Online dating is the way to date now. Everyone knows a couple who met via online dating and people are no longer ashamed to admit that they met online. Other articals like , paper presented at the Identities in Action conference, Mikael Jakobsson and Victoria Popdan (1999) adopt an auto-ethnographic approach, reflecting on the online interaction that resulted in the development of the friendship between the two authors.Looking mainly at discourse conducted through the graphical chat systems of â€Å"Active Worlds† and â€Å"The Palace†, the study addresses two main areas. Primarily, Jakobsson and Popdan examine the more conventional concerns of the portrayal and perception of identity in a text-based reality concluding, rather generally, that some aspects of personality are emphasized whilst others are de-emphasized. They also argue that rather than encouraging identity play, the barrier of online communication encouraged the participants of their study to behave more openly, to more confidently express their â€Å"true elves†. In this way, the authors observe that the technology offered for online communication can serve as â€Å"A mask that shields the person behind it and in this way tends to make the person more open†¦the saying that ‘the mask does not hide, it reveals’ captures this phenomenon very well. † (Jakobsson and Popdan 1999: 5). Result: After completing my survey and by employing statistical techniques manage to draw larger picture of Indian dating scenario represented by my subjects. I had compiled all my results in single excel sheet thus making is easier to study the data.The questionnaire and interview was set up to validate my objectives of the dissertation. Those objectives were: 1. Trace the demo graphic profile of the users of dating sites? 2. To examine if these spaces supplement real spaces for meeting and dating 3. To identify the sites where they would like to meet in person. 4. Do they find it safe to use it and why? To find answer of these objectives I had divided my questionnaire into sub parts 1. Trace the demographic profile of the users of dating sites? The survey is done from the sample size of 40 people twenty male and twenty females.Mostly in there college. With age group of 20-25. The relationship status of the user is kept into consideration and it is found that: Relationship Status Relationship Status Source: survey result from questionnaire. Source: survey result from questionnaire. The work profile of all the subjects is same. They all are students. I had tried to find out why this subject group uses online dating. I survey this by giving them multiple choice questions to determine why they use these dating sites. In my research I had found out thatI had a lso tried to find out that are people while online dating tried to find if people try to find out their potential partner through regional chat rooms so as to find their date which have physical proximity. It shows result as: Conclusion: My first objective which was to know the demographic profile of the clearly explain the status of randomly picked up sample as * Most of them are below age group of 25 * Females are less actively involved in online dating in comparison to their male counterpart but they are more actively involved in keeping track of their old friends. Their age structure shows that as female are moving towards age upper limit their online dating had decreased. Whereas no such trend is found in male section. May because they are mostly single and get married at older age, hence they are looking for their potential dating partner. * It is seen that mostly male chat in regional chat room so that they find it easier to meet offline whereas majority of girls do not use r egional chat room may be because they want to avoid meeting someone they knew and try to keep anonymity. It is also evident from the data that male generally hit chartrooms because they find it easy to express themselves in cyberspace. For example, a male who is conventionally macho in the offline world may more easily drop his bravado in an online environment or vice versa. This may occur partly because the technology mediates discourse and removes the immediacy of peer group judgment, diminishing the pressure for the individual to conform in socially set manners. Males also use online dating to make new online friends rather than tracing the old friends which is more prominent in females. Anonymity attract female more than the male may be it is because our social structure don’t give girls space and freedom to express themselves and to date the person they like without being judged. * Females had also use online dating to meet new persons but lesser then males. This result shows that our society’s social constrain are loosen up in this cyber space. Participants by utilizing the character-based nature of this cyber world to express qualities and physical attributes that they feel they lack in the offline world.Objective two: To examine if these spaces supplement real spaces for meeting and dating Even in current scenario in India it is difficult to approach a stranger in a cafe or club and extend a hand for friendship or to start conversation with pick up line like ‘hey can we be friends? ’ this situation help in emergence of this online dating. In my questionnaire I had tried to find out that is this hypothesis is true or not. In my studies I had found out that 17 girls out of 20 found is easier to socialize in cyber space where as 14 admitted that they had seriously tried dating through these sites. n boys this result are even more positive. Traditionally in India dating is some phenomena which is carried forward by third parties- religious leaders, parents, elderly women and so forth for centauries but they work in small scale and generally introduce person they personally knew. But in online dating one can browse one’s profile at any time without one’s awareness. Rather than meeting potential partners and then slowly learning various facts about them, Users of online dating sites typically learn a broad range of facts about potential partners (and vice versa) before deciding whether a first meeting is desirable.Access to potential partners, tools to communicate with them and to judge the compatibility of potential partner are the service that definitely mark online dating superior to real dating. This online dating space provides chat rooms where people can chat, share pictures videos, play games and can do other loads of things. Though real space also provide us these facilities but they are different in few means. In real world if we go out for date then firstly it will become public affair and in countries like India it is not looked up nicely.Secondly, from male point of view online dating save their expenditure which can be incurred on first dates. From my interview and surveyed data , I had seen that most of the subjects had tried dating online and above fifty percent of them had met offline. People also share personal information’s and issues online as they feel more safer, confident and as the idea of being judged or mis judge is absent. Example: why you use online dating? Ram:† as I can choose any one from the lot according to my mood,if someone is annoying me I can instantly block her profile .I can chat about many topics without being judged and the best part is that it’s my little secret and I can chat with new girls without even getting in knowledge of my parents and my girlfriend. while online dating I can easily hide my negative aspects I can choosen to sound boring or basketball player and even act like total freak or flirt. † Ra jiv: â€Å"I use online dating as I can do it from my home place at my comfort and at my time. I am free to express as I like and act anyway. I entertain myself, increase my social circle and that too without getting out of my comfort zone . hatting apps had helped a lot in making me addicted to it. aaj kal k anoroid mobile apps. Ne to bore hone ka option he nahi chodha. i just love being online all day in chat rooms. flirting and chatting as feel like† From the above interview transcribe we can incur that online space had supplement offline meeting and dating but it has its other side too. From my survey I had also recorded the fact that most of the people dating online are not serious for relationships. Fake identities, spam pages, frauds id’s are very prominent. ource: http://www. cartoonstock. com/stylesheet. css online predators. Case one: Interviewer: did you ever chatted from fake id and why? Alfa_male :† yes I did it many times I m a girl age 23 but I lik e to chat by posing as male. mazza ata hai ladke ban k girls se baat karne mai alag sa and best part to tab hota hai jab she started taking it seriously its very good prank to play on. † source: http://www. cartoonstock. com/stylesheet. css profile pictures also create dillusions. Case two: Interviewer: had you ever came across any fake profile?Sarita: â€Å"ek baar ek ladke se mai milne gayi usse mai facebook pe milli thee,jab usse mall mai dekha I was soo shocked he weight almost 100kg and height was about 5 feet, I don’t want to judge someone on physical criteria but all his pic in Facebook were either close ups or in large group thus making it entirely different person. From that day I had decided that I would never meet someone in person. † There are people who think that it’s fine to date online for fun but we should not get into serious relationships as most of the time people who are dating are not serious.And if we had find the perfect match then we should take it offline as soon as possible. it is noticed that although users can go directly from dating-site-mediated communication to a face-to-face meeting (e. g. , by scheduling a date through the dating site instant messaging system), most users engage in communication outside of the dating site, frequently via personal e-mail accounts, before deciding to meet face-to-face (Day, Hamilton, Hutchins, Maher, ; Vance,2010). Most of the datings that progress to the mutual mediated communication stage meet face-to-face within a month, frequently within a week (Rosen et al. 2008; Whitty, 2008). Conclusion: It is observed in my study that girls prefer online dating over conventional dating for following reasons: * Ignoring an unwanted date request typically would be considered rude in a face-to-face context, but the relative anonymity at this stage of the online dating process renders it a common and frequently inoffensive strategy, along with the use of impersonal, scripted  "no thanks† messages generated by the site (Tong ; Walther, 2011). * Even if in later stage they find someone annoying they can simply remove them. * Have control over their cyber life and identity. Boys also prefer online dating as they have loads of option to choose from. On the basis of my survey I can conclude that do online dating space had enormous potential to supplement real spaces for meeting and dating. These sites in some cases do supplement real spaces for dating as they provide a platform which is safe ,offer anonymity and choices with the comfort of home place but it is also quite a time-consuming and often frustrating activity as dating sites are swarmed up with fake profiles ,bots ,spams ,frauds . Majority of the users said that they hate fake profiles in dating sites.As it is very disappointing to find that all we know about a person in offline space is lie. 40% of the people feel that people are not serious in online dating may be because they have lot of pro file to choose from and their behavior is subjugated by none. One of the biggest dangers of meeting someone online and then pursuing a real-time relationship with them is the fact that the Internet provides a false sense of security. By spending time getting to know someone via email or IM, you might let your guard down more quickly and divulge more personal information than you would in person.In addition, while you are being deeply open and honest, you have no way of knowing that the other person is really who he claims to be. Abundance of dating sites has a dark side. People intuitively think that having more choices will increase the probability of finding a â€Å"better† or â€Å"best† option, but they often find it hard to make any selection at all when faced with too many choices Safety is also an important issue in online dating. Online stalker, frauds, scammers are common concern of online daters.Some people on dating websites try to get to know people on an i ntimate level for the sole purpose of trying to get money from them, pretending they are having a hard time financially or saying they need the funds to schedule a visit. The intimate information you share online, whether photos, sexual practices or any other sensitive matter, can come back to haunt you. The legal system, unfortunately, does not provide much in the way of remedies for online defamation and the Internet has a permanent memory. Even your efforts to protect your own reputation can backfire on you. It pays to be very careful about what you disclose.All such are the reasons why these sites cannot replace real spaces for dating. But can act as a catalyst to supplement dating in real spaces. Initially online scape do provide safe platform to initiate dating with unknown personals who can be our friends. Objective 3: To identify the sites where they would like to meet in person. This objective aims to find out the real tangible spaces and sites where people want to meet whe n they take their online relationships offline. . Online dating has become a very big part of our society in the last few years, and it seems to have taken the place of meeting people in bars.The biggest part to the online dating process is actually meeting a person face to face for the first time. This can be a little nerve-racking and exciting, as it may put you way out of your comfort zone. It is a big decision to decide about the place where one wants to meet other in the real space. As after the secure platform of cyber space where one is going to finally meet people in person. Well it really depends upon the comfort level of that person. There communication online or on phone helps to select best place. Generally it is a place with quite ambience with comfort to communicate freely in public place.In my survey I had tried to find out such places where people generally tend to meet up for their first date. And after what window period they find it comfortable to meet. Survey res ult: Source: surveyed data It is quite visible that choice of sites for meeting first time is quite different between both the sexes. Girls want to opt for the places which are quite but public like coffee shops or movie whereas boys like to go to places where they can indulge in activities os places which are full of action so as to work as ice breaker. ource: http://www. cartoonstock. com/stylesheet. css In my survey I had found that more of male are interested in taking online dates offline and generally to place or the places of their interest. I had also noticed that seventy percent of girls believe in window period before meeting online or even before changing with option of blocking phone no to avoid taking to a person has encouraged women to exchange phone number and hence they talk over phone for a long period before meeting offline. Objective 4: Do they find it safe to use it and whyFirst dates are always fraught with anxiety, particularly blind dates of any kind. Meeting an online friend face-to-face does qualify as a first date, although you have technically been getting to know them or mildly flirting for a while. As you are already nervous, anxious, and excited about meeting this person for the first time. Depending on the time you have vested in getting to know each other online and/or over the phone it depend if people find it safe to use it. According to my survey: Percentage of subjects finding it safe to meet online. Source: surveyed dataAnd when the question is asked for the reason to feel safe online dating the reply are: Ques: why feel safe in online dating? Source: surveyed data Analysis: as the question of online safety arise girls are more concern about it and even more to be confident about the fact they have power and control to choice, reject and block any one they feel like. They also enjoy the quality of anonymity which internet offers but not as much as males do. The factor of online dating sites that they provide us tool of crea ting identity. We can pose, we can act, and we can fake all these options are soo available.This tool is more used and preferred by females then by males as female identity are generally molded and bended in our society. But internet provide them freedom to explore any aspect of their identity. Interviewed reply: Interviewer: why you feel safe to date online and then bring it on real space? Arti: online dating k bahut benefits hai ek toh nobody knows about it so I can chat to anyone I like secondly its soo safe you can easily share anything, here I have the power to provide or deny access to my profile,jab lage risky ho raha hai sab then I can easily quit bas fir profile name changed and I can chat again. Asma : â€Å"arey here I have block option always open. If someone irritate me I just block his access to my profile. Even if I want to meet that person online e then I can cross check his profile on social networking sites as people generally don’t lie over them and when i t came to dating and meeting I just follow my instinct and normal safety code, will meet him in public place within the knowledge of my friends or family on my turf so if anything wrong happen I can quickly use fire exits† Feeling safe online is one of the illusion which internet provide us.In this cyberspace we tend to drop our inhibitions, fear, anxiety, code of conduct and tend to share our personal information. We should to that as it is seen that many times these small peek in our personal real life or our avatars can lead to serious damage to our reputation in real world later in our life. Internet had great memory it never forget anything. source: http://www. cartoonstock. com/stylesheet. css Profile which you have created years back in your teen can cause bad affect in your future life. It can range from ids like [email  protected] co. n or may be some pics of pajama party or may be some dark sites you had googled in past but by mistake you get tagged in it. Cases of online stalking , With 81% adults in India sharing information online once a week, inter personal communication have taken a beating. Intel Corporation’s study, titled Mobile Etiquette revealed a perception of ‘oversharing’ with at least six out of ten adults and teens saying they believe other people divulge too much personal information online. Nearly 44% respondents admitted that they were embarrassed by or regretted something they have shared online. ource: http://www. cartoonstock. com/stylesheet. css online dating is a safe option or not is an argument yet to be resolved but it is been noticed that with limited information on display and by using basic guidelines about online dating we can avoid the pitfalls of the online dating. The online dating world gives you more options, but finding a date online also presents safety hazards. While many members of the online dating sites are honest and well intentioned, others prey on women or don’t present th emselves honestly. There are guys who will think that this is the perfect ption to fix a date with women and then take advantage of her. You need to be careful. There is no scarcity of perverts out there. Even worse, there can be guys who are pretending to be someone they are not. Conclusion: According to the BBC World Service global poll that surveyed close to 11,000 Internet users in 19 countries, India and Pakistan have some of the largest numbers of enthusiasts for online dating. 59 per cent of Indians and 60 per cent of Pakistanis use the Internet to find a potential partner. Online dating saves time and money; it lets you hide your identity and thereby provides safety.As compared to the old and traditional way of finding a mate, online dating is much better and lets you communicate with somebody sitting on the other end of the globe. My thesis as aimed to trace the way how online dating’s are taken offline by Indian youth. my findings shows that most of the people who d ate are single as female move into relationship or marriage their dating activity decreases but male do not show any such trend. Female use dating to be in contact with their friends but male do it to find someone new to date online.These dating actually cannot replace the real dating place but they do supplement real dating space in many ways as if online relation hit the real road then it tends to be successful. These dating sites help in finding people of similar interest, same location , religion or traits easily as online dating provides choice. But this factor also has its bad side attached to it. Abundance has a dark side. People intuitively think that having more choices will increase the probability of finding a â€Å"better† or â€Å"best† option, but they often find it hard to make any selection at all when faced with too many choices.This phenomenon is called â€Å"choice overload. † This abundance may also result in believing one has essentially inf inite possibilities, which may lead some people to question or devalue their current partner. This is called â€Å"trading up,† and may lead to treating one’s dates as commodities. It is inevitable that, in every relationship, there will come a moment of disillusionment. Having an array of potential partners may discourage any sustained effort to resolve conflicts. Though these dating sites sometimes pose as if they had made dating a fun not a serious affair.Some people find that exchange of information online is not safe and majority things that online dating is easy and safe way to express, as with the help of anonymity trait online dating had become a good choice for Indian youth as they want this dating stuff to be kept as secret as it is still not socially admitted. I had found out that dating online is acting as safer option to date but fake profiles ,spams ,online fraud cases had limited the way in which they want to date. These obstacles make dating bit dangero us as it can cause financial, emotional loss together with bad effect on reputation.It is also seen that sites the people decided to meet offline also varies. Girls tend to opt for public places but with quite ambience. So as to feel safe but also to have enough privacy to initiate conversation. Whereas boys opt for restaurant, movies, disc or lounges as they are not much good in initiating conversation they use such places in defense to speak less and enjoy the company. Some of them give reasons that such places give an comfort zone so act as a ice breaker. Girls avoid disc or lounges for first date as they believe to keep it as simple as possible so as to find it easy if date doesn’t go smooth.They like places like coffee shop or restaurant to keep its duration small. Though online dating has many pros to use it ,it also have its part of pitfalls: When you provide information about yourself online, you inevitably take certain risks. Online dating, perhaps because it speaks to our fondest hopes, opens the door to certain vulnerabilities. It can deceive; can offend you sexually, emotionally or financially. But in end it is just a way to find potential partner now its up to us to follow our instinct and use it tool to help ourself in search of true love.. As said by one of my subject: I believe in love at first site.. XO XO