is social science scientific Essay -- essays research papers

Is Social Science Scientific? Sociology is undoubtedly a logical science; it has the characteristics that other sciences have, its own theories that can be proved, as well as having systematic theories and laws. John Maynard Keynes refuted the many statements made by Auguste Comte and Friedrich Engels, simply he described social sciences as â€Å"illogical† and â€Å"dull.† Thus, without providing any sufficient evidence, he had not proven that, in fact, sociology is not scientific. Auguste Comte regularly compared sociology to other familiar forms of science, like biology, physics, and chemistry. In doing so, he made the assumption that others believed sociology to be scientific. Comte, unintentionally, provided adequate evidence as to why sociology is scientific, while at the same time simply describing sociology as a whole. Much like Comte, Friedrich Engels also found social sciences to be scientific, Engels was able to apply Comte’s beliefs and the basis of sociology to practical situatio ns and groups of people. His strong belief in the science of sociology helped him form the basic idea that knowledge is what makes a person free; thus, ignorance is what restricts people. John Maynard Keynes is considered the challenger of Friedrich Engels, because he often disputed Engels’ work, especially his work on social sciences. Keynes found socialism to be a utopianism ideal, which caused people to be easily influenced without really being aware of all the facts. He didn’t believe that the...

Proposed HR Program for CompuLearn Essay

CompuLearn is a private sector provider of IT-based teaching and learning programmes in business and management based in the UK, with corporate headquarters in Preston, Lancashire and with trading centers in Mumbai, Nairobia and Dubai. Its current global market is focused in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, with 200 education centers in 30 countries. CompuLearn partners with UK universities which validates its programs so that   students are able to qualify in the University programs leading to academic degrees. Its current manpower complement numbers 50 employees mostly based in the corporate office in Preston, Lancashire doing the following functions: Program Development, Customer Service, HR, Marketing, Finance, Sales, IT, Quality Assurance. CompuLearn has embarked on a mission to be market leader in e-learning delivery of University validated programs and foremost learning company in the world. It is on an expanded growth program and it adopted a new strategy to extend to 500 education centers in 60 countries over a span of 3 years. The role of HR is very critical in this new strategy, which is to attract top IT experts. It could be a relatively easy task if not for the following: 1. There is a high turn over in the IT industry in UK and new employees leave after only one month for a new job that offers better pay. 2. CompuLearn has a limited training system in place. Its strategy is to recruit highly trained staff instead of training them in house. The allocated budget for training is almost used up and was used to train the Sales team. 3. Employees have limited management skills as they are mostly technical staff whose training is not in the soft skills development. 4. The company does not have a Performance Appraisal System in place. 5. The staff at the corporate headquarters do not have a comfortable relationship with the staff of the UK universities largely due to complaints of attitude. 6. The HR Director’s strength is in micro-managing and does not have expertise in long-term management plans for the company employees. The Limitations and Constraints Faced by the Company The HR Department will play a very strategic role in supporting the growth of CompuLearn. Among other things, it needs to address the following limitations and constraints faced by the company, whether internally caused or faced by the industry in general: 1. The high turn over rate in the IT industry in UK 2. The lack of a professional or well-developed training and development program for employees 3. The employees’ limited skills in management, customer service and other soft skills 4. The lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System 5. The not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters 6. The limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees Recommendations The HR strategies recommended are based on the following assumptions: 1. Budget The company is working on a limited budget, which is just around 30% of the  annual budget of 25,000 Euros. 2. Lead Department The HR Department will take the lead in implementing the strategies. The HR Director shall formally appoint the section heads to serve as lead persons in implementing the strategies in their respective sections. The HR Director has the free hand in creating working committees to participate in the entire process from planning to implementation. The process will be participatory and with some amount of consultation from the employees. 3. Timetable The strategies are proposed for implementation on a focused basis within the first year (Year 1 – Month 1 to Month 12). Beginning Year 2 (Month 13) the focus of the activities will be on monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of improvements. 4. HR Management Perspective/Model Available literature identify different HR Management models that attempt to explain the various strategies adopted by different companies. General classifications fall under the â€Å"soft† and â€Å"hard† models, based on the definitions of employees considered as either â€Å"human† or â€Å"resource†. The hard versions consider employees as resource and adopt a rational approach to managing them, aligning their HR strategies with the strategies of the business. The soft version, on the other hand, considers employees as human and adopts strategies to train and develop them (Bratton and Gold, p. 5). The recommendations adopted in this case will be based more on the soft version of human resource management. Focus will be more on training and development as well as in developing commitment from employees. A limited form of the hard version will however allow the HR to link the strategies with the overall corporate strategy of the company. In analyzing the challenge faced by CompuLearn, a simplistic framework was designed around the following questions, based on the limitations/constraints faced by the company and to become the basis for the strategies: 1. On the high turn-over rate in the IT industry How can CompuLearn keep its employees from leaving the company after short- term engagement only? Or how can the company motivate its employees to stay longer? 2. On the lack of a professional training and development program Should the company train in-house or continue to hire experts from outside? 3. On the employees’ limited skills in management, customer service, and other soft skills. How can the employees learn the soft skills and apply them at work? 4. On the lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System Is there a need to formulate or adopt a Performance Appraisal System? 5. On the not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters How can there be a more cordial relationship between the two parties? How can the company make the employees appreciate the importance of having good relations with the University staff? Can this be done through training or should the company replace those who transact with the University staff with other company employees, either through job rotation or job enrichment? 7. On the limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees. Should the HR Director undertake refresher courses in management? Or should the company hire a new HR person who has the skills in long term planning to assist the HR Director? Below is a presentation of the proposed HR strategies and programs, in matrix form,   that can be implemented under the leadership of the HR Director. They are composed of both short term and long term strategies. The short-term strategies are those that can be immediately implemented, within the first six months from the time the recommendations will be adopted. The long term strategies are those that can be adopted over a longer period and on a continuing basis like the periodic reviews of policies and developing a system whereby improvements can take place every so often whenever warranted. It will be observed that most of the strategies will be newly introduced to the company and it can be expected that certain difficulties will be met. This will include among other things, resistance to the changes to be introduced, the difficulty of the HR Department to implement them for lack of the appropriate knowledge and skills, and with some â€Å"difficult† employees. This is all part of the process of the HR accepting the initial resistance  to the changes. The HR should be firm and consistent but at the same time adopting an attitude of openness and willingness to see through the improvements. Education and training are two important components of an empowered workforce. The saying that a company is only as good as its weakest employee is very much applicable here. Each employee is responsible for knowing about his company and performing according to the expectations set at the time of his engagement. However, it is the job of HR to find the employees who have the potential to learn more and continuously give them the opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.

Definition of Sociology Terms Hidden Curriculum

Hidden curriculum is a concept that describes the often unarticulated and unacknowledged things students are taught in school and that may affect their learning experience. These are often unspoken and implied lessons unrelated to the academic courses theyre taking — things learned from simply being in school. Hidden curriculum is an important issue in the sociological study of how schools can generate social inequality. The term has been around for some time but it was popularized in 2008 with the publication Curriculum Development by P.P.  Bilbao, P. I.  Lucido, T. C. Iringan and R. B. Javier. The book addresses a variety of subtle influences on students learning, including the social environment in a school, teachers moods and personalities, and their interactions with their students. Peer influence is also a significant factor.   The Physical School Environment   A substandard school environment can be a component of hidden curriculum because it can impact learning. Children and young adults dont focus and learn well in cramped, dimly lit and poorly ventilated classrooms, thus students in some inner-city schools and those located in economically challenged areas may be at a disadvantage. They may learn less and take this with them into adulthood, resulting in the lack of college educations and poorly paying employment. Teacher-Student Interaction   Teacher-student interaction can contribute to a hidden curriculum as well. When a teacher does not like a particular student, he may do everything he can to avoid displaying that feeling, but the child can often pick up on it anyway. The child learns that she is unlikable and invaluable. This problem can also arise from a lack of understanding about students home lives, details of which are not always available to teachers. Peer Pressure   The influence of peers is a significant component of hidden curriculum. Students dont attend school in a vacuum. Theyre not always seated at desks, focused on their teachers. Younger students have recess together. Older students share lunch and gather outside the school building before and after classes. Theyre influenced by the pull and tug of social acceptance. Bad behavior can be rewarded in this environment as a positive thing. If a child comes from a home where her parents cannot always afford lunch money, she may be ridiculed, teased and made to feel inferior.   Results of Hidden Curriculum   Female students, students from lower-class families and those belonging to subordinate racial categories are often treated in ways that create or reinforce inferior self-images. They may also be often granted less trust, independence or autonomy, and they may be more willing to submit to authority for the rest of their lives as a result. On the other hand, students who belong to dominant social groups tend to be treated in ways that enhance their self-esteem, independence, and autonomy. Theyre therefore more likely to be successful. Young students and challenged students, such as those suffering from autism or other conditions, may be especially susceptible. School is a good place in the eyes of their parents, so what happens there must also be good and right. Some children lack the maturity or ability to differentiate between good and bad behavior in this environment.