Features of Postmodernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Features of Postmodernism - Essay Example The modernist believed that science had shaken the foundations of traditional authorities and truths. Modern man could find a new, rational foundation for universal truth; science, particularly, would reveal new truth, which, when applied to modern society and institutions, would literally remake the world. Modernism "... held the extravagant expectation that the arts and sciences would further not only the control of the forces of nature but also the understanding of self and world, moral progress, justice in social institutions, and even human happiness." [2]. Looking to man and not God, the optimism of modernism has proven itself ill-founded. The response has been postmodernism. Postmodernism can be illustrated as a worldview by looking at five presuppositions inherent in the postmodern worldview: (1) The quest for truth is a lost cause. It is a search for a "holy grail" that doesn't exist and never did. Postmodernists argue that objective, universal, knowable truth is mythical; a ll we have ever found in our agonized search for Truth are "truths" that were compelling only in their own time and culture, but true Truth has never been ours. Furthermore, if we make the mistake of claiming to know the Truth, we are deluded at best and dangerous at worst. (2) A person's sense of identity is a composite constructed by the forces of the surrounding culture. Individual consciousness--a vague, "decentered" collection of unconscious and conscious beliefs, knowledge, and intuitions about oneself and the world--is malleable and arrived at through interaction with the surrounding culture. ... Individual consciousness--a vague, "decentered" collection of unconscious and conscious beliefs, knowledge, and intuitions about oneself and the world--is malleable and arrived at through interaction with the surrounding culture. Postmodernism then, in stark contrast to modernism, is about the dissolving of the self. From the postmodernist perspective, we should not think of ourselves as unique, unified, self-conscious, autonomous persons. (3) The languages of our culture (the verbal and visual signs we use to represent the world to ourselves) literally "construct" what we think of as "real" in our everyday existence. In this sense, reality is a "text" or "composite" of texts, and these texts (rather than the God-created reality) are the only reality we can know. Our sense of self--who we are, how we think of ourselves, as well as how we see and interpret the world and give ourselves meaning in it--is subjectively constructed through language. (4) "Reality" is created by those who have power. One of postmodernism's preeminent theorists, Michel Foucault, combines the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's ideas about how those in power shape the world with a theory of how language is the primary tool for making culture. Foucault argues that whoever dominates or controls the "official" use of language in a society holds the key to social and political power. (Think, for example, of how official political "spin" control of specific words and phrases can alter the public perception of political decisions, policies, and events.) Put simply, Nietzsche said all reality is someone's willful, powerful construction; Foucault says language is the primary tool in

Evaluating E-Commerce Strategy Development within Organisations Essay Example for Free

Evaluating E-Commerce Strategy Development within Organisations Essay Background The news about the â€Å"New Economy† has triggered many entrepreneurial ventures to exploit on the electronic commerce (e-commerce) opportunities. Ventures such as Amazon and eBay have received significant media attention and investor optimism about the potential of e-commerce. Now that the smoke has settled, both management and academic research have become interested on the impact of e-commerce on those companies that have supplemented their brick-and-mortar outlets with e-commerce initiatives. Several researches have emerged on effect of e-commerce on organisational strategy. Tapscott et al (1998) discusses the organisational changes created by B2B e-commerce and the benefits of deploying e-commerce within the organisation. O’Connell (2000) discusses the effect of e-commerce in the organisational structure in light of the resource-based view and transaction cost theory. E-commerce has been seen as improving efficiency, communication and lowering costs across business processes (O’Connell, 2000; Krovi et al., 2003; Garicano and Kaplan, 2001). In addition, researches have also shown the influence of e-commerce on brand management. Wind Mahajan (2001). discuss how the competitive environment is changing with the increasing number of Internet users and how the new technology is redefining the marketplace. The research presented a conceptual framework delineating the drivers and outcomes of marketing strategy in the context of competing in both physical and electronic marketplace. Part of the emergence of electronic marketplace is the ability of organisations to offer highly customized products to consumers, and the capability to build and to manage customer relationships (Brown, 2000). The aim of the research is to investigate the way in which an organisation develops its electronic commerce strategy over time in light of existing strategic approaches and development found within related literature. The research particularly looks into Marks Spencer e-commerce strategy as the case study for the research. The research looks into how Marks Spencer has developed and implemented its e-commerce strategy. Drawing from strategic management theories, the research specifically focuses on the how an e-commerce strategy is grounded on reducing transaction cost within the organisation and across the value chain. Furthermore, the research also looks into the importance of relationship marketing and how e-commerce is providing organisations with the necessary technology to achieve seamless exchange of information and reduced costs. Strategically, the adoption of e-commerce within an organisation hinges on these two important strategic management theories. In addition, the research is confined within the business-to-consumer (B2C) market, since business-to-business (B2B) relations are frequently characterized by a small number of customers and a strong emphasis on personal contacts between customers and salespeople as their means of marketing communication. Therefore, the research focuses on how consumers view their shopping experience within an e-commerce site, particularly Marks Spencer. The Overview of the Study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The remainder of this study is as following statement:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chapter 2, Literature Review, will provide a concise concept and explanation of electronic commerce within retail organisation. The review of related literature discusses the concept and application areas of e-commerce within organisation. The review will also tackle the important strategic management concepts such as transaction cost theory and relationship marketing and how e-commerce is enabling organisations achieve increased efficiency, improved communication, and lower costs across its value chain. Chapter 3, Methodology, will describe the research design of this study. The research design of this study is empirical research method using secondary data for quantitative analysis. Chapter 4, Results, will demonstrate the results of this study.   At first, the descriptive statistical data such as maximum, minimum and mean, on the consumer’s perspective on the different service attributes of e-commerce site for Marks and Spencer. Chapter 5, Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations, the â€Å"Summary† section will first provide a comprehensive summary of the major findings of this study. The â€Å"Conclusion† section will highlight the implications of the research findings. Finally, â€Å"Recommendations† will be proposed to help companies to utilize the importance of electronic commerce in their strategic assessment.   In next chapter, related researches in electronic commerce will be reviewed CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Electronic Commerce According to the International Engineering Forum, e-commerce is â€Å"an emerging model of new selling and merchandising tools in which buyers are able to participate in all phases of a purchase decision, while stepping through those processes electronically rather than in a physical store or by phone (with a physical catalog). (online International Engineering Forum)† E-commerce enables a customer to access product information, select items to purchase, purchase items securely and have the purchase settled financially.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While the notion of e-commerce as the ability of organisations or a person to sell over the Internet is very popular, the research paper will adopt the definition of Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). E-commerce can be defined as â€Å"the total of all applications that pertain to online communications and transaction (OECD, 2000).† The definition better suit our purpose of discussing e-commerce in the context of strategic management. The research views e-commerce holistically, which encompasses the communication between organisations and customer over the Internet, the completion of one-time or on-going online transactions, and e-CRM systems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The emergence of e-commerce in the retail sector is one of the most widely adopted and anticipated development in the industry. Following the success of Amazon, many brick-and-mortar retailers jumped into the dot com bandwagon and established their online presence in the World Wide Web. Many have adopted e-commerce capabilities out of a fear of falling behind competitors or as a result of the general momentum to expand the use of an existing Internet presence. Nonetheless, the main value proposition for organisations adopting an online presence is the prospect of increasing revenue from new markets and using a lower-cost, electronic-distribution channel (online International Engineering Forum).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With a strong demand from organisations in creating an online presence, internet service providers (ISPs) have begun to offer electronic-commerce hosting services. ISPs often position as a outsourced service provider of the customers’ electronic-commerce capabilities, managing the networking and server aspects of the initiatives. Such services are important consideration for the roll-out e-commerce sites as it allows organisations to leverage on the expertise of ISPs and allows organisations to concentrate on their core businesses (online International Engineering Forum).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the customer’s perspective, the main benefit of an e-commerce system is the convenience it brings to consumers, who are constrained by busy schedule and numerous activities. The e-commerce system enables a customer to locate and purchase a desired good or service over the Internet when the customer is ready to make the purchase. Its function is synonymous to a virtual store (online International Engineering Forum).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the merchant’s perspective, the e-commerce system enables the organisation to take advantage of the strengths of online store and increase revenues. One of the key benefits of implementing an online store is the capability to cover greater market reach and a complementary distribution channel to its existing brick-and-mortar stores. However, in order to effectively implement an e-commerce strategy, the e-commerce system must recreate or utilize existing data and business processes. The merchant must recreate the same shopping experience in its online store providing in-store assistance, secure payment process, catalogs and prices about the products and services, inventory management, and transaction capabilities (including credit authorization, tax computation, financial settlement, and shipping) (online International Engineering Forum).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, e-commerce not only allows merchants to take advantage of market reach, but it also enables merchants to redefine and enhance an enterprise’s brand strength, customer-service capability, and supply-chain efficiency. An e-commerce site is one of the areas of an enterprise infrastructure that is open to customers via the Web, but it is linked with other information system of the enterprise value chain (online International Engineering Forum).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In implementing an e-commerce site, provision of the basic system requires an Internet connection, a Web-application server and e-commerce application software, and a personal computer for the shopper. Figure 1 illustrates the basic economic drivers and application requirements of an e-commerce marketplace. On the buyers side, consumers are driven to the online retail store through advertisements, interesting features, needed information, and directory. On the sellers side, merchants are driven to the online space because of its ease of entry, increasing website traffic, ability to sell and integrate marketing messages (online International Engineering Forum). Figure 1. Business Drivers in e-commerce strategy E-Commerce Strategies and Business Drivers A number of initiatives implemented within an organisation are driven by a market need. All industries are characterized by trends and new developments that gradually or speedily produce changes important enough to require a strategic response from participating firms. The popular hypothesis about industries going through a life cycle helps explain industry changes but is still incomplete (Porter, 1980 p. 157-162). The life-cycle stages are strongly keyed to changes in the overall industry growth rate (which is why such terms as rapid growth, early maturity, saturation, and decline are used to describe the stages). Yet there are more causes of industry change than an industry’s position in the life cycle (Porter, 1980 p. 157-162). While it is important to judge what growth stage an industry is in, there’s more analytical value in identifying the specific factors causing fundamental industry and competitive adjustments. Industry and competitive conditions change because forces are in motion that create incentives and pressures for change (Porter, 1980 p. 162). The most dominant forces are called driving forces because they have the biggest influence on what kinds of changes will take place in the industry’s structure and competitive environment. The Internet and e-commerce opportunities are unquestionably spawning a sweeping business revolution that altered industry boundaries, opens up all kinds of new business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) market opportunities and threats, sparks competition from new and entirely different breed of enterprises and mandates fundamental changes in business practices (Thompson and Strickland 2001).   In his book The Business of E-Commerce: From Corporate Strategy to Technology, Paul May discusses four business drivers for adopting an e-commerce strategy. First, organisations have the compulsion to catch up with competitors or to gain competitive advantage by being early adopters of the new technology. Organisation’s constant pursuit to gain competitive edge in the marketplace is a primary concern and part of a survival component in the business strategy. Second, organisations need to develop a credible e-commerce channel from its current online portfolio. Third, organisations are constantly looking for ways to reduce cost and increase efficiency within its value chain. E-commerce can be a creative force in delivering reduced transaction cost, increased communication and coordination, and improve business processes. Fourth, e-commerce enables organisations to improve its value chain by creating strategic supplier partnership and delivering customized customer solutions. It allows organisations improve business’ infrastructural capabilities to play as an extended enterprise and not merely a single business entity delivering greater value to its customers (May, 2000). Each of these drivers can be harnessed as a propulsive force for the business, rather than a deflective or immobilizing one (May, 2000). Application areas of E-commerce Six key emerging application areas in electronic commerce can be identified. It can be organized into two important domains: business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B). The application areas include categories in consumer retailing to real-time business-to-business collaboration (May, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retailers were the first adopters of the business-to-consumer e-commerce. Retailers found selling products and services online as a promising channel of distribution for its products and reaching new markets. Nonetheless, B2C e-commerce is now more diversified and classified into three application areas which include retail, auction, and advice (May, 2000). The three application areas of B2C e-commerce are retail, auctions, and advice. Although each has its own distinguishing characteristics, and dynamics, a consistent theme underlies the development of all three. This is the increasing â€Å"busy-ness† of consumer lifestyles: the extension from work life into private life of a culture of ever-decreasing time-frames and ever-increasing obligations. Lack of time and complexity of choice drive the growth of products and services in each of these areas (May, 2000). Business-to-consumer is a term that stresses the direction of delivery: B2C e-commerce is supposedly something done by business to consumers. Yet this domain is founded on intense customer focus. Insight into the conflicting desires and pressures affecting consumers is a powerful ally in building successful strategies in this highly competitive area (May, 2000). Business-to-business, on the other hand, is the umbrella term used to refer to transactions between businesses conducted online, and the business networks and supply chains that make these transactions possible. While B2B activity has always, taken place, the Internet brings with it a new framework, B2B companies no longer need to depend on the traditional one-to-one model for business transactions (Michel, 2003). Procurement, inventory exchange, and real-time collaboration are relatively obscure categories of application, which have the potential to flip many businesses inside-out. Procurement introduces process improvements in the buying functions of organisations and also points the way to a more competitive environment in inter-company trading. Inventory exchange introduces the mechanism of the market to smooth out supply and demand inefficiencies across entire value chain, potentially lowers transaction and carrying costs, and focuses on improving exchange of supplier information. Real-time collaboration allows organisations to cooperate as fluid colonies of actors, undermining the stability of companies who prefer hands-off relationships or who prefer their reality-checks to be presented monthly (May, 2000). e-Commerce application in Retail Industry Retailers are now increasingly adopting electronic commerce as another distribution means of selling products and services. Online channels have also proved increasingly popular amongst retail companies within other formats such as hypermarkets or catalog retailers, who have attempted to expand into the sector to escape from stale growth within their respective markets (Datamonitor 2006). Datamonitor estimates the global Internet retail sector valued at $656.4 billion in 2005, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.3% over the 2001-2005 period. The estimate is based on the total revenues generated through the sale of retail goods via online channels, valued at retail selling price, with any currency conversions calculated using constant 2005 annual average exchange rates (Datamonitor 2006). With the number of Internet users increasing exponentially year-on-year, the industry has experienced strong global growth within the global Internet retail sector. Much of the demand for online purchases is due to the escalating number of working mothers and time-starved consumers who are conveniently seeking ways of shopping without the hassle of driving to a retail store and falling in-line (Datamonitor 2006). At present, drugs and health beauty aids are the sector’s most lucrative segment in 2005, accounting for a total of $154 billion in total revenues or 23.5% of the retail sector’s total value. Computer, hardware, software, and supplies contributed significant revenues in 2005, generating $114.9 billion in revenues or 17.5% of the sector’s total value (Datamonitor, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While analyst do not see a similar spectacular growth in the global Internet retail industry, experts still is optimistic the pace of revenue expansion for the next four years. Industry experts project to the expansion of industry to remain strong valuing the industry at $1.169 trillion by 2010. This translates to 12.2% CAGR over the 2005-2010 period (Datamonitor, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In terms of revenues generated per region, Datamonitor reports that Europe has the largest market share in the global Internet retail sector with 44.4% of total value, followed by the United States and the Asia Pacific with 22.5% and 21.7% respectively (Datamonitor, 2006).

Year Round Schooling Speech -- Education

Year Round Schooling Speech Have you ever thought about what life would be like having to go to school year round? Well kids today feel that with all the pressure and work they have during the school year, they need the 3 month break time period in order to regroup themselves and have a change of scenery. Year round schooling in the past few years has become a trend that is sweeping the nation, and I am going to tell you why year round schooling IS NOT a way to send the children of America through school. Not only does year round schooling affect the children of America but, it also affects the parents of students, the personal growth and maturity of the students, and the experiences that each child should encounter in-order to develop their own self. Year round schooling affects the parents of students almost as much as the student themselves. Now, I know you guys are thinking, how does this affect parents when we are the ones actually going to school? Well according to the American School Board Journal, parents "turn thumbs down" to year round schooling. Parents...

Plagiarism †Impact of Internet Essay

The advent of technology and internet in the last decade has opened up several avenues for unlimited information access. This along with the increasing academic pressures has led students to resort to plagiarism at an alarming rate (Elliot, 2004). The problem of plagiarism in the academic context can no longer be ignored as it is hampering the creativity and intellectual capacities of students. Overall, there has been a growing concern and an increase in awareness to find ways to counteract plagiarism. Thesis Problem Statement It has been said that internet hinders the creativity of students and encourages intellectual laziness. This paper intends to explore the negative effects of internet on the creative thinking abilities of the students and find some ways to counteract it. Internet and Plagiarism While the concept of plagiarism is not new, it is certainly more widespread now than before. Plagiarism basically means copying someone else’s work and claiming it as own without giving due credit to the original author (Jones, 2007). With the advent of technological era, information is easily accessible and the temptation to pass off someone else’s work as one’s own is high. There is no limit to the amount or type of information that is available on internet covering every subject imaginable. While this kind of information accessibility is advantageous in several ways and facilitates learning in some scenarios, it also leads to several problems with plagiarism especially in the academic context. Due to the availability and ease of access of the information without any restrictions, the effort to plagiarise is much less compared to earlier days when students had to go through a laborious process to get access to the relevant resources in order to copy. In this co ntext, the impact of internet on cheating can be considered extremely high and is known as digital or cyber plagiarism. Impact of internet According to the NEC Research Institute, there are more than 1.4 billion pages on the Internet with 25 new pages being added every second (Dyrli, 2000). Due to this huge database of information, it is very easy to find papers and information related to the academic subjects This has led to a rapid increase in the percentage of cheating both intentional and unintended by students. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Academic Integrity of Duke University, plagiarism due to internet has increased fourfold in the last 6 years (Vencat, 2006). Several other studies have substantiated this claim of rising incidents of plagiarism and the blurring of moral lines among students. Reasons and Effects of Plagiarism Before delving deep into the effects of plagiarism and ways to prevent it, it is important to understand the reasons for it. While the availability of information is certainly a forerunner, there are several other reasons which lead to it as well, the main one being the academic pressure to which students are subjected and the emphasis on good grades in today’s competitive world (Elliot, 2004). However, since the focus of this paper is digital plagiarism, the main reasons why internet encourages plagiarism are stated below: 1. Access to unlimited information through websites and search engines. 2. The ease with which content can be copy-pasted as compared to the earlier traditional methods of copying the material by hand. 3. Difficulty in detecting plagiarism due to the sheer amount of information against which a particular essay or paper needs to be compared. 4. Lack of standards and criteria making it difficult to pin down a work as exact plagiarism. Due to all the reasons mentioned above and many others, the incidents of cheating are steadily on the rise since the last decade. While a lone instance of plagiarism is negligible, massive increases such as these indicate a self-destructive trend among the student community and are becoming a cause of worry (Lathrop & Foss, 2000). Cheating students not only hamper their own intellectual growth, they also make it that much more difficult for honest students to get their due. Students may gain admission to courses which they do not deserve by using the grades obtained through wrongful means and this creates a permanent impact on the future of the society. This impact becomes especially dangerous if a cheating student decides to get into fields such as medicine, law etc. Also, if a particular student who plagiarises regularly receives good grades, it might compel others to do the same and hence the problem will continue to spread. Considering all these factors, it has become imperative for the academic community to take a strong stand against plagiarism. Avoiding Plagiarism The anti-plagiarism industry has been gaining more and more prominence in the last few years and educational institutions have started enforcing very strict guidelines to ensure that students do not cheat. Most of the institutions mete out severe punishments to offenders. Having said that, the subject of academic integrity is a debatable topic and since all the information available on internet is considered public, it is difficult to define intellectual property in a precise manner. Creating awareness is the first step towards preventing plagiarism and most institutions are taking steps to ensure awareness among students. There are also several resources available on the internet which give information about what constitutes plagiarism and what does not. Teachers are resorting to the use of plagiarism detection softwares to catch offenders. As mentioned before, there are several reasons which ultimately culminate in plagiarism. Apart from the ones mentioned in the previous section, there are also several internal factors which lead students to cheat. Procrastination, poor planning and time management, peer pressure, lack of subject knowledge etc are some of the contributing factors (Elliot, 2004). Sometimes, students are genuinely not aware of the intricacies of citing works and thereby make mistakes which constitute accidental or unintentional plagiarism. However, the fact that the plagiarism was unintentional does not make it acceptable and is still considered wrong. To avoid plagiarism, it is important to tackle the root of the issue. While the institute and teachers can play an important role in creating awareness and challenging assignments which encourage creative thinking, at the end of the day, the moral responsibility lies with the students and it is up to them to understand the consequences of cheating and make an effort consciously to avoid it (Martin, 1984). There are several ways in which students can contribute towards reducing such cases. It is important to create self-awareness by studying all the plagiarism related policies and literature provided by the university and also to understand the consequences of not following the rules as most of the universities subscribe to anti-plagiarism softwares lately. Along with policies, it is also important for students to understand the ethics behind the policies. There are several writing formats and referencing styles followed by universities which provide guidelines on giving credit to the original source and students should familiarize themselves with the ones accepted by their own institutes (Kirszner & Mandell, 2004). It is a good idea to ask for help whenever there is any confusion about citing. Also, it is of utmost importance for students to develop good time management skills and plan their coursework in a proper manner as lack of time is one of the main factors for cheating. A good internal schedule with enough time allocated for understanding the subject matter can go a long way in preventing the temptation to cheat. By gaining a good understanding of the subject matter, it is possible to analyse what has been written on the subject by others and extract the relevant data from it rather than blind copying. Last but not the least, it is extremely important to cite all the information which has been borrowed from other sources (Neville, 2007). Developing Creative Thinking During his days as the editor of the Forbes magazine, Malcolm Forbes once said that â€Å"Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one†. This quote aptly describes the actual intent behind the design of academic subjects and the related coursework. It has been said that the ability to think and react logically is critical for a person’s personal as well as professional success. While the internet or any other literary resource might provide the information and the facts relevant to a coursework, they do not serve the actual purpose of a course. Most of the times, the aim of a coursework, be it an essay or a dissertation is to test the subject knowledge and critical thinking abilities of the student. Mere copy pasting does not in any way, reflect the thinking abilities of a student. The internet can be a powerful source of data and information as long as the student learns to process the data and understand the information independently.   Th e information available can be used more productively if the students relate it to the task at hand and build upon it. There are several ways to develop critical thinking abilities though it is not possible to simply learn them. Every assignment can be broken down into logical chunks which encourage thinking and analysing on the students’ part. Students can also participate in class room discussions to the maximum possible extent to understand various viewpoints and relate them to one’s own views. Participating in discussions and taking notes at appropriate places ensures that the original authors are always credited for their work. This also encourages asking questions and raising doubts as and when they arise thereby helping the students understand the subject better. Understanding the subject ensures that students do not blindly accept the facts presented by someone else without questioning the logic behind it or without asking for evidence (Martin, 1984).

Mrkh

Depression, anxiety and low self-esteem in woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) Abstract Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) is a rare syndrome that not only causes physical conditions but emotional. The psychological effects of woman diagnosed with MRKH have never been fully discovered. The hypothesis and or purpose of this study is to evaluate self-report measures of psychological distress in woman with MRKH syndrome compared to woman without MRKH syndrome.A group of woman with MRKH will be assessed through anxiety, depression, and self-esteem scales to determine any psychological distress MRKH had on them when they first received the diagnosis up until later on in life. Similar studies and theories believe that coping with infertility can be taxing and cause psychological issues throughout a woman’s life. I belief observing woman when diagnosed with MRKH as well as following up with woman after dealing with the initial shock of this syndrome will give insight to being able to give proper coping skills to not only woman with MRKH syndrome but woman with infertility issues.Keywords: MRKH, anxiety, depression, infertility, menstrual disorders Introduction MRKH is a rare condition found in approximately 1 in 5000 female births, and it is typically diagnosed in mid-adolescence (Leidolf, 2006). The psychosexual development and the identity, femininity, body image and self-esteem of the patients can be significantly impaired by receiving this type of information about their bodies (Laggari, et al. , 2009). Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome is a condition that involves congenital absence of the vagina, fallopian tubes, cervix and/ or uterus.Some women have uterine remnants, or horns. External genitalia are normal. Chromosome karyotype is 46XX(normal female). The incidence rate is approximately one in 5000. Other symptoms involved to varying degrees are kidney abnormalities, skeletal problems and hearing loss. The cause is somewhat unclear, but the Syndrome occurs during the 4th-6th week of fetal development (Heller-Hoersma, Schmidt, Edmons, 2009). MRKH syndrome is divided into two types; type I Rokitansky sequence and type II MURCS association.Isolated utero-vaginal aplasia is referred to as Rokitansky sequence or to type I (isolated) MRKH syndrome. Incomplete aplasia and/or associated with other malformations, is generally referred to as MURCS association (or type II MRKH syndrome) (Camborieux, Guerrier, Morcel, 2007). Many components go into each case found with MRKH syndrome. Surgery may be in order to have a correctly functioning vagina in many cases. There are many different elements that can affect woman with MRKH syndrome physically and psychologically.Menstruation is considered to be one of the archetypal symbols of femininity and thus constitutes a phenomenon of great significance in the nature of woman (Laggari, et al. , 2009). Living in a world where fertility is a virtue can cause many c onfusing thoughts for those who are infertile. Adolescent girls struggle when trying to figure out who they are as kids and as women. Magazines, Television and Role Models stress the importance of becoming a mother and giving birth.Seeing pregnant women on a day-to-day basis as well as displayed as beautiful in the media shapes a certain image in girls’ minds. When diagnosed with MRKH many women feel confused, angry, and hurt. Adjusting to the diagnosis of MRKH is a difficult and traumatic process for these women, leading them to question their identity as women and to experience a sense of confusion regarding their gender, their bodies, and their social and sexual roles (Leidolf, 2006). Being diagnosed as abnormal can lead to many questions about ones identity.Many women who struggle with infertility difficulties struggle with psychological difficulties. MRKH syndrome is a rare disorder and has been limitedly studied. Looking at the connection between psychological stress wi th woman who have MRKH and those who do not will give insight to many syndromes that deal with infertility issues for example polycystic ovary syndrome. Studies that have been taken have shown a strong connection between anxiety and depression with woman with MRKH syndrome. Limited sample sizes have caused strain in the past studies.A past study states; â€Å"very little is known about the short and long-term psychological impact of MRKHS in females, but several clinicians have suggested that the physical malformations, absence of menstruation and infertility and the subsequent surgical intervention may all contribute to narcissistic damage in these patients† (Laggari, et al. , 2009). Finding out this information can help doctors prepare in helping woman cope with the struggles of infertility. In women with MRKH is it not only the struggle with infertility but also the conflict of identity.Many of these patients may also become depressed questioning themselves over their gend er and doubting their ability to fulfill the female role as adults in the future. They report that infertility is the most difficult part of the condition for young woman to accept (Laggari, et al. , 2009). Doing two personal interviews with patients with MRKH syndrome really helped get into the eyes of how one dealt with the overwhelming feelings of being diagnosed with this syndrome as a teen, and dealing with and living with MRKH as an adult.This interview will help in the preparation for the study we hope to perform for the future. Having such a rare disorder makes it not only difficult to study but difficult to find participants. Finding those with MRKH syndrome around the world willing to participate in this interview was very helpful. A set of interview questions was produced to ensure the best quality answers. Fake names were used to ensure the privacy of patients. Interview Questions 1. How old were you when you found out you had MRKH syndrome 2. How did you find out you ha d MRKH syndrome . What were the feelings/emotions you felt when you found this out? 4. Was there anything that doctors could have improved on? 5. Was there a support system available? Or something you would have liked to see? 6. Was there anything that would have made finding out and dealing with having MRKH easier? I asked two participants of different ages. Both woman were asked the same questions; Alicia fifty years of age, and Jessica twenty-two years of age. Alicia was diagnosed with MRKH at the age of fifteen, she found out due to â€Å"not having a normal size vagina. â€Å"Only a dimple sized vagina. † When she found out she was devastated, the doctors were pocking and prodding at her not having a support system treating her like some kind of experiment. â€Å"Today I am very thankful and try to be of any help to girls who are struggling with what I went through, never wanting a girl to have to go through it alone like I did. I know how hard it can be and believe a strong support system is very important. † Jessica is only twenty-two years of age and found out she had MRKH at fourteen years of age due to a lack of menstruation.Jessica said she was very confused, she thought something was wrong with her because she was different from all of her friends. After she found out she had MRKH she was overwhelmed but glad she didn’t feel so lost and alone. Jessica said she still went through a great deal of depression and grieving but it was great having a support group and having many girls that were going through the same thing. I found it very interesting to see the differences in answers between Alicia and Jessica due to their difference in age.Even though MRKH syndrome is still a very rare syndrome the doctors dealing with this syndrome are trying to improve on the support systems to keep improving on the psychological effects that this emotional syndrome can have on women. Methodology Section Recent studies have been performed trying to evaluate self-report measures of psychological distress in woman with MRKH syndrome compared to woman without MRKH syndrome but have none have fully succeded. Past studies have struggled with finding a significant sample size.I plan to contact woman with MRKH syndrome not only in the United States but also the United Kingdom. Having a bigger range will help get a more significant sample size. The four main MRKH doctors will be contacted in hope they will participate in this study. Helping find patients through this source will not only be helpful but more successful. I hope to find a central location to perform this study. Boston, Massachusetts is one of the central hubs for the MRKH community and believe it would be a great location for the experiment to take place.Before the experiment was to start I believe all the woman should be informed that there is a support system available at all times, if they are in any way uncomfortable they do not need to feel pressured to answer a ny questions, and or can return as they please not having a time limit. I believe that this is a very difficult subject and should be treated with the utmost care. Dealing with infertility and identity issues can cause great psychological stress on a woman. I believe looking at anxiety, depression and self-esteem would be a good start to looking at the psychological effects MRKH syndrome has had on women.Using The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which is a widely used questionnaire and is the depression rating scale that is most often used with adolescents. BDI consists of 16 items, designed to assess the cognitive behavioral effective and somatic components of depression, and the severity or self-reported depressive symptoms (Laggari, et al. , 2009). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which is used extensively to assess global anxiety that varies across situations and anxiety that is stable across time and situations. The STAI is composed of two separate self-report scales (Laggari, et al. 2009). Rosenburg Self-Esteem scale is 10 items being rated strongly agrees to strongly disagree. This questionnaire observes how one views one’s own worth. Using these scales will let us observe the difference between woman with MRKH and woman without MRKH. Because MRKH is such a stressful syndrome the belief is the results will show significantly higher ratings in depression, anxiety, and self-esteem in woman with MRKH syndrome. It is important to following up with the woman who participated in the study years after the diagnosis.Looking to see the hopeful progress a woman has made in dealing with the diagnosis is important to helping women in the future. Using similar scales to assess their psychological state would be beneficial to track their progress. Reviewing and comparing both scales will then give an accurate depiction of the psychological effects that MRKH syndrome can have on a woman. I believe it is very important to make sure that a woman is stab le enough to participate in these studies after being diagnosed with MRKH.Many women have been known to go through severe depression and even attempt suicide after dealing with infertility issues, needing time to go through a proper grieving process. We want to get accurate measures, but want to make sure that participants are emotionally stable after leaving the experiment. References Laggari, V. , Diareme, S. , Christogiorgos, S. , Deligeorglou, E. , Chrisopoulos, P. , Tsiantis, J. , & Creatsas, G. (2009). Anxiety and depression in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome and Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 30(22). 3-88. Laure Camborieux, Daniel Guerrier, Karine Morcel. (2007). Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 13. Leidolf, E. (2006). The missing vagina monologue†¦and beyond. Journal of Gay Lesbian Psychotherapy. 10(2), 77-92. Heller-Boersma, J. G. , Schmidt, U. H. , & Edmons, D. (2009). Psychological distress in women with uterovaginal agenesis (Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome. MRKH). Psychosomatics; Journal of Consultation Liason Psychiatry. 50(3). 277-281. Parker, L. (2012, November). Personal Interview Taylor, T. (2012, November). Personal Interview

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