Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Essay examples -- Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as â€Å"judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.† Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as â€Å"the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.† Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years. Ethnocentrism, as stated above, means the belief that one’s own culture is above and beyond all other cultures. Although this is somewhat of a shallow definition, it still provides an adequate explanation of a very complex issue. We see ethnocentrism every single day, in all aspects of life. The United States of America is a prime example of ethnocentrism is action. The people of this country have a tendency to disregard other cultures, instead believing that American culture is the only way to go. This is not to say that this is how everyone thinks, although most people, at one time or another, have had thoughts along these lines. After the terrorist attack of 9/11, there was an immediate shift into almost hatred of any person of Arabic descent...

McDonalds or Tesco Essay

Explain the limitations of market research in terms of helping the development of a marketing plan for either McDonalds or Tesco (M2) Tesco uses primary type of research to gather information about its customers, competitors and the environment. Tesco collects information that has not been collected before and uses both internal and external primary research methods. Internal research includes: Tesco’s customer data whereas external research would include: questionnaires and surveys, experimental introduction of a new product, interviews and focus groups. Tesco is likely to use secondary research data to help determine what type of primary data is required to be precise and not to waste time and money on gathering data that has already been gathered before. Other types if methods used by Tesco are qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research is used when wanting to find out more about customer’s needs, personal experiences and background by asking open qu estions such as; asking what products they buy most often at Tesco and what their preferences. Tesco also uses quantitative research which includes Tesco’s sales, percentage of customers choosing the same answer in a quantitative questionnaire and can later be analysed. Market research is very beneficial for a business such as Tesco, however it can sometimes be a difficult process as there are a few limitations that affect Tesco’s marketing plans. Every marketing research has the potential to be wrong therefore Tesco should plan its research techniques are very expensive and are not affordable to certain businesses therefore Tesco has to make sure that the cost of the research matches it quality. Another limitation of marketing research is reliability, which shows how reliable the information collected is and whether the information would be the same if collected from a different group of people. Tesco should target the most suitable groups of people to question in order for the information to be effective and beneficial for the organisations marketing plans, such as; to improve customer service at Tesco has to make sure that the information gathered is accurate as people might answer randomly out of laziness and the end result would end up being inaccurate, causing Tesco to carry out another research, costing them both time and money. Tesco collects its customer’s information for organisational purposes, however there is an act that protects the use of customer’s personal information by the business; Data Protection Act 1998 which controls how personal information is used by organisations. Tesco needs to ensure that the information on this data is: †¢Kept up to date and not kept longer than necessary †¢Not transferred to any other country without adequate protection †¢Processed in accordance with the ‘’data subjects’ (the individuals) rights This act is very beneficial for the customers whereas Tesco will be sued under this act in an event of loss of information or in case where customer’s information is accessed by inappropriate individuals or organisations. This would have a great impact on Tesco as it holds information of millions of customers and the amount of money Tesco would have to pay each customer would be a very large amount, leaving Tesco in loss and affecting its Marketing Plans such as: expansion. Tesco wouldn’t be able to hold customer interviews as they have customers in a lot of countries in Europe. This would take up a lot of their time as they wouldn’t be able to get the opinions of all their customers. Although Tesco aim to provide an excellent customer service, they cannot achieve this by using this type of research. Surveys could be a bad idea too as they can be costly to create a questionnaire, but once set up can used for a large sample. It could also lead to Tesco not actually getting their surveys back from customers. It takes time to create a survey/questionnaire which is then is slower when trying to get as many back as you possibly can. Lastly focus groups wouldn’t be of any use for Tesco as they do not need people to taste anything or try certain objects. Setting up a focus group can be very expensive and needs to take place in a specific location. Often a focus group is observed through a one-way mirror, which would take up a lot of Tesco’s time trying to find a location that has these things. The information gathered for market research is very useful and reduces the chances of the business making the wrong decision. Before coming up with a marketing play Tesco must always conduct research in order to have an ideas of whether the plan is an appropriate thing for the compa ny.

A Brief Note On The Volcanic Rock Rhyolite - 1109 Words

Though that sounds simple, geysers are extremely rare. As of August 2008, the total of active geysers on earth numbered approximately 1000. Conditions must be just right for geysers to occur. Three components must be present for geysers to exist: a combining supply of water, an intense source of heat, and immense plumbing system. Water is common in nature, heat can come from volcanic activity. Geysers scientists and geologists have identified the volcanic rock rhyolite as being particularly effective for the conditions of this hot spring . Rhyolite is high in silica, which can produce a compacted seal along the walls of the geyser plumbing. Most Geyser proximities are found in rhyolite or similar silica-laden rocks. The mixture of water,†¦show more content†¦While that might seem like a long way down, magma underneath a geyser field is actually relatively close to the Earth s surface. There are different reasons why the magma is so close to the Earth s surface, though many g eyser fields are located on the edges of the Earth s tectonic plates. These plates, which compose the Earth s lithosphere, are constantly in motion, creating major inadequacies and generating tremendous energy (Oxford New World Dictionary). This activity can cause earthquakes and volcanoes, and it can also create heat sources for geysers. The process begins as water migrates to the geyser s plumbing system through a variety of crevices in the ground. Since the plumbing system is miles deep, the water at the bottom of the geyser s plumbing is under incredible pressure from the water above it. If more pressure pushes down on the water, water needs more and more energy (in the form of heat) to overcome that pressure and start pushing bubbles to the surface. This explains why water inside a pressure cooker can reach temperatures of more than 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit), while the boiling point of water at standard pressure is only 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahren heit). The massive pressures placed on water are what you could probably refer to as a Geyser s own functional plumbing system. Water in such a system can reach incredibly high temperatures (and store incredible