Wed searching behaviour of students Essay Example For Students

Wed searching behaviour of students Essay In the article â€Å"A visit to the information mall: web searching behavior of high school students†, the authors aimed at describing the searching behavior of high school students and recommending changes in the design of the web that may improve the learning experience of students (Fidel et al, 1999). The authors conducted a field research to analyze the web-searching behavior of high school students for the three weekly assignments. The field research was a case study involving activities including: observation in class and at the terminal with students thinking aloud; interviews with various participants including students, the teacher who assigned the assignments, the one and only one librarian and the principal of the school; and discussions within research team. 8 students who enrolled in a horticulture class voluntarily participated in the research for the team members to observe them searching online information on a one-on-one basis and interview them at the end of the observation period. Since the students were observed in the horticulture class for three successive weeks and not all the 8 students were present during the three weeks, the team totally observed 21 search sessions in the observation period. After recording observations and interviews, the authors found that the students performed focused searching, in which they just looked for information to accomplish the assignments without deviating from this task such as guiding searches according to assignment sheets and ignoring entertaining diversions on the screen. The authors also discovered that the students performed swift and flexible searching, where they scanned sites quickly and determined the relevance of sites by skimming the first screen and the graphics of the sites. In order to make sure that one can always start a new search and ask for help, the students used landmarks to continue exploring new sites with a safe and familiar site. Overall, they were satisfied with their s earches and results but impatient with slow response. The reasons why the students enjoyed searching the web were because the web had a variety of formats such as pictures and sounds, covered a multitude of subjects, and provided easy access to information. However, the authors had also observed that the students encountered difficulties while searching, by which the authors considered that it implied the need for training to students, teachers and all involved and the need for designing the web to customize user seeking and searching behavior in order to improve the learning experience of students. We will write a custom essay on Wed searching behaviour of students specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In my review, I will mainly focus on the aspects of Methods, Results/Discussion and Paper and its Format. The method of data collection is thoroughly explained in terms of who and what was studied, how they were selected and how data were collected. Six males and two females of eight students in West Seattle High School were studied, in which five of them were in the twelfth grade and the rest of them were in the eleventh grade. Some were experts in surfing the web, but others just surfed occasionally or even had no experience in surfing. Nonetheless, all of them had very little experience in online information retrieval and had no knowledge about the horticulture area. The web-searching behavior for finishing horticulture assignments of the students was intended to be observed and analyzed in the study. The horticulture teacher assisted the research team in inviting eight students to voluntarily participate in the study as requested by the team members. Data were collected through o bserving the eight students in class and at the terminal with them thinking aloud and through interviewing these students, the teacher, the librarian and the principal of the school. .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .postImageUrl , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:hover , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:visited , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:active { border:0!important; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:active , .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u60ee299da9f1c7959924d0b647d1c6ff:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Pollution and Environment - Deforestation en EssayIn my point of view, one weakness in the data collection methods is that the research team members unintentionally participated in what they were studying. Firstly, the team introduced itself and explained the purpose and nature of the study to the participating students at the first meeting. Secondly, each team member accompanied the student that he or she was observing throughout the project to go to the library, sat beside the student and tape-recorded the narration of the student in the search process. Finally, the team members asked the students several questions at the beginning and at the end of each search session. As a result of Hawthorne effect, Babbie (1998, p.286) states that if the subjects of study realize that they are being studied, it is inevitable that whatever the observer does or does not do will have effect on what is being observed. In this research, the observers might affect the behavior of the students by imposing pressure on them. Since the students had known the purpose of the study at the very start and they were being closely observed while searching, it was difficult to expect them performing searching as naturally and honestly as they would do without being focused by strangers. Thus, this might lead to three students being absent in the horticulture class during the three-week observation period even though they knew that the research team were depending on them to conduct the research. In fact, the rate of absence is somewhat high in an eight-student group. Even if the absences were just coincidence and it was nothing about the research, there were still clues to the p ossibility that the students did not like being closely observed and felt like being supervised. For a few times, the students were sitting at the computers and started searching already without waiting for the team members to record their behavior. Moreover, the team members found that most of the students did not like school most of the time. Both of the phenomenons uncovered that the students were likely to dislike being watched to complete tasks. Furthermore, it was unusual that the students performed focused searching by keeping exploration to a minimum on the web and ignoring entertaining diversions on the screen. As the students had little experience in information retrieval on the web, they normally had curiosity to widely explore the features of the web and were supposed to be distracted with the entertainment provided by the web while searching. It was probable that the students did not show natural searching behavior when being watched. Despite the Hawthorne effect brough t to this study, it was ethical to have told the students the truth that they were being studied. Therefore, the research team should have been sensitive to and cautious about the consequences of the effect on the research. One of the strengths in the article is that the research team clearly summarized and categorized the behavior of the students when preparing for a search and during a search, by which the research team succeeded in achieving part of the purpose of this study to describe the searching behavior of the students. For instance, the research team realized that the students prepared for a search by following experience of the past or other participants. Some students considered that a previously successful search should guide them to another success in a new search, whereas most students assumed that efficient searching would be supported by following the suggestions or hints on where to start searching given by the teacher, the librarian or their classmates. For the search processes, the research team observed that all students performed focused searching and advanced through searches swiftly and flexibly. In addition, they used landmarks and assumed that one could always start a new searc h and ask for help. Likewise, the team accomplished suggesting changes in the design of the web so as to improve the learning experience of students. The changes included providing knowledge tools such as encyclopedias, lexicographic aids, synonym finders and thesauruses, landmark shelves and spell-checker programs. Also, the design of the web should be able to filter non-useful information and enable users to access sites using partial or incomplete URLs. Furthermore, the research team suggested that graphical clues should be used to identify type of information provided by web sites. Finally, the team recommended that the first screen should include as much pertinent information about the site as possible. Nonetheless, there is one shortcoming that the research team did not categorize the difficulties or problems that the students encountered while performing a search. Basically, the team did mention about the difficulties for particular students in the section that described the searching behavior of the students. However, the team did not create a classification of those difficulties that specifically led to the main recommendations in the discussion section, which in turn failed in looking for common difficulties and paying attentions to different difficulties encountered by different students. According to Babbie (1998, p.297), by having done an organized list of the variety of types of the difficulties encountered by the students, one can then more easily discover the characteristics of the students, the web environment or the like associated with those different types of difficulties. Consequently, the recommendations for resolving those difficulties would be more persuasive to the audience. For example, some students do not perform searching as efficiently as others do because they are unable to identify appropriate search engines and it is found that expert surfers are good at identifying search engines. Then, it is convincing that the students who d o not perform searching well need training for surfing the web in order to help them search productively. .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .postImageUrl , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:hover , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:visited , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:active { border:0!important; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:active , .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20 .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf899620010e13acffb84e42a826c5b20:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Fall of the House of Usher: Imagery and Parall EssayBibliography:Fidel, Raya, Davies, Rachel K., Douglass, Mary H., Holder, Jenny K., Hopkins, Carla J., Kushner, Elisabeth J., Miyagishima, Bryan K., Toney, Christina D. (1999). A visit to the information mall: web searching behavior of high school students. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(1), 24-37.

Job Search Myth You Don’t Need a Cover Letter

Job Search Myth You Don’t Need a Cover Letter Just about every client I work with lately brings up the rumor they’ve heard that no one reads cover letters anymore.   This rumor is ONLY a rumor and if you take action based on it, you will shoot yourself in the foot in your job search. In a recent article posted on Work Coach Cafe, â€Å"15 Job Search Tips from a Guy Who Just Got a Job,† a successful job seeker named John relates how the CEO of a company personally reached out to him to thank him for sending a cover letter!   In fact, John was the ONLY candidate to send a cover letter, most likely because everyone else believed the rumor that cover letters never get read.   John made an impression. This topic is also covered on Great Resumes Fast in â€Å"Cover Letters: Does Anybody Read Those Anymore?† The author points out that the cover letter is your opportunity to show genuine interest and to make a case that you are specifically qualified for this job. Why would you tailor your resume to a job and then write a generic cover letter?   If you are truly interested in a position, it is worth your time to write a unique letter to the company about who you are and why you would make a difference for that company.   Do not write a generic cover letter and send it along with a generic or somewhat tailored resume to zillions of job listings, hoping that you‘ll somehow win the numbers game. That is NOT the way to get a job! Instead, begin building a relationship right from the start with the company that might be your future employer.   Imagine yourself in this job and write down what you will bring to the position.   Sell yourself. Anyone can spot a cover letter that is really just a mail merge.   Remember†¦Ã‚   you are a human being and, if you get past the computer scanners, so is the person who reads your cover letter.   By writing a custom letter, you reveal your humanity and respect the humanity of the HR person or hiring manager.   If you begin early to develop a relationship with that person, you are in great shape to be asked for an interview. For help with a great cover letter and resume, contact The Essay Expert. 😉 ~ Ronnie Ann Log in to Reply

Media questions Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media questions - Movie Review Example Since, besides the son’s attire, universal talk and dad’s military cap, the entire setting is more of a residential than that of a military. The strategically absent aspect in the video is the military setting, which ought to align with the young person’s attire and even the Video’s universal talk regarding the benefits of joining the army Formal appetites created encompass the desire of an individual to be strong, self-driven and confidence (Ott & Mack 151). This is evident in the manner in which both parents and the young person esteem these traits, which to present the beneficiary seems to enjoy. These benefits or traits (strong, self-driven individual and confidence) also share the same structural resemblances with the video especially from the narrative perspective, which offers the content of the video. For illustration, the young person confesses that initially when he was joining the Army, he had no clue about it. However, after the training and strict discipline, he has emerged being supremely confident about himself besides having other traits. The narrative praises the benefits attributed with joining the US Army especially among the young people. Since, after meticulous training and strict adherence of its discipline one emerges to be a morally upright and a reliable person, which is evident from the young man’s mother. Hence, advert calls upon all the parents not to disapprove their children’s suggestion regarding joining the army because besides shaping them to be good, it also makes them become â€Å"Strong†. The narration mode is calm besides a strong voice from the advert, which calls upon the parents to heed their children’s suggestions regarding joining the Army (Ott & Mack 113). In addition, the characters involved in the video, which is the entire family support the conclusion of the person voice who is presenting

Unemployment in the European Nations Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece Essay

Unemployment in the European Nations Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece - Essay Example Unemployment in the European nations of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece The thing that makes unemployment most dangerous is that it directly affects the growth of a nation. Indefatigably high levels of unemployment have become a common scenario throughout most of the European Union. Although, it contrasts considerably with the comparatively low unemployment levels in neighboring developed nations, especially in those of the United States and Japan. Inspite of the fact that high unemployment rate is rendered as a common problem in European unions, there are significant variations in the unemployment rates of each of its members1. Despite being amongst the developed European countries, unemployment rate in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece is rising at a staggering rate. The Problem of Unemployment Unemployment in Spain The contrasting difference in the unemployment rate of the European nations was essentially recognized in the unemployment rate of Spain. In the year of March 2004, it was evidenced that the unemployment rate in Luxemburg was at a low of 4 .0%, while in Spain, it reached a mammoth 11.1%. It is significant that there are other factors idiosyncratic to each of those nations with soaring unemployment rate results to this problem. This phenomenon is essentially true in the case of Spain, as persistently high level of unemployment has been recorded there. The scenario in Spain was once so dismal that unemployment rate recorded was twice the average of the European nation’s unemployment rate. High unemployment rate is currently a problem that is encountered by all almost all the major nations of the European Union. ... condition is so dismal, that it is the high level of unemployment that essentially distinguishes the economies of the European member countries with that of the United States. The situation is problematic as, underutilization of resources takes place due to the low level of unemployment. This simultaneously results in decline of the total production of goods that could have been achieved in a stable employment situation. This instigates the citizen of Spain to migrate into other countries if they are unable to obtain proper employment conditions in their native country. It is a general phenomenon that people want to allocate to work places where they get higher wages for their work. Acknowledging the reason of unemployment from a neo classical perspective, several key elements can be identified. The primary among them is the actual factors related to job search. The job market is never stable, as the frequency of workers changing jobs is essentially high. Although the problem takes a larger shape when this changes in job takes a long time due to heterogeneity of the work force and job openings. This implies that there is no significant balance between the labor supply and the labor absorption in the market. This condition is due to the lack of job openings, lack of proper information about employment, and the cost of retraining that many workers are unable to cope up with. Another factor that contributes to low employment is rigidity in the wages of workers, due to labor legislation and significant influence of labor unions. The wage rigidity’s effect is essentially noted when the prices of goods fall due to the decrease in demand for products, which simultaneously decreases the marginal productivity of workers. In this scenario, due to rigidness of labor supply in

Colorimeter Essay Example for Free

Colorimeter Essay Record the absorbance values for 4ppm Methyl orange, making sure to zero the machine with the deionised water cuvette after each reading is taken. After I measured out my methyl orange I diluted each with deionised water up to the calibration mark on the volumetric flask. 4. I then poured each solution into separate cuvettes. 5. Recording the absorbance values for each always â€Å"zeroing† in between each reading with a cuvette containing deionised water. 6. Get the absorbance value of the unknown solution. 7. Record results in Tables 8. Prepare a standard curve graph 9. Estimate the concentration of the unknown solution on your graph. Results Part Two Concentration Discussion Using a colorimeter I used different coloured liquids to prove beer lamberts law. I did this experiment three times each time recording my results. I believe I proved beer lamberts law and this can be seen by my results which I have listed. I was also able to find the concentration of an unknown solution by plotting it on my graph using its absorbance number.

Gender Equity in College Sports Essay -- essays papers

Gender Equity in College Sports â€Å"Gender Equality In College Sports?† An on going issue facing education today is the growing controversial topic of gender equality in sports participation and it’s so call quota for achieving equality. The most notable action that has taken place as women continue to strive towards equality in the athletic realm is what is known as, Title IX. The basic ideas underlying Title IX are that â€Å"if an institution sponsors an athletics program, it must provide equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes.† (Yoshida p.3) Simply put, Title IX attempts to achieve â€Å"equality† of funding for male and female athletes. The problem with this idea of complete â€Å"equality† is that no one agrees as to what is considered equal. It is an ambiguous term, interpreted differently by many people. The enactment of this Title has significantly changed the playing field for athletic departments through out the nation by altering their funding systems to comply with its rules. As a result, women have benefited greatly. There have been additions of female sports as well as an increase of the number of scholarships awarded to female athletes, and also a lot more funding to provide more â€Å"equitable† facilities for them. According to the NCAA Gender Equity Studies , â€Å"from 1992 to 1997 NCAA institutions have increased the number of female athletes by 5,800. But tragically during that time these colleges also eliminated 20,900 male athletes.† (Kocher p.1) This dramatic landslide has occurred because athletic departments are under pressure to rapidly increase the proportion of female athletes by whatever means necessary. As the path toward complete â€Å"equality† gradually brightens for women in college athletics, a dark path is now becoming evident. Mal e athletes, in a sense, are now being discriminated against because of Title IX. This issue of Title IX affects our education system today because its rules are controversial as to what is really â€Å"equal.† For instance, if one particular sport at a university is extremely successful and is capable of supporting many other sports within the system, then, is it fair that that successful sports team should be penalized by limiting their funds? Should they have to support a team who has been added to the university to abide by Title IX rules, but are not making a profit? In the end, the ... ...nd education. As for the University of Hawaii, I feel that we are making positive strides in the right direction in adding female sports to the athletic program. The latest addition to be added to the program is a women’s track team. Although Title IX has made it possible in opening opportunities for women, I think that law makers need to look into having the University of Hawaii exempt, to some degree, as far as being compliant with Title IX. If equality is what law makers are striving for than, because of UH’s geographical position, it’s not fair that the athletic program alone would have to generate twice as much money compared to the mainland schools, just to stay afloat. Not even to be competitive! How close are we really to achieving â€Å"equality† or is there even such a word like that in college sports? Bibliography: 1.) Kocher, Leo; â€Å"1992-1997-An Era Of Title IX’s Unintended Consequences in College Athletics,† Online @: (www.intermathwrestle.com/titleix/congress4.htm) 2.) Yoshida, Hugh; â€Å"If You Let Us Play...† A Plan for Achieving Gender Equity in University of Hawaii Intercollegiate Athletics 1996-2002. March 15, 1996

Kant’s Approach to Resolving War in Iraq Essay

Five years after the Iraq war had begun, policymakers are still looking for answers on how to bring about a resolution to that particular conflict. It has been a hot election topic among candidates of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States. Some of the policy options presented range from a short term commitment stay in Iraq to a long term commitment of about a hundred years of occupation. It is in this light that this paper would like to argue that conflict resolution strategies based on Kantian ideals provides the best hope for long term peace in Iraq and the rest of the world. In this paper, two well-known works of Immanuel Kant will be utilized in order to provide the theoretical justification for possible conflict resolution strategies. These works include his classic â€Å"Was ist Aufklarung? † or â€Å"What is Enlightenment? † and Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch. These works have generated much consequent discourses and interpretations. It will be argued here that these works provide an incisive critique regarding initial United States policy before the war in Iraq as well as the US’s subsequent policy in trying to democratize Iraq. This paper also suggests that a utilization of Kant’s concept of republicanism and its proper application can create the desired changes in the political systems in the Middle East. Such knowledge claims warrant a discussion of the ideas presented in Kant’s essays. Focault (1978) viewed Kant’s idea of enlightenment as a form of freedom. Immaturity is the condition upon which man must break free. Immaturity takes place when we do not use our powers of reason on how to deal with issues and instead become lazy and substitute our duty to think with a reliance on figures of authority for their interpretation of the truth. Kant believes that it is the duty of an individual to seek enlightenment. According to Focault, Kant challenges each and everyone to become truly aware of the realities that surround us. This challenge is embodied in Kant’s famous motto â€Å"Aude sapere† which literally means have the courage to know. Analyzing the actions of the American government and its decision to wage war in Iraq and its subsequent involvement in the civil war that has ensued, one can argue that this happened that Kant himself would be dismayed that the road to peace that he envisioned was not followed by the Americans. For one, they lack enlightenment. Many of them did not challenge themselves to know the reality of the situation they were about to get themselves into. Many had just accepted the version of the truth that was foisted by the Bush Administration. When the US government said that they have solid evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, politicians from the two major parties accepted this and supported the decision to go to war in Iraq. Another thing is that they violated Kant’s preliminary article on perpetual peace that explicitly prohibited interference in the internal affairs of another government. The only exception to this rule according to Kant is if the country had been split into two during a period of anarchy. Such was obviously not the initial case in Iraq prior to the second gulf war. Years later, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found while the war has claimed thousands of military and civilian casualties. The war continues with almost daily incidents of bombings by militia forces. Such consequences could probably have been avoided had more people exhibited greater skepticism and not readily surrendered their capacity for judgment to a government that wanted to act so hastily. The American people cannot simply blame their government for misleading them towards becoming involved in the war in Iraq. If they think that the problem in Iraq is due only to the blunders committed by the present US government, they have to rethink that idea. Kant himself implies that if one is faced with such public situations, one must have the audacity to know the real situation and exert all possible efforts to achieve this enlightenment. Kant was convinced that one cannot evade one’s responsibility to exercise his power of reason. The only time that a person can be allowed limited use of his reason is if he was part of a system that sets limitations on the things that he can do. One example would be that of a soldier who cannot exercise his power of reasoning vis-a-vis his commander because the organization that he belongs to circumscribes the questioning that he can do. His ability to exercise courage to know the rationality behind his orders is therefore restricted. This distinction was made explicit by Kant when he described this situation as the submissive use of reason because the person is considered as a cog in a machine. This is not the case with the debate and subsequent actions on Iraq. This is because the situation can be considered as public in nature. When this happens, an individual must take advantage of the free exercise of reason. One must question the pronouncements made in order to distill the truth that is often obfuscated by partisan political interests. The failure to find weapons of mass destruction has been overshadowed by the now more pronounced goal of transforming Iraq into a viable democracy. Here again we can find useful the concept of enlightenment as espoused by Kant. The US government is trying to convince its citizens and people around the world that democracy can take root in Iraq even though it has for all intents and purposes externally imposed democracy upon the Iraqis. The US government points to the cases of post war Germany and Japan as examples of successful democratization efforts. Many American do not question if the conditions that were conducive to the democratization efforts at that time are present or if not could be replicated in the situation in Iraq. Politicians try to peddle the idea that if they were successful before they could do it again in the case of Iraq. Again people around the world bear witness to the immaturity being exhibited by many people in America. There must also be a realization that the achievement of peace in Iraq cannot be achieved in the short run. This is because it takes sometime for effort to move towards a republican idea to gain currency and become ingrained in the consciousness of individuals. The process of consolidating efforts toward achieving republicanism is likely to last for several decades. By all indications, this is the likely trajectory of the political situation in Iraq; yet a lot of Americans are thinking that they should just get out rather quickly from the mess that they themselves started. This type of thinking I argue is another form of surrender to the ideas being peddled by some notable politicians without the benefit of subjecting such ideas to a rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis. It can be deduced from Kant’s â€Å"Perpetual Peace† that the solution to the war in Iraq lies in the adoption of republicanism. Republicanism is defined here as a form of government that is representative in character. The idea is that the representative character of a republican government makes it very difficulty to wage war upon another country. Peace is therefore guaranteed under this new political set-up. Thus, in a society that is plagued by civil war, often times it becomes expedient to resort to quick fixes for attaining temporary peace. The imposition of a political system is one such quick fix. This is what Kant warns us that â€Å"methods of expediency omitting all reference to the pure practical reason, can only bring about a re-arrangement of circumstances in the mechanical course of nature. They can never guarantee the attainment of their ends†. Sorli et al (2005) warns that the American strategy in Iraq is not about to significantly improve the political conditions in the Middle East as the Bush Administration envisions it to be. This issue becomes even more salient if you look at the double standard that the current American government seems to apply in case of Iraq where it demands democracy while continuously supporting authoritarian regimes in the region that support their foreign policy (Sorli et. al, 2005,160). Americans think that just because Iraq now has a semblance of a democratic government because of the creation of the US -sponsored parliamentary election, the Iraqis would immediately become partners in creating a world that is safe and that is bereft of war. This is a grossly mistaken concept because the process of becoming a democracy with a representative form of government has not been accepted by a significant portion of the population in that developing country. This view is also supported by Gartzke (2005) who issued a word of caution that pushing countries to become democracies does not help create a stable and peaceful international community. Gartzke further adds that a multi-faceted approach is needed in order to generate the stability needed in a country that is undergoing regime change (Gartzke,2005,29). If there is to be peace in Iraq and for that country is to become a partner in fostering peace around the world, the initiative must come from its citizens to view the achievement of peace as their duty. The reason why it is so important that the sense of duty must come from the Iraqi citizens is because of the likelihood of obedience to the principle of perpetual peace can be greatly increased if this were the case. If the Iraqi people see perpetual peace as their ultimate objective and if the government has the same ultimate objective then this would guarantee the obedience of the Iraqi citizens. Challenges to the new democratic government could be drastically reduced if such a shared vision of the future can be achieved among the different stakeholders in the situation in Iraq. Moreover, Kant also believed that the republican set-up prevented wars from erupting between states. The reason for this was because the systemic structure of the republican government makes it difficult for people to be convinced to wage war especially if they have to bear the some of the costs that Kant himself identified namely cost of waging war, reconstructing after the war and limiting the capacity of the victor state for maintaining peace (Kant, 1795, accessed from www. constitution. org). It is also important the Iraqis view this goal as something that is realizable. Despite of the difficulties that may come along the way on the road towards improving their country, they must not waver. The benefits of republicanism go beyond the maintenance of peace and well into improving economic relations with similar countries. It has been suggested by Cox and Drury (2006) that the democratic peace also pays economic dividends for countries that have fully embraced the concept of republicanism. References References Cox, D. G and Drury, C. A. (2006) Democratic Sanctions: Connecting the Democratic Peace and Economic Sanctions in Journal of Peace Research 43 (6): 709-722. Gartzke, Erik (2005). Economic Freedom and Peace in Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report chapter 2. Sorli, Mirjam E. Nils Petter Gledistch and Havard Strand (2005) Why is there so much conflict in the Middle East in Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (1): 141-165. Kant, Immanuel (1795) Perpetual Peace: A Philoshophical Sketch. Retrieved April 01, 2008 from http://www. constitution. org/kant/perpeace. htm. Focault, Michel (1978). What is Enlightenment? Retrieved April 01, 2008 from http://philosophy. eserver. org/foucault/what-is-enlightenment. html.