Category: Research

Introduction:

Gravimetric analysis is a widely used quantitative analytical technique in chemistry that involves the determination of the amount of a substance based on the measurement of its mass. This informative essay explores the principles, applications, and significance of gravimetric analysis in various fields, highlighting its accuracy, precision, and versatility.

Body:

Principles of Gravimetric Analysis:

Gravimetric analysis relies on the principles of quantitative chemistry, particularly the law of conservation of mass. It involves the formation, isolation, and weighing of a solid precipitate to determine the quantity of the analyte present. The fundamental concept behind gravimetric analysis is that the mass of the precipitate is directly proportional to the amount of the analyte in the sample.

Steps in Gravimetric Analysis:

Gravimetric analysis involves several crucial steps:

1. Precipitation: A suitable precipitating agent is added to the sample, leading to the formation of a solid precipitate.
2. Filtration: The precipitate is separated from the liquid using filtration techniques such as vacuum filtration or centrifugation.
3. Washing: The precipitate is washed with a suitable solvent to remove impurities and ensure purity.
4. Drying: The filtered precipitate is carefully dried to remove any remaining moisture.
5. Weighing: The mass of the dried precipitate is measured using a highly sensitive balance, allowing for the determination of the analyte’s quantity.

Applications of Gravimetric Analysis:

Gravimetric analysis finds extensive applications in various fields:

1. Environmental Analysis: Gravimetry is utilized to determine the concentration of pollutants, such as heavy metals, in water and soil samples. It plays a crucial role in monitoring environmental quality and assessing the effectiveness of remediation techniques.
2. Pharmaceutical Analysis: Gravimetric analysis is employed in the pharmaceutical industry to determine the purity and quality of drugs. It is particularly useful in analyzing the presence of impurities or verifying the dosage in solid dosage forms.
3. Mining and Metallurgical Analysis: Gravimetry is extensively used in mining and metallurgy to determine the concentration of valuable minerals in ores. It aids in the efficient extraction and processing of metals.
4. Food and Beverage Analysis: Gravimetric techniques are employed in the analysis of food and beverage samples to determine the levels of nutrients, additives, or contaminants. This information is vital for ensuring food safety and regulatory compliance.

Advantages of Gravimetric Analysis:

Gravimetric analysis offers several advantages:

1. High Accuracy: Gravimetric analysis is known for its high level of accuracy. The precise measurement of the mass of the precipitate allows for accurate determination of the analyte’s concentration.
2. Wide Applicability: Gravimetric analysis can be applied to a broad range of analytes, making it a versatile technique in various fields of research and industry.
3. Long-Term Stability: The solid precipitate obtained during gravimetric analysis is often stable and can be stored for future reference or reanalysis.
4. Cost-Effectiveness: Gravimetric analysis is relatively cost-effective compared to other analytical techniques, making it a preferred choice in many laboratories.

Limitations and Considerations:

Despite its advantages, gravimetric analysis has certain limitations and considerations:

1. Time-Consuming: Gravimetric analysis can be a time-consuming process, as it involves multiple steps, including drying and weighing, which require careful attention to detail.
2. Interfering Substances: Some substances present in the sample may interfere with the formation or purity of the precipitate, leading to inaccurate results. Precautions must be taken to minimize or eliminate such interferences.
3. Sensitivity to Experimental Conditions: Gravimetric analysis is sensitive to variations in experimental conditions, such as temperature, pH, and presence of impurities. Strict control of these parameters is essential for accurate results.

Conclusion:

Gravimetric analysis is a powerful and widely used quantitative analytical technique that offers accurate and precise determination of analyte concentrations. Its principles, applications, and advantages make it an indispensable tool in various fields of research, industry, and environmental monitoring. Despite its time-consuming nature and considerations regarding interfering substances and experimental conditions, gravimetric analysis remains a cornerstone in analytical chemistry, contributing to advancements in diverse scientific disciplines and playing a vital role in quality control and regulatory compliance.

Introduction:

Rainwater, a natural phenomenon that plays a vital role in Earth’s water cycle, is often perceived as a homogeneous substance. However, an analytical examination of its composition, properties, and sources can provide insights into whether rainwater is truly homogeneous or exhibits heterogeneous characteristics. This essay aims to explore the scientific aspects of rainwater to determine its homogeneity or heterogeneity.

Body:

Composition and Sources:

Rainwater is primarily composed of water droplets that form in the atmosphere and fall to the Earth’s surface. It is important to consider the various sources and factors that contribute to rainwater composition. Rainwater can contain dissolved gases, suspended particles, and substances from natural sources such as dust, pollen, and organic matter. Additionally, anthropogenic activities can introduce pollutants and contaminants, making rainwater composition variable across different locations and time periods.

Spatial and Temporal Variations:

Analyzing rainwater from different geographical locations and during various weather conditions reveals spatial and temporal variations in its composition. Factors such as atmospheric pollution levels, proximity to industrial areas, and seasonal variations can significantly impact the chemical composition and quality of rainwater. These variations suggest that rainwater is not uniformly homogeneous but rather exhibits heterogeneity across different locations and timeframes.

Collection and Sampling Methods:

The methods employed for collecting and sampling rainwater can also influence its homogeneity or heterogeneity. Collection methods that capture rainwater directly from the atmosphere without contacting external surfaces may yield relatively purer samples. However, if rainwater is collected using containers or surfaces that may introduce impurities, the collected sample may exhibit more heterogeneous characteristics.

Analytical Techniques:

Analytical techniques used to analyze rainwater can provide further insights into its homogeneity or heterogeneity. By examining the chemical composition, pH levels, and presence of contaminants, scientists can identify variations and trends in rainwater properties. The use of advanced analytical instruments and statistical analyses can help identify patterns and anomalies, revealing the heterogeneous nature of rainwater.

Effects of Environmental Factors:

Environmental factors such as air pollution, geographical features, and meteorological conditions can influence the heterogeneity of rainwater. For example, rainwater in urban areas may contain higher levels of pollutants due to industrial activities and vehicular emissions. In contrast, rainwater in remote or pristine environments may exhibit lower levels of contaminants, enhancing its homogeneity.

Conclusion:

While rainwater is often perceived as a homogeneous substance, an analytical examination of its composition, spatial and temporal variations, collection methods, and environmental factors suggests that rainwater exhibits heterogeneous characteristics. The presence of different chemical constituents, pollutants, and spatial variations across locations and timeframes highlights the heterogeneity of rainwater. The use of analytical techniques and scientific investigations enables us to gain a deeper understanding of rainwater’s composition and variability. Recognizing the heterogeneity of rainwater has implications for water resource management, environmental monitoring, and understanding the impact of human activities on natural systems.

Thanksgiving is one of the most anticipated and celebrated holidays in the United States. It is a time when family and friends come together as one and give thanks. However, Thanksgiving can be a complex occasion due to the planning, preparing, and cooking of the holiday dinner. Despite these challenges, everyone can work together to make the dinner go smoothly. Also, if done right, these components call help to create an exciting and successful Thanksgiving dinner.

When planning a Thanksgiving dinner, the host/ hostess must figure out a lot of details. The most important information is the time, location, guest list, and menu. Planning the time, place, and guest list are straightforward steps. However, creating the menu is not so easy. The menu is a crucial component because it is the highlight of the evening. The food that will be cooked is what the guest is looking forward to all day. Therefore, the menu has to be well balanced, with the right amount of appetizers, entrées, side dishes, beverages, and desserts. Also, the host/ hostess has to be aware of all dietary requests. Once the planning is done, it is time to execute the plan.

Preparing the Thanksgiving dinner takes approximately three days to make. Within the three days, the host/ hostess has to shop for and prepare the food. Once the menu is finalized, a shopping list will be constructed with all the necessary ingredients for the big feast. Making and cooking different dishes can be fun and exciting, or it can be hard and dreadful. This is because if the host/ hostess has helped, then the assembly and preparation process is faster than without help. After the preparation is done cooking the food is easy.

Cooking a Thanksgiving dinner can be split into two days. All of the desserts and cold side dishes can be prepared a day in advance to lower the workload on the day of the big feast. Also, other dishes, such as turkey and ham, can be marinated a day in advance. On the day of the dinner, all of the recipes have to be freshly cooked. It is essential for the turkey to be prepared early for it to finish in time. Also, it is necessary to make sure all of the food is seasoned correctly. One good trick is to try to cook all reheatable dishes first before the baked goods, such as gravy, corn, and collard greens. In all, this can help make the Thanksgiving dinner runs as smoothly as possible.

Finally, Thanksgiving is an ideal opportunity to accumulate with our loved ones. Furthermore, it can be an intricate family occasion. In addition, Thanksgiving can be a mind-boggling event because of arranging, planning, and cooking the occasional supper. However, Thanksgiving dinner is tied in with offering gratitude and being with family. Not to mention, it’s a great way to start the holidays.

S.E Hinton was born, raised, and still lives today in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (“S. E. Hinton Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc., ). In Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, are rival gangs; this was very similar to what was going on at Will Rogers High School where she attended. The decade Hinton grew up in was based on her writing in, The Outsiders. Hinton wrote during a time where there were not many female authors, because of that, she used her initials so she is not criticized for being a woman. Hinton shows her life in her writing by showing the parallel abuse she felt, and the time period the story is in. When Hinton was growing up in the 60s, women authors were criticized and not many people read them. When Hinton was younger, she wanted to become a cattle rancher. When she first started writing her stories, they were about fighting and horses. (“Home.” FAMOUS AUTHORS, www.famousauthors.org/s-e-hinton.).

After Hinton’s first book was published and released some people did not like it, but the book still sold 4 million copies in the United States. Hinton was little her love for literature started, and she loved reading and writing (“S. E. Hinton Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc., ). When Hinton was a junior in high school, her father was diagnosed with cancer. To help Hinton deal with the news, she turned to writing. (“S. E. Hinton Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc., ). This was good therapy for her during this difficult time. Hinton was a shy girl and she still had dreams of becoming a cattle rancher, and writing is what she was good at until one day she stopped. The type of clothes worn in the 50s were very distinct from the era in that they stand out compared to all other times.

After the war during this decade, the type of clothes women could wear was controlled. “Clothing was heavily restricted throughout and just after the war. Everything from the length of skirts to the size of collars was regulated.”( “What Did Women Wear in the 1950s? 1950s Fashion Guide.” VintageDancercom, c). Women just started to gain some independence then the new rule came out for women about their clothes. This was a setback for women and their new found rights. A lot of food families ate in the 60s would wouldefine the decade.’ Lots of entertainment and convenience foods in the 60s will always stand out in the history of this decade. One food that will always be strong on the 60s is the meatballs in grape jelly.’ “The Vintage gate homemade Sweet-&-Sour Meatball recipe was huge in the 50s. It is served at dinner parties and card parties throughout the 60s.” (“VINTAGE HOMEMADE SWEET & SOUR MEATBALLS.” Crafting a Family, 4 Oct.).

This dish was a trend for families and friends to eat together in the 60s. There were many hairstyles that were considered ‘fashionable’ in the 60s. When looking back. there are many hairstyles that symbolize the 60s. The hairstyles in this decade were very noticeable and made a statement. (“Hair Through History: 9 Memorable Hairstyles of the 1950s.” Beauty Launchpad, 10 Nov. 2017) ). “slowly, the bouffants. pompadours and poodle cuts that reigned over the previous decade were replaced by more exaggerated, edgier hairstyles.” ( “Hair Through History: 9 Memorable Hairstyles of the 1950s.” Beauty Launchpad, 10 Nov. 2017.) This shows how hairstyles evolve from one decade to the next. There were hairstyles such as the beehive and the flipped bob that were big in the decade. (“Hair Through History: 9 Memorable Hairstyles of the 1950s.” Beauty Launchpad, 10 Nov. 2017,). Hinton used The Outsiders to talk about her teen years. There were Greasers and Socs in Hinton’s book The Outsiders and at the high school she attended.

In Hinton’s book The Outsiders, she talks about how the Socs and Greasers were violent, and also the type of clothes they wore. “One had on a white shirt and a madras ski jacket, and the other a light-yellow shirt.” That is what the Socs would wear. The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton. Perfection Learning Corp., 1994.). (page 4). “He just flipped up the collar of his black leather jacket.” That is what the Greasers would wear. (The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton. Perfection Learning Corp., 1994.). (page 4). The text talked about how the Socs and Greasers dressed, like the gangs at her high school. All of the clothing, family foods, and hairstyles all play part in Hinton’s story and her life. Greasers would always act tuff and strong, the Socs are opposite of the Greasers they are a higher social ecenomic class then they are. They acted like they owned the town.

Greasers are different, they are a lower class and some of them do not have parents, but all of them still care for each other. Greasers and Socs are just labels they were given, there ‘name’ does not define who they really are. “We wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our shirttails out and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots.” (The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton. Perfection Learning Corp., 1994.). (page 4). In Hinton’s book Greasers and Socs are total opposites they are different and they do not really get along. In the 60s there were some weird foods and some we still eat today. “A week’s supply of baloney, two loaves of bread,” (The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton. Perfection Learning Corp., 1994.). (page 60). What teens ate in the 60s is what the characters in The Outsiders when Johnny and Ponyboy had to run away. When new food came into the 60s it gave the decade something else to be remembered for. In The 60s there were a lot of crazy hairstyles with weird names. “all that long greasy hair off.’ (The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton. Perfection Learning Corp., 1994.). (page 5).

The Greasers had a different more slick back hairstyle than the Socs. The hairstyles in the book are different from the present day hairstyles. The Greasers hairstyle with there clothes mad them have more of a tuff look that a nice formal look like a Soc. Their difference in wardrobe and style makes The Outsiders an more interesting book to read. All of the family food, clothes and hairstyles play a part in Hinton’s life and reminds her of her violent past. Hinton went to darker times in her life and put them in her writing. This was a very unusual type of writing for this tim period. It is obvious that her style of writing is what made her book very popular during this time. Hinton wrote from a boys point of view. She had darkness in her life and was tired of reading cookie-cutter teenage novels. She was able to express a real-life situation that maybe other teens could relate to. The book took place in the same era the writer wrote it. Hinton’s life was dark, so the stories she wrote were dark as well. Hinton wrote this story when she was the same age as the characters in the story. The 60s brought clothes and hairstyles that changed from the previous decade. It added elegance to its fashion. As in many stories she still wrote about the good guys and the bad guys.

Introduction:

The Joplin tornado, rated EF–5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, hit the state of Missouri on May 22, 2011. It is considered one of the deadliest tornadoes in US history. Tornadoes routinely occur all over the world and cause various levels of damage to life and property. I chose this topic because I have always been fascinated with tornadoes and other severe weather and climate events, the precautions or warnings associated with them, and how the latter helped reduce or even avoid the damages. I have also been very interested in thunderstorms and their formations, and how tornadoes, super tornadoes, supercells, etc. are formed and impact the weather and climate around us.

Causes:

Most tornadoes form from supercell thunderstorms. In a thunderstorm, when there is a change in the wind direction and an increase in its speed, an invisible horizontal spinning of air currents is formed at the base of the storm, inside the cloud. This rising air in the thunderstorm, also called updrafts, tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical, which sometimes extends about 2-6 miles up into the thunderstorm. This forms a tornado extending from the area of rotation to the ground[1]. Many factors aided in the formation of the Joplin Tornado. The location and strength of the jet stream are one such factor. A large mass of warm and moist air hung above the plains, and a low-pressure system pulled cool and dry air from further north, resulting in the formation of a cold front that moved westward. This created a lift, which formed many violent tornado-producing thunderstorms. One of those powerful storms entered Joplin city in Missouri and produced a tornado that intensified rapidly[2]. There are some records for the Joplin tornado. It was one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history. It is also in the top 30 of the deadliest tornadoes in world history. There are many other interesting facts about tornadoes. A tornado can sometimes appear nearly transparent until it picks up dust and debris, or until clouds form within its funnel[3]. Another interesting fact is that tornadoes are predicted to occur more likely between 3-9 pm, but have also occurred at other times[4].

Effects and Economic Impacts: The Joplin tornado caused over 161 fatalities and more than 1,000 injuries, making it the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. in the 61 years that official records have been kept. [5]. The damage it caused to the surrounding environment and infrastructure made it the costliest tornado recorded, with a recorded loss of around $3 billion. The Joplin tornado damaged around 553 business structures and 7500 residential structures, 3000 of those residences were heavily damaged or completely destroyed[6]. 84% of the deaths resulted from building and structural failures, and 75% of Joplin city suffered damage[7]. This tornado affected over 5000 employees and more than 500 businesses. Over 15,000 vehicles including vans, buses, semis, etc. were crushed beyond recognition, and city parks and transportation infrastructure including streets, sidewalks, lights, signals, and signs were destroyed as well[8]. Although most of the damage done was to the structures, transportation, and life, being an EF5 tornado, the uprooting of trees and destroying any vegetation on its path was an easy piece of work for the tornado, thus causing severe environmental damage.

Historical Relevance: The Joplin tornado is considered one of the deadliest tornadoes both in the U.S. and in world history. The death toll in Joplin city was so high because so many buildings were damaged or destroyed, creating doubt about whether a poor warning response, in comparison to that for other tornadoes, was responsible for the death toll. There have been many deadly tornadoes before and after the Joplin tornado. The Gainesville Tornado, the Tupelo Tornado, and the Tri-State Tornado, which caused around 203, 216, and 695 deaths respectively were some of the deadliest tornadoes in the 1900s[9]. The Moore Tornado and El Reno Tornado in Oklahoma in 2013, two other EF-5 tornadoes, were some of the deadly tornadoes to hit the US after the Joplin Tornado. Many deadly tornadoes in the world have occurred and continue to occur here in the U.S. A large number of these tornadoes in the U.S occur in what is known as the “Tornado Alley”, an unofficial region, but meteorologists have used this term over the years to describe a huge distance of land spanning from northern Texas to Canada, centered at Oklahoma and Kansas. There is a reason that Tornado Alley is prone to tornadoes. Here, the warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico meets the cold, dry air from Canada and the Rocky Mountains. When these air masses collide with one another, the warm air is trapped under the cold air and rises. This air movement creates the perfect environment for the formation of tornadoes within the developing or developed thunderstorms and supercells [10].

Conclusion: Tornadoes, like many weather and climate events, can be forecasted and the public can be explained about the extent of damage, and precautions and methods to be taken to ensure their safety. Studies of tornadoes reveal that there are a few simple steps that can be taken in advance and when there is a tornado watch or tornado warning in place, to reduce or avoid damage from similar events in the future. First, always be prepared for a dangerous climate event. Have a radio operated by batteries, or other means of mass communication that do not get damaged by the high-speed winds of a tornado. The next important step is to be aware of the nearby safe shelters, and in the event that your neighbor has one and you don’t, try to befriend your neighbors early on. As all emergencies need, have an emergency kit with non-perishable food, water, and some first-aid supplies in case of any injuries or extended periods of time under circumstances where moving isn’t possible. The next important step is to always be up to date with the weather and climate of your area and know the possible signs of incoming disasters. For tornadoes, dark and green colored skies, large, dark low hanging clouds, large hail, or a loud freight train-like roar are some possible signs[11]. In case of no nearby safe shelter, go to the basement or a room inside away from windows or walls, like a bathroom, closet, or center hallway. For comfort and a little extra safety, cover your body with a blanket or other sort of cushion, and protect your head. Never stay in a mobile home or car, and don’t try to outrun a tornado. Find a nearby sturdy building with a basement. The most important thing to look out for is a tornado watch and a tornado warning. A tornado watch means that the current weather conditions indicate a potential tornado. Tornado watches are normally lengthy, and no alarms are sounded. A tornado warning, on the other hand, means that a tornado has either been sighted or indicated by radar within or near the area covered by the warning. Tornado warning sirens are sounded, and when issued, any person in its path should take immediate safety precautions[12].To conclude, the Joplin Tornado of 2011 was a dangerous weather and climate event that took the lives of many, injured many more, and caused extensive damage to property and transportation, thus maiming Joplin city. However, with the current knowledge available to us, thanks to the research by meteorologists throughout the country, and by taking the necessary precautions and being aware and ready, we can, in our own way, battle these twisters, the damaging side of nature, head on and ensure that there is a minimal loss and damage to life, and perhaps property as well. Tornadoes cannot be averted; but, with early warnings, we can be astute and take necessary precautions to minimize the damage and save lives. The GOES-R series satellites deployed by NOAA to monitor the motion and inner details of the clouds will help to determine how likely a cloud is to produce a tornado[13]. This knowledge, in combination with a robust early warning system, similar to the earthquake warning system in Japan, will in the future, be able to help reduce the loss of life and damage to property. It is up to us folks to ensure that no more lives are lost in such circumstances, and to ensure that our activities do not create impending doom for the planet, but that our actions benefit the planet and increase its wealth of nature, leaving for our future generations, a perfect, green planet that has the support of its people.

References:

1. Dunkley N. (2021). “Thunderstorms and Tornadoes”, GSU Lecture PowerPoint
2. Answers.com; What caused the Joplin tornado? https:www.answers.comQWhat_caused_the_joplin_tornado
3. Ready.gov. ‘Tornadoes.’ http:www.ready.govtornadoes
4. State of Louisiana. ‘What to do in a Tornado.’ http:gohsep.la.govfactsheetswhattodoinatornado.htm
5. NIST (2011); NIST to Conduct Technical Study on Impacts of Joplin, Mo., Tornado. https:www.nist.govnews-eventsnews201107nist-conduct-technical-study-impacts-joplin-mo-tornado
6. NIST Disaster and Failure Studies Program (2011) Joplin Missouri Tornado 2011. https:www.nist.govdisaster-failure-studiesjoplin-tornado
7. Griffin, J (2021); The Joplin Tornado: A Calamity and a Boon to Resilience, 10 Years On. https:www.nist.govfeature-storiesjoplin-tornado-calamity-and-boon-resilience-10-years
8. Tornado Facts and Information; Joplin Tornado. https:www.tornadofacts.nettornado-recordsjoplin-tornado.html
9. Allen S; Iowalum. What is Tornado Alley and Where is it Located? https:iowalum. com tornado-alley
10. Sorto, G (2019) CNN; The 10 Deadliest US Tornadoes on Record. https:www.cnn.com20190523usdeadliest-tornadoes-trndindex.html
11. National Center for Environmental Health; Staying Safe in a Tornado. https:www.cdc.govncehfeaturestornadosafetyindex.html
12. Dunkley N. (2021). “Thunderstorms and Tornadoes”, GSU Lecture PowerPoint.
13. SciJinks: How do Tornadoes form? https: sci-jinks.go tornado

The sociological imagination is a tool that allows us to examine education inequality and its impacts on women in a way that provides an extensive and thorough understanding of the link between private struggles and broader social patterns. Using the sociological imagination enables sociologists to have the capacity to make the familiar unfamiliar and critically analyse how private struggles are impacted and influenced by broader social patterns. When applying the sociological imagination tool to the impact of unequal norms on women’s lives, it is discovered that the commonly viewed private issues inclusive of unemployment, poor health – physically and sexually, early pregnancy and the inability to stand up for own rights are a reflection of public, broader issues in society. These broader patterns include the ideology of males viewed as superior to women, which is the common reason for child marriages, higher rates of HIV contraction in women compared to men ending in mortality, and high numbers of women within domestic violence injuries and death categories. The sociological imagination allows us to engage the sociological tools of agency and structure, and analyse how these interact with each other causing broader issues. For example, the current social structure, in its whole, consists predominately of male expectations and the belief of male superiority, resulting in impacts against women’s agency in multifarious ways and pushes them to engage in self-surveillance continually. When critically thinking about the current 21st-century social structure, which values and encourages the belief of male superiority over the female population, sociologists can start to understand by what means sexually harassing women is seen as a way of expressing masculinity. It is also uncovered how this normalised behaviour and male culture consequently impacts women’s agency as they attempt to avoid situations where males gather in groups, male-dominated work fields, male grouped areas in nightclubs, and fields of study, for example.

Raewyn Connell’s published sociological works regarding hegemonic masculinity help give insight into how male power is heavily embedded into social structures, allowing and causing the reproduction of male domination to occur. Connell’s work published in the 1990s allows for trends of broader social patterns to be observed over different periods. It remains evident through the use of Connell’s work that the impact of embedding male dominance into the social structure has on gender orders of the Western 21st century is salient. It is the impact on the gender order that Connell’s work identifies that contributes to the basis of this essay’s focus on how unequal social expectations and beliefs strengthen education inequality. Hegemonic masculinity is a crucial piece to the understanding of why society holds the belief of male superiority over women.

When looking at the 21st-century social structure, using the sociological imagination, it enables observation of how viewing men as the more essential beings, imposes limits on a women’s agency in terms of education and careers. Society views women who are in STEM fields a minority, successful mothers as people who struggle to balance their work-life balance, and within developing countries, it can be observed women are not viewed as worthy of education at all because their role is still considered to be within the home and to raise a family. It is these socially constructed beliefs that impact women’s choices in work fields or if women gain an education at all. When examining the empirical data, some unsettling facts start to uncover themselves; 130 million girls worldwide are out of school, and attacks on schools increased 17 times between 2000-2014 with girls’ schools targeted more than three times as often as male schools. We see that 340,000 women and young females are impacted by HIV globally, which is 1.62% higher than the male population. However, only 3 in 10 females are given adequate education on HIV and have accurate knowledge of the impacts and causes of HIV, leading to the inability to protect themselves from contracting the disease with the use of safe sex practices. Data also uncovers that the iron-deficient condition of anemia affects twice as many women as men. We see globally, 44% of women aged 15-19 believe husbands are entitled to be physically violent towards his wife, and 104 countries still hold laws that prevent women from pursuing specific careers. Evidence is also presented to show that the low statistics of women visible in male-dominated fields face a battle with identity threats towards themselves and the men they work alongside. The consequences these identify threat causes for females in male-dominated fields show females seek female associated fields to allow them to keep their femininity and avoid being viewed as a masculine woman and subjected to sexual harassment. Women express experiencing the feeling of their skills being the reason society views women as a whole category incompetent to complete male viewed roles. Women individually seek out less identity threatening work fields that fit the current social norms women are expected to fulfill; caring and nurturing. These personal choices are the reason why society sees the broader social pattern of more substantial groups of women in teaching and nursing positions. Women regularly engage in self-surveillance when in male fields and, more often than not, oversimplify themselves to keep their social identity of being feminine and avoid threatening male’s masculinity.

When looking at the quantitative data of women in different fields in Australia, we uncover that Australian women make up 68% of all carers and 70% of all primary unpaid carers of children. These statistics represent how it proves through observation that women, even in today’s society, continue to feel pressured to engage in work roles consistent with the norms and expectations of women, these including being nurturing and more useful within the house. We uncover that even though women make up 45.7% of all employees, only 33% of the whole female employed category is in a management position. In the perceived masculine field of construction, we see only 11.8% of all employed are female, with 16% of those women being in management positions. Women make up only 15.1% of employees in mining industries, with 13% being managers. Utility roles are seeing the highest percent of women employees, with 22.6% and 16% of these women being managers. The Harvard Implicit Association Test carried out testing on over half a million people worldwide, also finding that over 70% of people associated males with science and females with art, reinforcing the idea of how socially constructed ideologies on what is perceived as a male or female role, have resulting consequences on how women utilise their agency. The sociological tools of structure and agency allow for the understanding of why women view male-dominated fields to hold the culture of sexually harassing behaviours, bullying, and discrimination, and this is because these behaviours are a socially accepted way of displaying masculinity. These socially acceptable behaviours reinforce male superiority over women and are the cause of why women will tend to avert from male-dominated fields and use their agency to avoid places where men congregate.

When looking into social theories as to why society places men as superior to women, there is a need to examine patterns in history. When looking at the pre-industrialised societies, the need for the division of powers is evident. When thinking about the ‘nuclear family’ ideology of the time, it is seen that the ideal family contained a dominant male who carried out the manual jobs and a submissive woman who stayed inside the house. However, this trend can be debunked as being the reason we still hold the social belief of a women’s place being within the home, as when the industrial period began, women were required outside the home and to engage in previously male-dominated fields as the male population were away at war. A strong reason why society still holds the belief that women are inferior outside the home is due to the social norms and expectations individuals are accustomed to being acquired from peer interaction. Younger generations, especially males, observe how their senior figures interact with other males and females and carry this through to their life and beliefs. Males are forced from a young age, predominantly from other male peers, to prove their masculinity, which is mainly shown through sexual interactions, no matter if they or the women enjoy it. This pressure instills into men that their private wants are more important than a women’s, leading to the broader issues of deaths and injuries caused by domestic violence, sexual harassment, and the overwhelming figure that 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted compared to the 1 in 20 men figure. However, it is essential to note that even in sexually violent assaults against men, the perpetrators of the crime are overwhelmingly men.

When applying Mary Holmes’ idea of optimistic sociology, it can assist in ways to understand the experiences women face not just as social issues but in a way that allows society to respond in a way that strives for social change. It allows for the critical analysis of how the inequality of social norms and expectations could be otherwise. When looking at education inequality, society has seen a vast improvement within 1995-2018 inclusive of fewer mothers dying in childbirth; the gap was narrowed by 52%, and female literacy improving with the gap being narrowed by 41%, in 2016 83% of women globally were literate compared to 61% in the 1970s. As it happens, society has also seen more women in senior executive positions, the gap narrowed by 38%, and the global unweighted average share of senior and middle management positions was 32.2% in 2016 compared to 21% in 1995.

However, it is crucial to understand current social norms are unlikely to change unless society revises three main areas. These areas are inclusive of existing underlying values – male superiority and women’s place being within the home ideologies, norms of behaviour – men’s socially accepted behaviour of sexual and explicit remarks as a form of masculinity, and patterns of regular behaviour – the evidence of norms occurring, evidence provided proving male superiority over women. Society can achieve the improvement of the educational inequality between men and women and its consequences with the creation of new underlying values and social norms and encouraging women to be seen outside the home with the action of placing schools in a location where women and children can access them with ease. Improving women’s education shows strong links with increasing women’s health inclusive of areas such as lower numbers of domestic abuse cases against women, young childbirth, lower numbers of child and mother mortality rates, and lower health impacts such as HIV contraction. Australia would also see a boost in the GDP by 11% by increasing women’s appearance in work fields from Australia’s current number of 45.7% to countries such as Canada, who have a 62.4 percentage of the female population employed.

People are social creatures and our interactions with other people play a critical part of our lives that, unfortunately, impedes on our individual sense of uniquity. This phenomenon can be described as the advertent and inadvertent influence of social structures that limit our agency. Social structures being the relationships that bring various parts of society closer together (Crossman & Scherer, 2015) and “set powerful limits and boundaries within which we live our lives that often appear to be quite natural” (Crossman & Scherer, 2015, p.14). Agency being “the ability of individuals and groups to act independently in a goal-directed manner and to pursue their own ‘free’ choices” (Crossman & Scherer, 2015, p.14). Our human nature of socializing has complex consequences that manifest themselves in rules and resources that hinder individuals’ freedom. Furthermore, many aspects of an individual’s life can be accredited to society’s broader macro and global structures. C. Wright Mills, devised this concept of the sociological imagination (Crossman & Scherer, 2015). The sociological imagination is split between three kinds of sensitivities in which we can analyze society – historical, critical and comparative. Relative to my body, the concept of the sociological imagination can be self-applied as I have sought out to change my body’s physique, conforming to society’s idealized hegemonic masculine physique. Crossman & Scherer (2015) state hegemonic masculinity as “the dominant vision of masculinity that many boys and men consent to as something that is entirely ‘natural’ and ‘self-evident,’ even while [it] is being perpetually challenged, reinforced, and reconstructed” (p.16). In addition, I will argue that my physique is shaped more by society’s social structures instead of my own agency due to society’s impact through the three types of sensitivities. After analyzing my own body, I will provide an insight on society’s powerful, but unseen effect of manipulating people’s physique.

Growing up as a relatively skinny, underweight boy, I wanted to change my appearance by gaining more muscle mass on top of what little I already had – surrendering to society’s trends. I always felt like I was being criticized for my body shape and size. Even though most people in my social circle never verbally commented on my physical appearance, I could always sense that it was something they would speak about behind my back. Weighing approximately 125 pounds and a height of 5 feet 10 inches, my Body Mass Index (BMI) resulted in a 17.9, which is considered underweight (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, n.d.). I committed myself to a bodybuilding style of weight training alongside strict nutrition that would help me obtain a better-built body that I can look in the mirror and be proud of and also feel good about. Moreover, my body now has shoulders that have started to round off, biceps that visibly have tone and have started to peak, as well as a chest that has striations running all across. In addition, I can see all the different muscles in my back. For example, my latissimus dorsi have begun to spread wider and other areas have become thicker such as my rhomboids and trapezius. My legs have grown to where I can now see separation between my rectus femoris and vastus medialis. And my hamstrings have become incredibly thicker over time. Over the months, I have followed a rigorous journey of workout and nutrition programs to get where I am today weighing roughly 170 pounds with a BMI of 24.4, which is considered normal weight (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, n.d.). I put my body through serious amounts of stress during my weightlifting sessions for my muscles to be able to adapt to change and thus, grow back bigger and stronger. I have now built a body that resembles society’s idealized hegemonic masculine body shape, which currently in today’s day and age is having a lean, toned, average-sized body. I am more satisfied with my current physique; however, my desire to change my body shape originated from structural influences that I was unconscious of at the time.

The first sensitivity associated with the sociological imagination is the historical sensitivity, which is situating people’s present experiences in the context of history (Crossman & Scherer, 2015). The idealized hegemonic masculine physique trends tend to reflect the current state of the world and are constantly evolving. For example, being overweight to demonstrate wealth in the late 19th century, skinny like a rock star in the 60’s, or muscular like the bodybuilders during the 80’s. Despite society’s current trend, past trends are still prevalent today acting as a background to influence people’s opinions regarding their body shape. For instance, someone who has been raised during the trend of tremendously muscular male physiques may believe this is what the ideal male physique should look. In other words, it is the ideal norm. Moreover, this generational factor plays a significant role in determining idealized hegemonic masculine physiques and slows down society’s reaction to changing physique trends. I have always looked up to people with muscular builds, interpreting their physique as symbolizing a “real” man. My view of my body is inseparable from society’s view due to social structures’ dominance over my own agency. Being born in a different time, my body shape would be contrasting from what it is today as there would be a dissimilar idealized hegemonic masculine body image influence. However, my opinions of my body would be influenced by society’s norm and society’s norm would be influenced by its historical background.

The second sensitivity linked with the sociological imagination is the comparative sensitivity. The comparative sensitivity describes how cultures socially construct their own ideal body types (Crossman & Scherer, 2015). As a Chinese-Canadian who has grown up in Canada, my current body shape would have differed if I were raised in China. This was due to China’s dissimilar ideas of hegemonic masculine physiques compared to those of North America. As I have spent an abundance amount of time in China and got the opportunity to understand more of their past and current culture regarding bodybuilding, I learned that China was not as influenced by North America’s trend of movie stars and the quickly-growing sport of bodybuilding. This was until 2013 when the first ever professional bodybuilding contest was ever held (Lee, 2013). For China, the ideal male physique is having a very slim or thin body. Living my entire life in Canada, I have been socialized to Canadian society’s hegemonic masculine norm of a well-built, muscular physique as opposed to China’s ideal body shape of normal/under-weight, slim body type physique. Cultures socially construct their own ideal physique that can be severely different from other cultures such that one’s socialization in that certain culture is a determinant of how he/she wants his/her body to look.

The third and final sensitivity is the critical sensitivity. This sensitivity acknowledges that individual aspects of society is constantly needing to be updated and reviewed to accommodate societal changes (Crossman & Scherer, 2015). As society in Canada becomes more supportive of individualized freedom, people will challenge ideal body norms. Additionally, Body image acceptance is gaining in popularity to enforce that in society, no one specific body shape is representative of what a “real” man should look like. I am satisfied with my physique and do not wish to alter it in any way due to the hard work I have put in. Although, my appreciation that I have for my physique could derive from the current norm of society and change when society’s norm changes. One profession that I am interested in pursuing in the future is personal training. Many young men such as myself may seek out a personal trainer who looks muscular, lean, and toned. However, considering how ideal body norms are shifting directions, people growing up 10 years from now may want a different looking trainer to achieve a different physique that this trainer has due to societal differences compared to today. Lastly, the degree of society’s impact on my own opinion of my body is uncertain due to their inseparable nature. Without a doubt, society’s ability to influence people is powerful. Using Mills’ idea of the sociological imagination as a framework for applying the three kinds of sensitivities to my body, I have demonstrated that my body’s physique is shaped more by society’s idealized hegemonic masculine physique than my own agency. In the long run, agency for even something as private as an individual’s own body is inseparable from the subconscious influence that social structures have on us. These social structures develop from the diverse historical and cultural background of society in which norms are constantly being updated and changed due to a changing society. If I were not raised in the historical and cultural environment that I was raised in, I may never have reached where I am today in my fitness journey. Social structures have facilitated my individualized freedom by helping me find my true passion of fitness and exercise; on the other hand, it can be seen as hindering my freedom as I am uncertain whether or not this is just another example of the control that society obtains.

Introduction to the Mass Shooting Dilemma in America

Americans are far too used to hearing on the news that a mass shooting has occurred. Regardless of where it takes place, Americans find themselves in the same frustrating position of having to yet again ask, “what can we do to stop this?” It is a question that many countries have addressed differently. Many Americans see the cause of these mass shootings as a mental health issue. A subsection of that group, in particular, believes video games have a large influence over a shooter’s decision to pull the trigger. Given the limited evidence for the relationship between video games and mass-shootings, lawmakers and consumers of the United States both stand to benefit from a careful assessment of the information available.

Political Perspectives and the Video Game Violence Debate

The shooting epidemic in America is a hot button issue. People on both sides of the aisle have strong opinions on what needs to be done in response to these acts of terror. Although the issue is made political, leaders from both Republican and Democratic parties have cited video games as one of the likely causes for an American mass shooter’s decisions. In a statement following the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, President Trump suggested that the “gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace” could be encouraging the mass shootings that have like video game playing, grown in frequency every year. Many of the arguments made by politicians follow the logic that video games normalize violence and inadvertently encourage aggression among its player base, at times having a hand in driving them to commit mass crimes. Researchers, however, insist the relationship between video games and gun violence is not nearly as direct nor clear. In 2015, the American Psychological Association (APA) released a policy statement clarifying that only a link to increased aggression has been proven. They emphasized the importance of distinguishing aggression from extreme violence, especially in the form of mass shootings.

Evaluating Research: Video Games’ Impact on Aggression and Violence

In order to test the claim that violence in video games do not increase the likelihood of mass shootings, evidence was taken from academic journals and investigative reports. Many of these journal articles consult Christopher Ferguson as a resource, being widely regarded for having conducted numerous studies on the matter. Each of the listed journal articles use data from either the authors’ own studies or other experts in their field. Below are ten pieces of evidence to test the causality between video games and mass shootings:

A profiling of the average school shooter included ‘unusual fascination’ with violent media as a potential predictor (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 1999)

A meta-analysis observed video games had little to no impact on adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance (Ferguson et al., 2015)

An extensive survey suggests no association between people playing video games and whether or not they own a gun (Rajan et al., 2014)

Violent video games can cause increases in aggression however not in likelihood to take a life (Liu et al., 2015)

Social and familial backgrounds play a larger role in determining risk of violent behavior instead of video games (DeCamp et al., 2016)

Long-term experience of the U.S. military suggests that video games are an effective tool for training people to use firearms (Garbarino et al., 2002)

Screen portrayals of violence do not reinforce aggressive attitudes and behaviors if the consequences of violence are demonstrated (Grossman et al., 1999)

A comprehensive study on familiarity with violent video games found reduced guilt and blameworthiness suggesting moral disengagement from committing violent acts (Hartmann et al., 2010)

Exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings (Anderson et al., 2001)

A decrease in violent crime in response to violent video games was observed from a controlled group (Markey et al., 2015)

The profiling activity conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in 1999 was an attempt to help the public make sense of school shootings and why certain individuals might commit serious acts of violence. The Secret Service report found that although the school shooters were still rather diverse, many would provide information about their plans ahead of time. Aside from this predictive theme, the FBI included ‘unusual fascination’ with violent media as a potential predictor for risk. Given that most young males already consume considerable amounts of violent content, the term ‘unusual’ suggested a degree that was borderline extreme. As if to suggest there was a link between video games and school shootings, the report went on to describe the school shooter as someone who spends “inordinate amounts of time playing video games with violent themes,” often demonstrating more interest in the violent images than the game itself. The FBI has since come under some criticism for having only used a total of eighteen cases in developing the profile. The report, being one of the earliest attempts at understanding the motivations of the school shooter, remained influential in framing public opinion on violent video games and its consumption.

The probability of observing this evidence if it was believed that violence in video games do increase the likelihood of mass shootings could be 70%. The profile acknowledges the shooters’ diversity across multiple factors, accounting for so much variability, yet still identifying consumption of violent content as a common trend. This report also correctly identifies the shooter’s tendency to provide information prior to the crime which four out of five shooters do, even as late as 2018 according to a secret service report written by Lina Alathari and others.

The probability of observing this evidence if it was believed that violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings could be 20%. As school shootings were becoming an increasingly common occurrence, the FBI was under a lot of pressure to make a statement identifying common attributes among school shooters. As a result, the report makes more than a few disclaimers, suggesting they too doubted the predictive ability of their own profile.

Having assumed the probability of the claim being true (i.e. violence in video games do increase the likelihood of mass shootings) is equal to the probability that the claim is false (i.e. violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings), the evidence provided by the FBI clarifies this belief. The likelihood ratio becomes 0.7/0.2 = 3.5 which is the probability of observing the FBI evidence and the claim being true to the probability of observing the FBI evidence and the claim being false. The updated odds for the claim being true is then (0.5/0.5) * 0.7/0.2 = 3.5. The new probability of the claim being true is thus 3.5/(1+3.5) = 0.777 and the new probability of the claim being false is 1 – 0.777 = 0.222.

The Role of Mental Health and Video Games in Youth Aggression

Mental illness, like violent video game exposure, is also regarded as a supposed risk factor for aggression and violence. Dr. Ferguson then thought to explore how playing violent video games would affect mental health in adolescents. Pooling data from 101 peer-reviewed studies, Ferguson compiled the perceived effects on aggressive behavior, prosocial behavior, academic performance, depressive symptoms and attention deficit symptoms of the various participants. With samples using typical community adolescents, he found the influence of video games to be negligible, citing values too small to assume causation. As for individuals with preexisting mental health symptoms, he found similarly little effect from violent video game exposure. This study was published in the Perspectives in Psychological Science in 2015.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games do increase the likelihood mass shootings is 30%. Having combed through many of the already limited number of studies on the subject, Ferguson summarizes that many find little to no significant link between the two. Furthermore, Ferguson also sought to study adolescents given that many of the already existing statistics use college-age young adults in their study groups despite adolescents also being a probable consumer of violent video game content.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings is 60%. This study was extensive in its scope by creating models from data across 101 of our available studies. In addition to testing for multiple risk factors like social behavior and mental illness, with its large effect size, the findings of this study are joined by the findings of the other studies Ferguson referenced.

After updating the probability of the claim being true with the evidence from the FBI’s investigative profiling, p(increase the likelihood) = .0.777 and p(not affect the likelihood) = 0.222. The likelihood ratio of the Ferguson evidence is 0.3/0.6 = 0.5, which is the probability of observing Ferguson’s evidence and the claim being true to the probability of observing Ferguson’s evidence and the claim being false. The new odds of video games increasing the likelihood of shootings is then 0.777 * 0.3/0.6 = 0.388. The new probability of the claim being true is 0.388/(1+0.388) = 0.279 and the new probability of the claim being false is 1 – 0.279 = 0.721.

Comparative Analysis: Video Games Versus Other Aggression Factors

DeCamp et al. (2016) published a study which compared the effect of exposure to violent video games to other factors that could explain increased levels of aggression. The study examines this using a large and diverse sample of youth. They monitored their response to violent video gameplay and found a small, but statistically significant relationship between violent games and violence-related outcomes. However, upon factoring in social and family backgrounds in particular, the previously positive relationship between violent games and violence-related outcomes vanished, became inverse or was reduced to a merely trivial effect. Their findings lead us to believe video game violence is not a strong enough predictor of youth violence and our efforts are best directed towards more influential factors. This study was published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and accessed through PubMed.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games increase the likelihood of mass shootings is 40%. By first observing the relationship between consumption of violent video games and violence-related outcomes, DeCamp found a statistically significant enough correlation. That said, upon factoring more influential predictors, this correlation is deemed lacking in comparison to social and family backgrounds through which the researchers had more success in using to predict violence-related outcomes in the youth they tested.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings is 70%. DeCamp’s study takes violent video game exposure into account however in the context of many other aspects that factor into a shooter’s background. Remarkably, a relationship between the two variables would not at all have been determined in this context. DeCamp also conducted a meta-analysis using data from other journal articles to find that these were also supportive of the same null or trivial and non-significant effect on youth violence from playing violent video games.

The probability that the claim is true with the FBI’s profiling and the Ferguson study determined p(increase the likelihood of mass shootings) = 0.279 and p(not affect the likelihood of mass shootings) = 0.721. The likelihood ratio for the new DeCamp evidence is 0.4/0.7 = 0.571. This refers to the probability of observing DeCamp’s evidence and the claim being true (i.e. violence in video games do increase the likelihood of mass shootings) to the probability of observing DeCamp’s evidence and the claim being false (i.e. violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings). The updated odds of violence increasing the likelihood of mass shootings is then 0.279/0.721 * 0.4/0.7 = 0.221. The new probability of the claim being true is 0.221/(1+0.221) = 0.180 and the new probability of the claim being false is 1- 0.180 = 0.82.

Garbarino and his colleagues (2002) explored the extent through which violence in media, including in the form of video games, influenced gun violence in youth. Referencing Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a professor of military science at Arkansas State University, the study acknowledges the potential for video games to be used as effective tools in training people to use firearms. Grossman likened his experience with using first-person shooters (FPS), which allows the player to fire a lifelike digital gun at human forms in the game, to an inadvertent crash course on ‘how to kill.’ Garbarino corroborated his experience by citing how U.S. military has moved towards training targets like the simulated human forms in video games like Doom, Area 51 and GoldenEye 007 to name a few. He also recalls the 1998 shooting in Paducah, Kentucky where a fourteen-year-old with only a day’s worth of shooting practice fired eight shots at eight people. This section of Garbarino’s study uses qualitative data in the form of expert opinion and examples to suggest how instead of motivating the shooter, certain video games might even improve on their ability to shoot and thus, kill. This study was published in the journal The Future of Children and found through PubMed.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games increase the likelihood of mass shootings is 55%. By looking at the instances where the shooter’s accuracy improved, the Garbarino study realizes the potential of first-person shooters in recreating and thereby ‘training’ for the experience. That said, the study is limited to mostly qualitative data and is not as conclusive as it may appear.

The probability of observing this evidence given that violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings is 20%. While the study acknowledges room for variability in effect, the U.S. military’s adoption of simulated targets continually reaffirms a video game feature prominent in violent video games for its ability to stimulate the senses and work towards shorter response times.

After updating the probability that the claim is true with the FBI, Ferguson, and DeCamp reports, p(increase the likelihood of mass shootings) = 0.180 and p(do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings) = 0.82. The likelihood ratio for the Garbarino evidence is 0.55/0.2 = 2.75, which is the probability of observing Garbarino’s evidence and the claim being true (i.e. violence in video games increase the likelihood of mass shootings) to the probability of observing Garbarino’s evidence and the claim being false (i.e. violence in video games do not affect the likelihood of mass shootings). The new odds of violence in video games increasing the likelihood of mass shootings is then 0.180/0.82 * 0.55/0.2 = 0.603. The new probability of the claim being true is 0.603/(1+0.603) = 0.376 and the probability of the claim being false is 1 – 0.376 = 0.624.

Concluding Remarks: The Need for More Conclusive Research

Altogether, these investigative reports and journal-published studies confirm what many researchers have already expressed. For the increasing number of studies attempting to define or illustrate the relationship between violent video game use and violence that manifests as extremely as mass shootings, the evidence is simply not strong enough to support this relationship as direct and positive. This research has determined a general effect of increased aggression in response to violent video game exposure, however, the effect is minimal and not easily reproducible in every setting. Regardless, some evidence persists in drawing politicians to cite and researchers to continue studying the link between violence in video games and mass shootings. The presence of both studies supporting and disproving the claim asserts the need for more conclusive results. This research needs to be clarified but also made more accessible to a wider audience so consumers and lawmakers alike can make more informed decisions from the best data available to us for the time being.

References

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5. Ferguson, Christopher J. “The School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link: Causal Relationship or Moral Panic?” Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, vol. 5, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 25–37., doi:10.1002/jip.76.
6. Decamp, Whitney, and Christopher J. Ferguson. “The Impact of Degree of Exposure to Violent Video Games, Family Background, and Other Factors on Youth Violence.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 46, no. 2, 2016, pp. 388–400., doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0561-8.
7. Delisi, Matt & Vaughn, Michael & Gentile, Douglas & Anderson, Craig & Shook, Jeffrey. (2013). Violent Video Games, Delinquency, and Youth Violence New Evidence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. 11. 132-142. 10.1177/1541204012460874.
8. Garbarino, James, et al. “Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth.” The Future of Children, vol. 12, no. 2, 2002, p. 72., doi:10.2307/1602739.
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11. Kwon, R., Cabrera, J.F. Income inequality and mass shootings in the United States. BMC Public Health 19, 1147 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7490-x

Mills sociological imagination requires each of us to combine our personal experiences with historical context and social factors, rather than just focusing on our own personal experiences. I have a special personal experience, that is, I have experienced a whole decade of exam-oriented education in China, among which the process of preparing for the college entrance examination had the greatest impact on me. The personal issue brought by the college entrance examination is the pressure and inequality. In such an education system, every college student will have his or her own goal to pursue and try his or her best for it. In this paper, after introducing Mills’ sociological imagination, I will briefly describe my personal experience. Then, on the basis of sociological imagination, I will first analyze how the exam-oriented system in China today is affected by historical factors. Next, I will analyze the influence of social aspect on China’s current college entrance examination system from two sociological perspectives. By referring to concepts of sociology, the first point is the McDonaldization of the college entrance examination system, and the second one is the seemingly equal system may also lead to social inequality.

Our personal experience is the product of both the historical context and the social trend. We should have the ability to find connections between personal troubles and public issues, and by tracing the roots of our problems, we may better understand the interplay of individuals and society, so that we are possible to solve them. Apart from that, if we can connect our personal experience to the larger forces of history, we are likely to know “the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history” (Mills, 1959).

I have been preparing for the college entrance examination since primary school. No matter it is every exam or the mock exam before the college entrance examination, I worked so hard to prepare for it. At the same time, almost everyone around me is like this. In class, I listened to the teacher explaining knowledge in the mountains of books. When class was over, I continued to work on the previous exam questions without rest. During those years, we would extremely spend 16 hours studying each day, six days a week. Although studying in the system of exam-oriented education was really hard and boring, through the college entrance examination, I successfully obtained relatively high-quality resources, perhaps this is only one good point of the college entrance examination.

Our personal experience is being influenced by historical context according to Mills. Different historical events have shaped modern society as a whole and each individual within it (“Sociological imagination,” 2019). Ancient China attached great importance to the imperial examination system, which was the predecessor of the college entrance examination system. In the past, the imperial examination was usually held in the city center, and only those who passed the imperial examination system could become officials or have a chance to work for government. At that time, education was the only way out, and it continues to this day and affects the current high school education system. Students can only pass the college entrance examination and get high scores, then they will have a good university, and then through hard work, they will have a wide range of contacts and career opportunities, which will influence the future. So, the better you do in the college entrance examination, the more choices you have, the greater the positive impact. This shows how important the college entrance examination system is to Chinese people. As one parent put it. The college entrance exam is like crossing a single-entry bridge. If you do, you are more likely to succeed. But if you fail the college entrance examination, which only has one chance, your bad college entrance examination will be the beginning of a lifetime of hardships.

In light of McDonaldization, the key part should be rationality. Here, four elements of rationality are efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. First, efficiency means achieving the best results with the least cost for the purpose of the optimisation of resources. For instance, in some high schools, there are more than 60, 70 or 80 students in one class. however, such class size is inefficient. Schools ask teachers to teach such a large number of students in the meantime, and there are too many students studying in crowded classrooms, which limit students’ access to good educational resources, including booking a one-to-one conversation with teachers. In this case, when students have psychological pressure, it is almost impossible for them to find teachers for help. And teachers excessive to emphasize the students have to spend more time on study, then the teacher may ignore students’ psychological problems, mental health problems, which puts pressure on students. Teachers encourage students to spend a lot of time on study, causing too much pressure for students but teachers don’t have much time to care for students. Class size is too large, and teachers require students to spend too much time on study.

Calculability refers to emphasis on what can be counted or measured. Many high schools emphasize the enrollment rate which as a number that can be easily measured and counted. the children’s academic achievements are quantified as corresponding scores. However, due to the unreasonable calculability, people tend to focus more on quantity rather than quality. Students’ learning is quantified as numbers that may reflect the quality of their learning, but not always. Under exam-oriented education system, getting a high score may only mean great exam skills or vast memory, which cannot prove good learning ability completely. In addition, because the system places too much emphasis on students’ scores, most of them are required to take extracurricular courses, so they spend little time on their hobbies. The pressure on students arises because the system places too much emphasis on quantity rather than the quality of students’ learning. Their personal experience are largely determined by the society.

Predictability means you can know what’s going to happen, because it has been planned already. Students’ course schedules, the content of each course and even the focus of the future exam could be predicted. Every year there’s a predictability in exams, students can ask their seniors or buy exam materials so that they will know what knowledge is going to be included. But students’ innovative ability may not be trained. Because of this, they learned little through high schools. One of the skills they learned was test-taking skills. Secondly, students are required to memorize as much knowledge as possible and brush as many questions as possible in such a spoon-fed education system, so their innovation ability is not well improved. This also leads to many students’ inadaptability after entering the university or the society. Because there’s a lot of unpredictability which makes them all at sea.

Control means replacing humans with nonhuman technology. As Ritzer (2001) states, due to human’s unpredictability, control becomes inevitable, then “substitution of nonhuman for human technology” is needed. When non-human technology comes to high school, like monitoring and online teaching tools, students may get anxious. Most of the time monitors installed in schools are used to check students for fraud during exams, however, but sometimes they can be used to monitor students’ learning. With such control, students’ privacy may be invaded, and they lose freedom, which shows that students’ physical and mental health are affected by the McDonaldization. What is more, advanced teaching tools on the one hand can be used to improve teaching, but they may cause the loss of a connection between students and teachers. Which can be seen that after marking the exam paper, teachers only put evaluation of students on the Internet, instead of finding a time to talk with them in person about their exam paper as before.

“While the gaokao was originally hailed as a meritocratic system that could, in theory, equalize opportunity across socioeconomic levels, it has come to be criticized as having the opposite effect” (“Institutionalized Inequality,” n.d.). The purpose of the college entrance examination was to give every child a chance to fight for better resources. As mentioned earlier, students can influence their future success through the success of this exam. But it also led to social inequality in another way. The children of rich families can enjoy good educational resources from birth to high school. In contrast, poor families or rural children, they do not have such conditions, they do not have the money to buy quality teaching resources and spend a long time to go to school every day. In this way, under the open system, children from families with high economic status can concentrate on their studies, while poor children have to prepare for the college entrance examination and solve life problems, which makes them less likely to succeed.

By analyzing our personal experience from two perspective, history background and social context, we can know that in most cases, individuals are part of the society, and they are being influenced by it. Although we know it is unlikely to change history and society which caused our current problem, at least we know what real elements lie behind the problem, and if all people who have the same experience, they can unite as a group to ask for changes in such system.

Reference

1. Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Institutionalized Inequality: The Gaokao Exam and the Urban-Rural Divide. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2019, from China-US Focus website: https://www.chinausfocus.com/society-culture/institutionalized-inequality-the-gaokao-exam-and-the-urban-rural-divide
3. Sociological imagination. (2019). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sociological_imagination&oldid=928923938
4. Ritzer, G. (2000). The mcdonaldization of society (New Century ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press.

The short-term memory is the very first system we encounter when we decide to recall information at the conscious level. The system register also gets information for a brief moment at an unconcious level. But before information can be transferred to the long-term memory, it needs to undergo rehearsal. Rehearsal maintains the validity of a code of information in the short-term memory, rehearsal needs to be done often to keep the information for a long period. Chunking of words makes it easy to be learnt and recalled, for example, a phone number may be grouped into units to help remember. The duration of unrehearsed material in the short-term memory is 30 seconds. The definition for short-term memory is that it is a system that not only stores information, but serves as a workplace for rehearsing, coding, retrieving, and decision making. In the Brown-Petterson’s paradigm a rehearsal prevention test was given to the participants to prevent them from rehearsal; similar tests will be given to the participants in this study to check the number of words they will be able to recall. The capacity of the short-term memory can also be identified using the immediate memory span, by presenting a list of words and determining how many can be remembered in their correct serial order after presentation. Baddeley and Scott (1971) proposed that due to the statements established by the Petterson’s technique, the short-term memory experiences forgetting after the participants or subjects were asked to recall the items only once in both experiments. During sudden recall the chances of the valid words being recalled is based on the serial position of the words, the first or second word has a higher advantage or ability to be remembered (primacy effect), whilst the middle words have a lower chance of recall, also the final words do have a greater chance of memorization as well, which is the recency effect (Baddeley, 2004). Various theories have been conducted to further explain these claims. Janke and Nowaczyk stated that “attention is the study of the capabilities and limitations of the individual to select and process sensory information from the environment”. It is perceived that people cannot concentrate on all information going on around them, but just on the important ones, an example is when you are caught driving on a stormy evening, you chose to turn off the stereo and quit all conversations in order to fully attend to the road to enable you drive safely (Janke & Nowaczyk, 1998).

Furthermore, the short-term memory not only stores traces of information in the brain, but also serves as a working memory for rehearsal, coding, retrieval and decision making. The interference theory is one of the major theories of interference and memory. The theory implies that new information can interrupt with the already existing information in the long-term memory after or during encoding, which leads to distorted memories (Mcleod, 2008). The proactive interference takes place when you are not able to learn something new since the old information has already been learnt and is preventing new messages, it is also forward in time since what exist in the mind interrupts the new information. An example is when you forget a friend’s new house address since the old one is still kept in the mind. The retroactive interference is when new or current information interferes with the already existing ones, leading to forgetting. An experiment was conducted to see the effect of long words on the short-term memory due to retroactive interference, and the conclusion was that long words provided greater interference than short words (Campoy, 2011). The decay theory also proposed that decay occurs as a result of the gradual fading away of memory trace, it depends on the duration of the information present in the short-term memory. Decay was also defined as the inability to be able to recall a list of words in a given time frame not caused by interference (Ricket, Vergauwe & Cowan, 2016). Decay can only be prevented through rehearsal of the material. Retrieval failure theory also states that information in the long-term memory can be inaccessible since the cues for retrieval are not present. Retrieval cues are the information stored concerning the situation. The external or context cues are things in the environment such as houses and trees, while the internal cues are inward experiences such as mood and emotions.

Aims of the Research

Several studies have been conducted to determine how attention is distracted by the effect of interference on immediate and delayed recall of a set of meaningful words. The aims used for the purpose of this study are:

• To determine the effect of interference on serial recall of the learnt material.
• To determine the serial position effect of recall.

Statement of Hypothesis

• H1: The participants who experienced the interference will have a lower serial recall of words.
• H2: The participants are able to recall more words at the beginning due to primacy effect than the words in the middle.
• H3: The participants are able to recall more words at the beginning due to primacy effect than the words at the end due to recency effect.

Operational Definitions of Terms

1. Interference: unwanted thought or task that intrudes on a person’s short-term memory.
2. Distraction: diverting of attention of an individual between a task of recalling words in serial order and counting down from 50 minus 3.
3. Delayed recall: retrieval of information from the memory that takes a longer time to be processed.
4. Immediate recall: retrieval of information from the short-term memory immediately after the stimuli was presented.
5. Meaning words: are those words which are nothing but made up of one or more letters which provide a complete meaning and makes sense to the reader.
6. Primacy effect: good recall of meaningful words at the beginning of a list of serially presented words.
7. Recency effect: good recall of meaningful words at the end of a list of serially presented words.

Methodology

180 participants from the University of Ghana and an uneven number of males and females were used for the research. The participants were students in their final year, and were specifically psychology students either in the main campus or the city campus. The population for this study was all final year psychology students, whilst the sample was the 180 psychology final year students who participated and were randomly assigned to both the experimental (interference) and control groups (non-interference). 80 students were randomly assigned to the interference group compared to 100 students who were randomly assigned to the non-interference group. The instruments used to conduct the study was a laptop, paper, pen, chair, table and an enclosed room. The laptop was the main equipment needed for the experiment, since the list of words expected to be recalled serially presented on the laptop in 30 seconds for the participants. The paper and pen were used by the experimenter to record the number of words recalled serially and correctly. The chair and table were used by the participant to sit on during the experiment and to support the laptop for viewing the words respectively. An enclosed room was used to conduct the study, this was done to reduce the level of distraction or some extraneous variables during the experiment. Furthermore, the experimental design used was both the experimental group and control group, where the participants were randomly assigned to each of the groups. Two rooms at the psychology department of the University of Ghana were used to conduct the research. Chairs were provided outside the department for the students to sit on until it was their turn. To prevent biases, the participants didn’t know which room was for either the experimental or control group. In the non-interference or control group the instructor told the participants to learn a list of 15 meaningful words serially of varied length for 30 seconds and recall immediately after expiration of the time. Some of the meaningful words were ‘select’, ‘achieve’, ‘operate’, ‘beauty’, ‘create’ and many others. The scoring was done by the experimenter: a mark of 1 and 0 was awarded to a correct or wrong recall of words respectively. In the experimental or interference group, the instructor informed the participants to learn a list of meaningful words serially (the same words presented to condition I or the control group) of varied length of 30 seconds. Immediately after the expiration of the 30 seconds, the participants were asked to count down from 50 minus 3 (example 50, 47, 44, and many others), and when the count ended, the participants were expected to recall the list of 15 words in serial order. A mark of 1 and 0 was awarded for correct and wrong responses respectively, the scoring is done by the experimenter. For the scoring of data, the sheet of paper contained all the meaningful words in a serial order and several spaces beside it to contain each participants response. So, for both conditions if the participant is able to correctly identify the first response, a mark of one is placed by that word and same goes for a wrong response, a mark of zero is placed by the word. The experimenter calculates the total number of correct responses of all the participants.

Results

From results obtained from the table of the group statistics, it was observed that the control group had a higher mean score, standard deviation and standard error than that of the experimental group. The variability of the sample means for the control group is greater. The independent samples t-test proves that the participants who experienced interference will have a lower recall (H1), since the p-value which is p=0.043 and 0.046 is less than 0.05 level of significance, which is due to chance. It is a directional hypothesis and applies a one-tailed test. The one-way ANOVA table was also used to determine the effect of the serial positions on recall of words. The hypothesis found is non-directional. The primacy position with N=10 was observed to have greater mean value, standard deviation and standard error than the middle and recency. The recency position was the next. The f value for the within group and between group was f=9.326. H2 and H3 which says that the participants are able to recall more words at the beginning than the middle and last words since the p value which is p=0.001 is less than 0.05 level of significance. The post-hoc test was directional and the p value was the same as ANOVA. The words at the beginning were well remembered than the middle and last words so the curve of the graph was higher at the beginning (50% and 87%) and slanted continuously to the end (22% and 17.5%) in both interference and non-interference group.

Discussion

This experiment was carried out to find out the effect of interference and distraction on immediate recall of words. The hypothesis for the study was that interference leads to lower recall of words, the words at the beginning was better recalled than the middle and the last words. The findings reviewed that the hypothesis for the study was retained since the p values were less than 0.05 level of significance in the dependent t test, as well as in the one-way ANOVA table. The graph also showed that the primacy words were better recalled than the middle and recency words. The findings supported theories which have been conducted in relation to the study, such as the interference theory, which talks about how new information can interrupt already existing ones, and the decay theory, which talks about the fading away of information. The lessons derived from this study is that rehearsal is necessary for better recall, and that interference causes a greater decay of information.

Conclusion

In summary, the short-term memory is not able to store information permanently due to its capacity. The recommendation for further research is that larger sample size should be used for better generalization.

References

1. Baddeley, A. D., & Scott, D. (1971). Short Term Forgetting in the Absence of Proactive Interference. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 23(3), 275-283.
2. Baddeley, A. D., Kopelman, M., & Wilson, B. A. ( Eds.). (2004). The Essential Handbook of Memory Disorders for Clinicians. John Wiley & Sons.
3. Janke, J. C., & Nowaczyk, R. H. (1998). Cognition. Prentice-Hall. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River.
4. McLeod, S. A. (2008). Forgetting. Simply Psychology. Retrieved: https://www.simplypsychology.org/forgetting.html
5. Ricket, T. J., Vergauwe, E., & Cowan, N. (2016). Decay Theory of Immediate Memory: From Brown (1958) to Today (2014). The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(10).