Big Cities Vs Small Towns Cultural Studies Essay

Big Cities Vs Small Towns Cultural Studies Essay When speaking to an individual of experience, possibly an explorer or an elder, someone may be informed about the way people from particular towns behave. Such as, ‘people from big cities are always in rush’ or ‘citizens from smaller towns are friendlier’. As John Jake states, â€Å"The big city and small town have been stereotyped in the American experience as being at opposite ends of an imagined social gradient–the former more a place of cold impersonality in social relations and the latter more a place of warm personalized community. Assumptions about urban-based â€Å"mass society† largely blinded Americans through the twentieth century to the existence of, and importance of, locality-based community in big cities. Early in the century, most urban Americans emigrated from rural and small town circumstances, bringing to the nation’s cities strong rural and small town proclivities at neighboring. Both central city working-class neig hborhoods and affluent suburbs mirrored the small town.†(Jakle,1) But, for someone born, raised and living in that small town, these differences may seem clearly an opinion, and perhaps some distinctions are. So why, then do so many people prefer one type of life style over the other? Specific characteristics such as economics, population, crime rate, traffic, city planning and also architecture, differentiate one region from the next. In order to form an opinion, one must analyze two towns on opposing ends of the spectrum. By comparing two towns: a small town, and also a busy suburb, the differences in the characteristics of citizens, the city, and their daily life, make it seem as though small towns and big cities are practically from different countries. As John Jake confirms, â€Å"America’s small towns and big cities occupy opposite ends of an urban spectrum. Early in the twentieth century, commentators on American life clearly differentiated towns and cities as s ocially different–the two kinds of place sustaining very different ways of life.†(Jakle,1) In a small town, at first one might notice the appearance. It is not generally uncommon to see an assorted crew of soiled young children come running into the neighborhood supermarket without shirts or shoes and buy candy. The cashier, rather than ushering the inadequately clothed children out the door, asks them how their parents have been, they just so happen to live next door. This sort of incident would not go over so well in a big city. The same young children would have been asked to leave and later admonished by their parents for going out in public looking so disarrayed. For example, in a Clockwork Orange a young fifteen-year-old boy known only by the name of Alex is the antihero. Alex and his three â€Å"droogs† are a gang of youngsters who goes around in the dangerous streets of London, fighting, raping, pillaging, and all the basic doings generally associated wit h anarchy. In a small town, this would be less likely to happen. Overalls, dirty jeans and hats are not uncommon apparel for citizens out running errands and are almost a necessity for the distinguished elderly man. Aside from the readily differences, citizens of small towns seem to have contrasting personality traits as well. Take the scene of a crowded store during the holidays, for instance. In a busy, crowded big city, a shopper with a cart overflowing with items in the checkout lane would simply be focused on checking out and planning on where they need to go next. However in a small sleepy town, that same shopper may check to see if the person just behind them, with only a couple of items, might want to go ahead. Then, possibly even strike up a conversation with a total stranger. As John Jake explains, † To Simmel, large cities overloaded residents with social stimuli, producing in people defensive behaviors both patterned and regularized. The urban personality was reser ved and detached. Contact person-to-person in the city might be face-to-face, but even those encounters tended to the impersonal, the superficial, and the transitory (Wirth 1938). The metropolis was seen as a mass of separate individuals variously practicing social avoidance, especially in public spaces. City streets were seen as cold and unfriendly (Gross 1965). Small towns, on the other hand, with limited populations interacting in limited geographical areas, tended not to produce social overload. There, people could personalize relationships, even the cursory spontaneities of chance encounter in public space. Small town streets were warm and friendly. The idealized small town was likened to a nurturing extended family, whereas the city was made out to be a place of alienated individuals (Smith 1966).†(Jakle,1) Another strange exception happens to be a relative disregard for locking the doors at night or even at all. This such behavior is unheard of in the big cities of larg er towns. In small towns neighbors have a tendency to look out for the good of the neighborhood, and are always cautious, but with such low crime occurrences, such preventative measures as door-locking are not required.

Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Research - Essay Example For ordinary research, the problem definition is comprised of a description of the background situation and the statement of the problem. In the context of market research, particularly in the case of applied market research in a practical setting, problem definition refers to an entirely different process. According to Malhotra (1996), â€Å"Problem definition involves stating the general problem and identifying the specific components of the marketing research problem. Only when the marketing research problem has been clearly defined can research be designed and conducted† (p. 47). Gibson (1998) stated that â€Å"Problem definition is best thought of as solution definition – the selection of a domain likely to be rich in ideas to solve the problem† (p. 5). Most recently, Wild & Diggines (2010) said that â€Å"Problem definition is the most important step in a research project†¦often more important than its solution† (p. 42). As may be deduced, there is no one hard and fast definition of problem definition in market research, except the stress on its importance to effect a solution, and from this therefore it must be said that problem definition should result in an actionable research plan. Malhotra (2011) provides the following diagram and example of a marketing research problem defined: Source: Malhotra (2011, p. ... etermining the various needs of automobile users and the extent to which current product offerings were satisfying those needs.† Note that the broad statement includes the target of the research (i.e., automobile users), the object of research (their needs), and the subject of research (the extent to which the needs were satisfied). To complete the problem definition, the specific components are as follows: Component 1: What needs do buyers of passenger cars, station wagons, and sports utility vehicles seek to satisfy? Component 2: How well do existing automobile product offerings meet these needs? Component 3: Is there a segment of the automobile market whose needs are not being adequately met? Component 4: What automobile features does the segment identified in number 3 desire? Component 5: What is the demographic and psychographic profile of the identified segment? (Malhotra, 2011, 2-17 to 2-18). The problem definition should be neither too wide that the problem becomes vagu e, nor too narrow that important considerations are left out. A well formulated problem definition should be able to answer the following basic questions: (Zikmund & Babin, 2006, p. 122) What is the purpose of the study? How much is already known? Is additional background information necessary? What is to be measured? How? Can the data be made available? Should research be conducted? Can a hypothesis be formulated? As to subject matter, Emanuel H. Demby, formerly of MPI Marketing Research Inc in New York (in Marketing News, 1975, p. 8), marketing problems may be classified into four, namely: Market targets – understanding the who and why of the potential consumer Product positioning – critical benefits that will create a strong edge in the target market Decision-making process – should

Alternative Methods in Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alternative Methods in Justice - Essay Example y will attempt to analyze why it is better for offenders such as pharmaceutical companies to be punished in a way other than incarceration and payment of fines. It will also suggest alternative methods of punishments for drug companies who willfully harm society. Moreover, it will attempt to explain why non-incarceration is a much better way in dealing with this kind of criminality. In February 2009, â€Å"U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp fined Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals CEO Jared Wheat $50,000 and ordered him, the company and other individual defendants to forfeit $3 million in proceeds from selling knockoff prescription drugs over the internet.† (Rothman, C., 2009) Apparently they were producing generic versions of drugs similar to Viagra in their facility in Belize and selling them online without need for prescriptions. A jury also found former InterMune Inc. CEO W. Scott Harkonen guilty of health care fraud. (Levine, D., 2009) InterMune, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies in pulmonology and hepatology. (Corporate Overview, n.d.) It seems â€Å"under Harkonen’s direction, InterMune marketed and sold Actimmune to treat IPF, a fatal disease, despite the fact that the drug was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a safe and effective treatment.† (Former Intermune, 2008) In 2005, â€Å"Patrick Lais, then CEO of York Pharmaceuticals Inc., was sentenced to federal prison for distributing substandard aspirin in 2000 and 2001.† (Kansas City†¦ 2005) The common punishment for these two crimes had been huge fines and incarceration. Given the effect of these crimes to the lives of their consumers, CEOs of pharmaceutical companies who intentionally harm the public should receive other forms of punishment than monstrous fines and jail time. They are rich. They can pay the fines. If they behave nicely in jail, they may get a parole. Through all these, their customers are still suffering and may or