Vietnam The Unending War Essays - Vietnam War, Indochina Wars

Vietnam The Unending War The Vietnam war is the most terrible and senseless war America has ever fought. Never since their own civil war was the world most powerful country divided in such terrible anger. The leading historian on the war in Vietnam George C. Herring poses two very important questions in his essay American and Vietnam the Unending War. These two questions have been boggling the Americans minds since the beginning of the war in Indochina up to today when the US faces similar crises but is afraid to due to something called the Vietnam syndrom something that has plagued the American minds since the cease fire in Vietnam 1975. Why did the united States invest so much blood and treasure in an area so remote and of so little apparent significance, and secondly, why despite its vast power did the United States fail to achieve its objects? Herring approaches these questions from a variety of different sides which somewhat explain the struggle and the pain the misunderstood country had to go through. After WWII most of the countries such as Britain and the Netherlands gave up their colonies in Indochina. France on the other hand decided to regain power and put down the revolutionary nationalistic movement, by force that was plaguing Vietnam. The communist Ho Chi Minh had developed a communist, nationalistic movement against the french in order to be free of colonialism and establish a Marxist state in Vietnam. France at the time and still today is one of Americas strongest allies. Therefore and for many other political reasons, such as the prevention of the spread of communism, made the US aid France and support them with their mission. This was so to say the beginning of a variety of incidents that finally brought the US to war with Vietnam. Of all the nationalistic movements and revolutions in Indochina, the Vietnamese was the only one supported by communism. This was of great concern to the U.S. who feared that the soviet union had their hands in this as a plan of slowly gaining power over the entire east, and eventually the entire world. Herring writes From the outset Americans viewed Ho and the Vietminh as instruments of the Soviet drive for world domination,..... After the fall of china to communism in 1949, the US feared that if then also Vietnam would fall to communism finally the rest of Indochina, which found itself in similar unstable conditions as Vietnam, will fall to communism to. Soviet expansion had reached a point beyond which it must be permitted to go. A so-called domino theory was adopted, where when one falls all will eventually fall. Herring explains: Because of its location on china's southern border and because it appeared in the most imminent danger, Vietnam was considered crucial. If it fell, all of Southeast Asia might be lost, denying the United States access to important raw materials and strategic waterways. After the defeat of France in 1954, the US aided to create a non-Communist, democratic, south Vietnamese state in hope that their financial aid and political assistance would strengthen the population and prevent any further spreading of Communism. The Cold War started taking desperate measures and the U.S. particularly in the Kennedy-Johnson era was very concerned with the security of western Europe. It was the US concern that if they would back out in the worsening Vietnam situation, it would portray a certain weakness to its enemy Russia and could provoke conflicts in western Europe, particularly over Berlin, that could end in a nuclear war. ...if they showed firmness in one area, it would deter the adversary in a another; if they showed weakness the adversary would be tempted to take steps that might leave no option but nuclear war. A further reason Herring portrays is the effect on the political situation at home which could have been quit crucial if Vietnam would have pulled out. Another loss to communism would have devastating outcomes on presidential elections. To prevent loss of votes marked another great aspect of why the Presidential administrations couldn't simply leave Indochina to its destiny. Harring writes ...the assumption shared by administrations from Harry S. Truman to Lyndon B. Johnson that the fall of Vietnam

Definition and Examples of Secondary Data Analysis

Definition and Examples of Secondary Data Analysis Secondary data analysis is the analysis of data that was collected by someone else. Below, we’ll review the definition of secondary data, how it can be used by researchers, and the pros and cons of this type of research. Key Takeaways: Secondary Data Analysis Primary data refers to data that researchers have collected themselves, while secondary data refers to data that was collected by someone else.Secondary data is available from a variety of sources, such as governments and research institutions.While using secondary data can be more economical, existing data sets may not answer all of a researcher’s questions. Comparison of Primary and Secondary Data In social science research, the terms primary data and secondary data are common parlance. Primary data is collected by a researcher or team of researchers for the specific purpose or analysis under consideration. Here, a research team conceives of and develops a research project, decides on a sampling technique, collects data designed to address specific questions, and performs their own analyses of the data they collected. In this case, the people involved in the data analysis are familiar with the research design and data collection process. Secondary data analysis, on the other hand, is the use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose. In this case, the researcher poses questions that are addressed through the analysis of a data set that they were not involved in collecting. The data was not collected to answer the researcher’s specific research questions and was instead collected for another purpose. This means that the same data set can actually be a primary data set to one researcher and a secondary data set to a different one. Using Secondary Data There are some important things that must be done before using secondary data in an analysis. Since the researcher did not collect the data, its important for them to become familiar with the data set: how the data was collected, what the response categories are for each question, whether or not weights need to be applied during the analysis, whether or not clusters or stratification need to be accounted for, who the population of study was, and more. A great deal of secondary data resources and data sets are available for sociological research, many of which are public and easily accessible. The United States Census, the General Social Survey, and the American Community Survey are some of the most commonly used secondary data sets available. Advantages of Secondary Data Analysis The biggest advantage of using secondary data is that it can be more economical. Someone else has already collected the data, so the researcher does not have to devote money, time, energy and resources to this phase of research. Sometimes the secondary data set must be purchased, but the cost is almost always lower than the expense of collecting a similar data set from scratch, which usually entails salaries, travel and transportation, office space, equipment, and other overhead costs. In addition, since the data is already collected and usually cleaned and stored in electronic format, the researcher can spend most of their  time analyzing the data instead of getting the data ready for analysis. A second major advantage of using secondary data is the breadth of data available. The federal government conducts numerous studies on a large, national scale that individual researchers would have a difficult time collecting. Many of these data sets are also longitudinal, meaning that the same data has been collected from the same population over several different time periods. This allows researchers to look at trends and changes of phenomena over time. A third important advantage of using secondary data is that the data collection process often maintains a level of expertise and professionalism that may not be present with individual researchers or small research projects. For example, data collection for many federal data sets is often performed by staff members who specialize in certain tasks and have many years of experience in that particular area and with that particular survey. Many smaller research projects do not have that level of expertise, as a lot of  data is collected by students working part-time. Disadvantages of Secondary Data Analysis A major disadvantage of using secondary data is that it may not answer the researcher’s specific research questions or contain specific information that the researcher would like to have. It also may not have been collected in the geographic region or during the years desired, or with the specific population that the researcher is interested in studying. For example, a researcher who is interested in studying adolescents may find that the secondary data set only includes young adults.   Additionally, since the researcher did not collect the data, they have no control over what is contained in the data set. Often times this can limit the analysis or alter the original questions the researcher sought to answer. For example, a researcher who is studying happiness and optimism might find that a secondary data set only includes one of these variables, but not both. A related problem is that the variables may have been defined or categorized differently than the researcher would have chosen. For example, age may have been collected in categories rather than as a continuous variable, or race may be defined as â€Å"white† and â€Å"other† instead of containing categories for every major race. Another significant disadvantage of using secondary data is that the researcher doesnt know exactly how the data collection process was done or how well it was carried out. The researcher is not usually privy to information about how seriously the data is affected by problems such as low response rate or respondent misunderstanding of specific survey questions. Sometimes this information is readily available, as is the case with many federal data sets. However, many other secondary data sets are not accompanied by this type of information and the analyst must learn to read between the lines in order to uncover any potential limitations of the data.

Discussion 1 week 2 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Assignment

Discussion 1 week 2 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) - Assignment Example Audit quality has improved, more financial experts have found positions in these committees and number of financial restatements has declined significantly (Cohn 2012). Apple is a global company which is currently facing pollution problems because of a few of its suppliers (Haselton 2011). With the help of SOX, it can pressurize its suppliers to abide by full disclosure rule of corporate policies and avoid breaking environmental laws. Similarly, companies like Lenovo and IBM face criticisms due to their disposal activities jeopardizing the environment. The SOX framework is constituted in a manner which comprises all essential elements of reducing white-collar crime and misalignments in shareholder-auditor interests. The SOX framework talks about the independence of auditor from those who own the company (Sec 404), responsibility of senior executives in presenting true and accurate records (Sec 409), areas where conflict of interests can happen, penalties for alteration/manipulation of financial data and even corporate crimes including offences and failure to comply with rules and regulations (Sec 802). With the help of these sections and sub-sections, companies under the pressure of corporate social responsibility can be encouraged to abide by the rules. Evaluate how the SOX has reinforced investors’ and creditors’ confidence in companies and how these individuals can take steps to verify the accuracy of the financial statements of potential investments or loans. Provide support for your rationale.   SOX has emerged as an apt and demanded medium to expose financial manipulations in corporate activities. Its most important element which reinforces trust and confidence is its emphasis on both the companies and the auditors being accountable and transparent in their deeds. For instance, Tyco International had its shareholders’