Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Answer: Introduction This report is to critically evaluate and make a research foundation for further research. The main focus of the previous assignments was to review the cybercrime environments in some sector where the impact of the crime is high (Soomro 2016). Therefore, the organisation chosen is of manufacturing sector in mining called BHP Billiton. The research design and approach to conducting the research in the field is also outlined in the following discussions. The project objectives of doing the research are also discussed (Sales 2012). The data collection process and research limitations while doing the research is opined as suitable. Based on the research method and outlines activity the main tasks are scheduled in a chart below. To analyse the cyber protection level of the company by doing primary and secondary research of the company To build a primary foundation of doing research and gather data for to analyse To recommend further usage and increase responsibility of the companies regarding cyber crime and cite the advantage of using such protection system Project scope The main scope of doing this research is to gather primary research data for further usage of the cyber crime laws and regulations. Further, this project will be useful for those companies, which are very prone to data hacking. This advantage of this research will be helpful in having further knowledge in this regard. The recommendations can also be useful for the companies, which are trying to incorporate the cyber security programs in their company and planning for implementing further improvement. The scope of this project also lies in recommendations of to develop more protections for the companies facing the cyber hacking problems and initiate actions to increase the responsibility of the companies towards their dat. With the evolution of the technology, crime in the cyber space has also increased. The negative aspect of internet and technologies, the scope of crime has become a challenging aspect that threatens the company (Sales 2012). Therefore, the essential part of the process is to practise the preventive methods to increase cyber security. The company that are getting more responsibility about cyber security aspect is identified to be BHP Billiton, which tries to secure its data from cyber attacks. This company uses different internet protocols and recruited nine-security architecture for professional security purpose. It has a separate unit of the for cyber security, which incorporates security governance and risk mitigation group and compliance group. The transactional data that the company have or shares with their stakeholders are protected, recognised and analysed thoroughly. Comparative analysis There are many policies regarding cyber security that the company goes by, for insecurity of information. The responsibility of the company is also in the matter of national security and economic growth. The CIIP handbooks that gives an overview of how the security infrastructure must be in the issues that makes the mitigation of the companys security more reliable are discussed and abide by in the process (Tonge et al. 2013). The critical sectors that gets affected by the cyber crime like breach of company data, Botnets, web based attacks, malicious software, malwares and malicious codes, virus, and Trojans. BHP takes different kind of initiatives in mitigates vulnerabilities of the systems, and protects its assets (Crozier 2017). The plan to employ the CIRT (critical incident response team) is also a stern step to revise the remaining security system of the companys different process. BHP Billiton is also reinforcing their organizations security architecture resources, which is out side the domain of specific security of the companies data (Jacobs 2016). The organization security architecture team of BHP Billiton will be leading globally based out of Melbourne. This new security team also in process of designing, implementing, supporting and documenting the architecture of security infrastructure. The collective security methods like using firewalls, role based access, physical separation, encryption of data and backing up the data for future use in emergency are also part of the process of security methods (Jacobs 2016). Cyber crime and security team always conducts an adequate audit trails in application to analyze the root cause of these kind of data breaches and crimes. To perform the administrative task in the company regarding security measures BHP Billiton conducts research for tracking the objectives of cyber security functional initiatives in partnerships with high level of authority. What are the risks involved in cyber crime for an organisation and what is the responsibility of the owners of the business in mitigating the risk? How BHP Billiton uses the cyber security programs? What are the data hacking risk factors affects the impacts the operation of the company? What are the different types of risk that BHP Billiton faces in their organisation and what protection level does it use in their company? Research design and methodology The research methodology here includes both qualitative research and quantitative research from the secondary and primary data. The qualitative approach is known as the respondents unstructured responds in different categorical variable but a quantitative research is based on the huge number of respondents survey analysis. This helps in generalising the responds for the research purpose. In a research, approach of reliability and validity outlines the main concerns of the research system. This also ensures the outcomes of the research are valuable and can be correctly used. This validity and reliability is also takes into consideration about the ethics of conducting a research program. Reliability defines as a testing and evaluation of the data. The most important part of doing a qualitative research is to provide it with quality. The factors that must be given emphasise are credibility, neutrality, conformability, consistency, applicability and transferability (Low and Ong 2014). This is essentials among the factors that need to be considered. To ensure this factors the examination process must be trustworthy. On the other hand the validity must be kept in mind and while doing the qualitative research. The two kinds of validity must be kept in mind, the construct validity and concept validity. The concept validity must be taken into account for imperceptivity of con ceptions (Sauter and Carafano 2012). Qualitative research is more naturalistic approach to seek the phenomena that are context specific. The categorical variable are more used in this king of research but the numeric and alpha numeric is considered more quantitative approach to study the research (Creswell and Poth, 2017). The quantitative approach to research is more findings based and takes into consideration the following things. For example, prediction, generalisation also extra and interpolation of the findings. This is not philosophical in nature rather like qualitative research. Research approach After designing, the research comes the approach. The more basic of the approach process is inductive and deductive. It has been described, the inductive approach to be done in the data collection, analysis and observation of data (Low and Ong 2014). The theory selection, hypothesis testing and implementation of theories are confirmation of research done on the topic. Here the part of collecting the research data is done in inductive ways. The research design in this study is exploratory. This design enlightens the background information that has been collected while doing the literature review of the study. There is also descriptive study process done in the finding the objectives of the research. Here in this research design the focus is to collect primary data from the company and based on the fining and analysis the correct conclusion must be given (Yin 2013). Data collection process By objectives of this study, it has been decided that primary and secondary both data must be collected on the company BHP Billiton. The research topic is based the cyber security and what are the precautions that must be taken in mitigating the risk arising from not having cyber security method incorporated in the company Information system (Yin 2013). The group of six managers are identified from the company to do a primary research. Based on the case objectives the research questions will be prepared. The secondary data will be collected from the group of employees that are from BHP Billiton. The set of hypothesis will be constructed based on the data collected and findings are analysed. As the research goes after primary and secondary data collection, which is the crucial part of the system and surveying the respondents (Creswell and Poth 2017). Sampling method includes interviewing the appropriate candidate for research and based on that sample must be chosen. The probability sampling is the best method chosen for this research study. Convenient sampling reduces the deviation of the responds of the candidate. 6 managers are chosen for interviewing and remaining 50 employees of the company will be surveyed for primary data collection. The sample variables that are collected will be one dependent and one independent variable. The independent variable here is the cyber crime rate and dependent is the security system that is incorporated in BHP Billiton. Research Limitations There are some limitations to conducting research. For example, getting authentic journals of the research and building the research foundation for further research. In addition, the budget constraint must be kept in mind. However, it also must be kept in mind the time constraint of the research. Conclusions Therefore, from the above text it can be suggested that the company BHP Billiton takes a number of protection measure in there system and takes care of their confidential datum of their system and operations. Further, the text outlines a research method for conducting a research on the measuring the cyber security and what the company takes into consideration while incorporating protection level in the system. The data collection process and research limitations while doing the research is opined as suitable. Based on the research method and outlined activity the main tasks are scheduled in a chart above. Reference Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2017.Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications. Crozier, R, 2017, BHP Billiton to create big Aussie infosec unit, retrived on 19th August 2017 from: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/bhp-billiton-to-create-big-aussie-infosec-unit-450875. Franke, U. and Brynielsson, J., 2014, Cyber situational awarenessa systematic review of the literature, Computers Security, 46, pp.18-31. Goo, J., Yim, M.S. and Kim, D.J., 2014, A path to successful management of employee security compliance: An empirical study of information security climate, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(4), pp.286-308. Jacobs, T., 2016, Industrial-sized Cyber Attacks Threaten the Upstream Sector,Journal of Petroleum Technology,68(03), pp.42-50. Low, S.P. and Ong, J., 2014. Research Design and Methodology. InProject Quality Management(pp. 69-77). Springer Singapore. Sales, N.A., 2012. Regulating cyber-security. Sauter, M. and Carafano, J., 2012.Homeland Security: A Complete Guide 2/E. McGraw Hill Professional. Soomro, Z.A., Shah, M.H. and Ahmed, J., 2016, Information security management needs more holistic approach: A literature review, International Journal of Information Management, 36(2), pp.215-225. Tonge, A.M., Kasture, S.S. and Chaudhari, S.R., 2013, Cyber security: challenges for society-literature review, IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering, 2(12), pp.67-75. Yan, Z., Zhang, P. and Vasilakos, A.V., 2014, A survey on trust management for Internet of Things, Journal of network and computer applications, 42, pp.120-134. Yin, R.K., 2013.Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publicat

The River Of Freedom Essay Example For Students

The River Of Freedom Essay In Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn, the Mississippi River plays many roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story. Huck and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most at peace when floating down the river on their raft. The river has a deeper meaning than just water and mud, almost to the extent of having its own ideal personality. It provides the two characters a means of escape from everything and everyone, and puts them at ease. Although quite constrained in its capacity to provide freedom of movement, the raft offers the two a certain amount of freedom in actions, words, and emotions. Huck senses this truth when he mentions how; other places feel so cramped and smothery, but a raft dont. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.; (Twain, 113) However, the freedom that is experienced on the raft can be deceiving. This freedom is only temporary and will not last forever. Huck and Jim cannot live on a raft traveling down the Mississippi forever and m ust focus on the main situation at hand, getting Jim his true freedom A freedom that stretches beyond the limiting reaches of a raft. Huckleberry resents the objectives and beliefs of the so-called civilized; people of the society around him. Huck likes to be free from the restrictions of others and just be himself, living by his own rules. He disbelieves the societal beliefs that have been embedded in his mind since birth, which is shown by his brother-like relationship with Jim, a runaway slave. Only on the raft do they have the chance to practice the idea of brotherhood which they are so devoted to. When Rifkin, 2on the raft, peacefully wading down the river, skin color plays no major part in the way that they interact and outright racist perception is nonexistent. The river is the only form of separation from all of the negative virtues of society which Huck has access to. However, it still does not completely separate them from what they disbelieve in. Although the river allows them a certain amount of freedom at first, this freedom is very limited in its capacity, for they must still make a big effort to avoid others, hiding by day and floating down the river by night. Huck has to constantly invent new stories to tell nearby boatsmen or any other people who might interfere with their quest for freedom. We will write a custom essay on The River Of Freedom specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Another appeal of the river its ideal peacefulness. It does not seem like Huck enjoys the company of others too much with the exception of Jim, Tom Sawyer, and secondary characters such as Mary Jane Wilks. He seems to enjoy a tranquil environment where there are not many unnecessary annoyances. When he and Jim anchor to watch the sun rise, he mentions that there was; Not a sound anywhere- perfectly still- just like the whole world was asleep; (113) With just Huck and Jim on the raft things probably would tend to be more quiet for two people can only talk for so long, as opposed to having mixed conversations with many people. He loves these moments which possibly last for even days at a time, for at one point Huck says; Two or three days and nights went by; I reckon I might say they swum by, they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely.; (113) This degree of peace and appreciation of quietness took time to get accustomed to and strengthens every time they return from the land. The m ore they venture onto the shore, the more they appreciate everything the raft has to offer. Hucks attachment to the raft and his companion grows every time he returns to the serenity of the raft. Not only does he enjoy Rifkin, 3in a way being cut off from society, but he somewhat becomes detached from it, not realizing that he has entered the realm at times. Although the river provides such heavenly things to Huck and Jim, it is also a source of danger, and the threat is ever-present. There is the threat of the raft being ripped apart during storms. (Thunderstorms on the Mississippi were especially severe) This threat

Logophile Definition, Etymology, and Use

Logophile Definition, Etymology, and Use A logophile is a lover of words. Also called a  word lover or philologos.  A related term is logomaniac, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person who is obsessively interested in words. EtymologyFrom the Greek, word love Examples and Observations I am a lifelong logophile if not an out-and-out verbivore. I have a good ear and a good memory for words, its just a kind of tic or trick, the way some lucky people can play a song by ear after hearing it once or count cards at blackjack or spot four-leaf clovers. Unusual and specialized words tend to lodge in my mind, where they hang around, often for years, until I need them. American English has an astonishingly rich vocabulary and we typically use so little of it; I think thats a shame, or maybe it would be better to say I think of it as an invitation.I write with two dictionaries right at my elbow . . .. I look forward to visiting my dictionaries anew every time I sit down to write. The same goes for when Im reading and I come across an unknown word: Quaternions? Yahoo! I get to go to the dictionary!I know thats probably kind of freakish. I guess I am counting on the readership of freaks.(Michael Chabon, Questions for Michael Chabon. The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2007)I am a medic al logophile, and in using words, I will often go to the Greek or Latin roots; doing so helps me use words more precisely.(Robert B. Taylor, Medical Writing: A Guide for Clinicians, Educators, and Researchers, 2nd ed. Springer, 2011) Vocabulary Building[The] suspicion of new words, a distaste of verbal novelty, is acquired in school from dreary English teachers still in thrall to Hemingwayesque simplicities. You know their chief cliche from your own school days: always use the simple word, class! Never seek out a synonym or exotic foreign term. Thank goodness I had a father who taught the very opposite: always discover the rarest yet still correct word. By doing that, a young student accomplishes two things. You expand your vocabulary and you flummox ordained pedagogical authority, namely the dull teacher.(  Bill Casselman,  Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik: A Word Lovers Guide to the Weirdest, Wackiest, and Wonkiest Lexical Gems. Adams Media, 2010)The Sweetest-Sounding Words in English (1950)While most of the words that [columnist Frank] Colby discusses are suggested by his readers, Colby turned the tables in 1942 by asking them: What are the most euphonious English words? The top ten by popular vote: mother, m emory, Cellophane, bellboy, melancholy, belladonna, flamingo, wilderness, tambourine, lavender. Last week Logophile Colby reported the results of a new readers poll. Mother had slipped a bit, but was still listed among the top ten. There were eight new favorites. The 1950 hit parade: melody, lullaby, mimosa, memory, mellow, mother, moonbeam, murmuring, beautiful, lanolin.(The Press: Mimosa, Moonbeams Memory. Time magazine, Jan. 30, 1950) Creating KingdomsA love of words comes from the work of playing around with language. We learn words by hearing them, rolling them around on our tongues and in our minds like a small child does as she learns language. A person who loves language plays with ithears words and links them with other sounds, other meanings, and other words. The patterns and sounds of language are fascinating to the lover of words. From these connections, many poets find poems. Poetry comes as Harry Behn writes (1968) from falling in love with language. Rebecca Kai Dotlich says in A Kingdom of Words, that a word may seem to be just a word, but a poet can create a kingdom around it.(Barbara Chatton, Using Poetry Across the Curriculum: Learning to Love Language. Greenwood, 2010) Also Known As: word lover, philologos

Free sample - The Clash. translation missing

The Clash. The ClashIntroduction Aesthetics is a philosophy that was concerned with the nature of art work and criteria of artistic art work. A clash in art work refers to noise that is produced when doing art work or bad objects which result from aesthetic work. In art work creativity and symbolic aspect of an object is considered.   Clash between aesthetics and function The clash between aesthetics and function has become an issue in architecture beyond reasonable doubt. The work of art including ceramics, textiles and art furniture was an architect designed modernist for apartments in early 1960s and 1970s.This was marked as the time when people had experience on design work based on social, civic and cultural significance. But nowadays, architecture work has changed because building aesthetic achievement has been left out from its real function. The work of artist architecture at present depends on clients; target consumer needs and products at consumer prices but contain professional grade functionality (Shiner 2003). The constructions of modern architectures are important in art museum though they incur challenges when relating with aesthetic and function museum designs. Art museum is a challenge because it needs a lot of art work in every stage of production. The category of art museum represent type of structures either explicitly created to commemorate important events like churches and civic buildings. Art itself has an important function which people admire and tour especially places like museums which have exiting features. The clash between aesthetic and function has totally changed for a decade ago. At that time many contemporary artists produced long and thoughtful observation products that were meant for spiritual purposes. For instance temporary exhibitions and installations were less designed as neutral containers for permanent works than areas of interactive experience (Shiner 2003). Conclusion The art of historical past and present has caused a clash in aesthetic work. The contemporary issues involved opposed conceptions of what social workers of art and modern artists have done. Different views between past and present art workers were raised in consideration of aesthetic and function thus continuing causing trouble in studio crafts. Reference list Shiner, L. (2003).The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Applied statistics for economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Applied statistics for economics - Essay Example Consistent with the research predictions, the study found out that standard & poor 500 indexes are more likely to release good news forecasts following larger stock price declines. Moreover, as expected there is no association between the likelihood of releasing good news forecasts and the magnitude of an exogenous stock price increase. Also to be illustrated in this report is the potential of Time-frequency Representation (TFR) techniques, for the analysis of stock markets data and compare their performances. It is for this reason that we seek to analyze the behavior of the stock market price over the period from 2002 to 2007. MAIN OBJECTIVES/BROAD PURPOSES OF THE PROJECT This report aims at investigating the following objectives; i) To investigate whether all the investors are risk averse and measure risk in terms of the standard deviation in a portfolio’s return. ii) To investigate whether all investors have a common time horizon for investment decisions (e.g., a year). iii ) To investigate whether all investors have identical subjective estimates of future returns and risks for all securities. iv) To investigate whether there exists a risk-free asset and all investors may borrow or lend an unlimited amount at the risk free nominal rate of interest. v) To investigate whether all securities are completely divisible, there are no transactions costs or differential taxes, and there are no restrictions on short-selling. vi) To investigate whether information is freely and simultaneously available to all investors. We could summarize the above by stating that all individuals are price-takers and that markets are perfectly competitive. OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT Comparing... Applied Statistics For Economics A time series can be said to collection of data yt (t=1,2,†¦,T), with the interval between yt and yt+1 being fixed and constant. Time series analysis is the estimation of difference equations containing stochastic (error) terms (Enders 2010). Time series forecasting takes the analysis from the time series data and tries to predict what the data may be in the near future, based on what it has been in the past. This is especially important in the field of stock market investment, as traders want to make the right moves at the right times to maximize financial profit. But because there are many factors influencing the fluctuation of the stock market, creating an accurate forecast based on the analysis alone is difficult. Therefore, many approaches and models have been developed to utilize the time series analysis and provide an accurate prediction of what is to come in the stock market. Standard & Poor 500 indices are designed to reflect the U.S. equity markets and, through the mar kets, the U.S. economy. The Standard & Poor 500 index focuses on the large-cap sector of the market; however, since it includes a significant portion of the total value of the market, it also represents the market. Companies in the Standard & Poor 500 index are considered leading companies in leading industries. Comparing the mean of dly and that of dlsap, we observe that the end of week mean price for the logarithm of share price for a particular stock (denoted dly) is lower compared to the end of week mean for the logarithm of Standard & Poor 500 index.

Where does government spending go Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Where does government spending go - Essay Example It is also important to note that often the overall expenditure made by the government on its purchase of goods and services exceeds the revenue generated by the government through taxes. As such government tend to borrow either from the international or domestic market in order to fill short fall or deficit arising in its budget. US government spent its revenues on major goods and services which it renders including the defense services, infrastructure development, salaries of the government employees as well as other heads under which the overall revenue or budget of the country is spent. Almost 54% of the revenue earned by the government is spent on the military related activities whereas 46% of the revenue is spent on the non-military related expenditure. The recent surge in the military related expenditure has mostly been associated with the new military activities conducted by US government in Afghanistan and Iraq. The current budget proposed by the Obama administration show a complete breakdown of how the overall budget will be spent on different activities of the government. The government has also proposed different budget cuts in order to improve the situation of its finances. (Harris). The overall public debt in US still more than $14.2trillion dollars suggesting that the government may be borrowing heavily in order to finance its activities. This paper will trace as to where the government money is spent and why US faces such huge debt of $14.2 trillions. How government money is spent? The recent budget proposed by the Obama administration shows how the government money will be spent under different heads1. A critical analysis of the data would suggest following: National Defense 2011 proposed budget is $3.69 trillions out of which $738 billions will be spent on the national defense which is mostly related with the military related expenditure. The money spent on the national defense however, is further broke down into different sub-headings such as operations and maintenance, military personnel, procurement, research and development, military construction, energy as well as family housing and other benefits to the military personnel. This composition of the spending suggests that most of the spending on the national defense is made in terms of operations and maintenance. Social Security The second largest chunk on which government money is spent is social security services provided by the government. Under social security, most of the money is spent on the old age and survivors insurance whereas the rest of the money is spent on the disability insurance. Income Security Another important source where most of the money is spent by the government is providing income security to the citizens. Under this head, money is spent on the unemployment insurance, food stamps, child tax credit, supplemental security income, military retirement, unemployment insurance, rental income support, child nutrition and various other heads. Income security therefore serves as an income stabilizing factor for the citizens with the help of government. Health and Education Another important source on which the government spends money is health and education sector under which State offer both these basic services. Under the health and education, government offers grants to the States for health facilities as well as the health services are offered to the retired employees, funding to National Institute of Health, children health insurance program as well as other expenditure is made. Under the head of education, government offers assistance in terms of student scholarships, support for the disadvantaged, elementary and vocational training, training and employment services as well as other services which are offered by the governmen

Stem Cell Research Essay Example for Free

Stem Cell Research Essay Introduction A look at the progressive societies today indicates that science is encumbered by moral and political considerations.   The world of science is yet to be democratized and viable ideas are being sent to the gallows to satiate conservative thinkers at the helm of leadership.   A glimpse at most of the useful vaccines that have evolved indicates a struggle between morality and modern intelligence.   Science is struggling to permeate an almost non impervious wall of ethical consideration before a certain well meaning project can be allowed into the mainstream. Since the research into stem cells was pioneered in the 1960s, it has elicited hue and cry from the public with some claiming that scientists are trying to play God.   Many however have remained marveled at the exploits of modern science and have identified the wide range of benefits that arise from this research. Stem cell research is indeed revolutionizing the treatment of various human impairments and diseases such as leukemia and Parkinson’s disease amongst a wide range of other benefits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fascination created by stem cells research is immense and has expanded the scope of scientific study.   It continues to elicit interest regarding how organisms are able to grow from just one single cell and also the ability of such single cells to multiply and replace the damaged ones. Immense research is being carried out focusing on the application of cell therapy in the treatment of a number of diseases. Definition Stem cell refers to a â€Å"generic cell that can make exact copies of itself indefinitely.† (Chad). Gerald (203) definition of stem cells is centered on the inherent characteristics that they have which make them outstanding in comparison to other cells.   He observes that â€Å"they are undifferentiated cells that renew themselves at the single cell level for many cell doublings.† (203). There are two types of stem cells; the embryonic stem cell and the adult stem cells. Types of Stem Cells Embryonic stem cells are derived from a fetus (blastocyst) before the cell initiates the process of differentiation. They posses a higher ability of differentiation compared to the adult stem cells.   Much of the controversy that has arisen centers on the embryonic stem cells due to their origin. Adult stem cells on the other hand are obtained from the bone marrow.   Their versatility in research is restricted by the fact that they posses a number of limitations in terms of differentiation and divisibility.   The research into adult cells commenced earlier than for the embryonic cells and although both possess a number of similarities, adult cells are less flexible and much research and furor has been focused on the embryonic stem cells. Properties of Stem Cells All in all, stem cells serve an important purpose of replenishing damaged cells in the body. They repair the body system due to their higher potential of dividing into many cells limitlessly and also their ability to adapt to the prevailing chemical environment.   As Pam et al (8) observes that, â€Å"when a stem cell divides, each daughter can remain a stem cell or adopt a more specialized role such as muscle, blood or brain cell, depending on the absence or presence of chemical signals†.   Indeed, stem cells have the ability to grow and metamorphose into a particular cell that possesses characteristics that are similar to the cells of the deformed tissues. It is this self renewal capability and their higher potency that continue to arouse much curiosity amongst scientists who see them as the answer to various health and medical problems facing humanity.   Self renewal characteristic of a stem cell simply refers to its ability to divide and form multiply cells without losing its initial original characteristics.   Potency of a stem cell revolves around the ability to differentiate into desired specialized cells.   Depending on the capacity of cells to divide, they are referred to either pluripotency or unipotency. Pluripotent cells have â€Å"the ability to differentiate into a vast majority.† (Bellomo 35) Such cellular quality has become a major source of scientific inquiry as piluripitent cells have demonstrated unmatched ability of transform themselves into any set of tissues. They can develop either into endodermis, mesoderm or ectoderms as has been outlined by research. Endodermis refers to the inner tissues that range from the lining of the lungs and also the other internal organs such as the guts.   Mesoderm is the middle layer of body tissues that range from blood and the marrow alongside others.   On the other hand ectoderm refers to the outer most layers. Medical Benefits of Stem Cells The multipotent characteristic of a stem cell endows it with the ability to produce other cells although limited in number. An example of the multipitent cell is the hematopoietic cells.   Such cells too can give rise to other blood cells but their nature of differentiation limits their ability to â€Å"form liver cells, kidney cells, nerve cells, or any other kind of cell except for a select few kinds of blood cells.† (Bellomo 37).   Research into the multipotent cells was intensified in the recent past upon the discovery that they possess the potential to be used in stem cell therapies hence easing the suffering of millions in the world. Further research into this will uncover even further limitless application. Such research will enable scientists to fathom the complex process that the undifferentiated cells have to undergo before becoming differentiated.   This mostly is because majority of ailments experienced in the body are as a result of the abnormal processes of cell differentiation.   Scientists are yet to understand â€Å"the signals that turn specific genes on and off to influence the differentiation of the stem cell† (The National Institute of Health Resource of Stem Cell Research).   A further grasp of such a process will no doubt provide knowledge of what causes diseases as well as the various strategies to treat such diseases. Hopes are high hence in the medical profession that advances in modern technologies will be able to find a lasting cure to diseases such as cancer and diabetes.   This is because there still exists a huge gap in the current knowledge of stem cell research as some of the processes are still shrouded by mystery.    The existing treatments, after a breakthrough of research in the past 30 years, have centered on offering treatment to cancer patient that have complications such as leukemia.   Chemotherapy has been used in the destruction of the malignant tissues.   This however has proved to be detrimental to other useful cells such as the haematopoietic cells.   Advances made in the stem cell research have will be able to address this problem. This is because stem cells will be reintroduced into the system in a bid to replace the destroyed cells during chemotherapy.   Further research will be centered on the treatment of cancerous tumors.   A look at brain cancer history and trends over time indicates it is one of the most difficult to treat due to the speedy spread of the malignant tissues.   Research that has been conducted in dogs indicate that drugs can be developed that will specifically target the cancerous stem cells. Stem cell research has also been found to possess a potential of curing spinal cord injuries. In a study conducted in Korea, scientists have been able to come up with â€Å"stem cells tailored to match an individual† (BBC News channel).   Further information on the research indicates that this will result to diseases such as diabetes being treated without a patient’s body rejecting tissues. This is a major discovery that has solved one of the major headaches facing the treatment of diabetes.   In addition to diabetes, heart damages and baldness too will be contained in future. This indicates that in the end a wide range of medical maladies facing humanity will be eradicated through stem cell research. Stem Cell Research Controversy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the face of all the above mentioned benefits, stem cells research has been largely hampered by the opposition that has raged on centering on the use of embryonic stem cells. As afore mentioned, embryonic stem cells have been found to possess unique characteristics that give them a high ability to multiply and differentiate. Research has indicated that they can self divide and be able to maintain their inherent characteristics. This has made them more viable in the stem based therapy than the adult stem cells. They are seen as providing the answers to various diseases facing mankind. This has attracted criticism from pro life activists. The Catholic Church for example has been very vocal in its opposition of the research citing a number of moral grounds.   The major argument has been that embryonic research devalues human worth.   Critics insist that â€Å"the embryonic human should have the same moral status as the fetus or the child or the adult† (The ebrary ebrary, 210). They criticize the notion that embryos are not yet human insisting that focus hence should be on adult stem cells which may posses the same differentiation and division abilities rather than on embryonic research.   This opposition insists that â€Å"the proper test of humanity should be if the embryo has the potential to organize itself into a living human whole† and not on whether it is yet living (Inc ebrary ebrary 210) Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These arguments made against the stem cell research may hold some water when addressed on the context of morals.   Indeed it is important to accord embryos the respect they deserve in the recognition that it is a stage in human growth. However, such arguments fail to recognize the immense benefits that such a research accords to humanity. It hence defeats logic for critics of stem cell research to equate human embryos with human beings.   Though a human embryo is important in itself it is not always that it develops into a human being and if there is a way that it can be beneficial to humanity such benefit should be explored.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is hence important that the public in the understanding of the mentioned benefits urge the political regimes to allocate more funding to the stem cell research to uncover their full potential.       Works Cited. Chad H.   Stem cell research. Medical Encyclopedia. National library of Medicine. 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved on October 30, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007120.htm Gerald P. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. Academic Press, 2006; 203 Bellomo M. The Stem Cell Divide: The Facts, the Fiction, and the Fear Driving the Greatest Scientific, Political, and Religious Debate of Our Time. AMACOM Div   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   American Mgmt Assn, 2006; 33-39 BBC.UK. Stem Cells Tailored to Patients. 2005. Retrieved on October 30, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4555023.stm Inc ebrary ebrary. The Debatabase Book: A Must Have Guide for Successful Debate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   IDEA, 2004; 209-211 Judith A., Erin W.   Stem Cell Research.   Congressional Research Service. 2004.   .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved on October 30, 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.fas.org/spp/civil/crs/RL31015.pdf. Pam S., Gail P., Mary T. The Promise and Politics of Stem Cell Research. Greenwood    Publishing Group, 2007; 8