An Instrument - Reliable and Validity Assignment

An Instrument - Reliable and Validity - Assignment Example A measurement may be reliable but need not be valid. Nevertheless, measurement has to be reliable before it can be valid. A tool should be reliable and should be suitable for measuring the intended object. In designing a research project it is absolutely necessary that the measurements are both reliable and valid. If it is not so the tools of measurement are basically useless for measuring what the researcher wanted to measure. 2. Almost daily, we hear about research that seems to contradict earlier findings. One day, for example, a particular food is good for you and the next it is not. What does this reflect about the scientific method What are the advantages and disadvantages of the scientific method It is very true that we find research to support or to conclusively oppose something. For any study that puts forward a recommendation, there is another one that is apparently researched and documented and challenging the conclusions of the first. There is no convergence in the points of view of people. This does not invalidate the scientific method. There could may many possibilities for this divergence. Perhaps a researcher may not have used the valid tools for testing. The tools themselves may not have been reliable. The test conditions may not have been the same in all cases.   It insists on systematic experimentation. Scientists have developed criteria and practices to reduce the individual and social bias on scientific findings. The basic approach is an experiment, observation, and inference. It approaches reality objectively. However, our five senses might even play tricks on us. That is why theories of Ptolemy were later replaced by the theories of Copernicus. Some times more efficient tools to observe reality will be developed which give more data, hitherto unavailable. The use of an electron microscope has unraveled new insights into cell and modern cell biology is entirely different from what it was fifty years ago. 3. Suppose you wish to measure the effect of physical exercise on self-esteem. What type of experimental design would be most appropriate to Describe the types of groups necessary for this design? How would you measure your variables Which threats to internal validity would you need to consider The available evidence indicates that exercise not only benefits by providing a healthier body but also enhancing self-esteem. However, this has to be proved by empirical evidence. Visitors to a fitness center would be the ideal group to test the validity of this thesis.  

Cyber Warfare Examples Essay

Cyber Warfare Examples Essay Information Warfare,in its most fundamental sense, is the emerging theatre in which future nation-against-nation conflict at the strategic level is most likely to occur. George J. Stein, Cyber War, 2000 Cyberwar is the newest subset of information warfare, which needs no battlefield and is fought in cyberspace. Cyberspace includes information itself, the communication nets that move it, and the computers that make it useful. Cyberspace can be influenced and at times dominated by anyone possessing inexpensive computers linked into existing global communication nets  [1]  . The present information era offers modern tools to conduct seamless operations with utmost speed  [2]  . It is essentially trying to deny the enemy the advantage of force, time and space that come with the use of modern information technologies. Cyber Warfare may be defined as Any act intended to compel an opponent to fulfill our national will, executed against the software controlling processes within an opponents system. It includes the following modes of cyber attack: cyber infiltration, cyber manipulation, cyber assault, and cyber raid  [3]  . In present day battle field, forces exchange digital data for real time use using networks. Developments in the field of tele-communications, computer networking, image processing, miniaturization of electronics etc. has given a new impetus to the exploitation of the Information for Warfare. For all future conflicts, Cyber warfare would form one of the spheres of military operations in addition to the other four spheres i.e. land, air, sea and space. Military attack in the form of a cyber network attack is irregular in nature. It is extremely cheap, is very fast, can be carried out anonymously, and can disrupt or deny critical services precisely at the moment of maximum peril. Advances in technology over the past several decades have enabled cyber warfare to become a viable strategic tool. Details on cyber warfare are sensitive and all nations hold those closely. According to Jeffrey Carr, author of Inside Cyber Warfare, any country can wage cyberwar on any other country, irrespective of resources, because most military forces are network-centric and connected to the Internet, which is not secure. For the same reason, non-governmental groups and individuals could also launch cyberwarfare attacks. Cyber warfare in the civil domain is Internet-based conflict involving politically motivated attacks on information and information systems. Such attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and cripple financial systems, among many other possibilities. The majority of computers, their operating systems and software purchased by the military services are commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, often manufactured abroad due to cheaper cost. Thus, foreign countries could place hidden components inside the computers, making the computers vulnerable for attack and/or spying. Examples of Cyber warfare. In 1998, the United States hacked into Serbias air defense system to compromise air traffic control and facilitate the bombing of Serbian targets. In 2007, in Estonia, a botnet of over a million computers brought down government, business and media websites across the country. The attack was suspected to have originated in Russia, motivated by political tension between the two countries. Also in 2007, an unknown foreign party hacked into high tech and military agencies in the United States and downloaded terabytes of information. In 2009, a cyber spy network called GhostNet accessed confidential information belonging to both governmental and private organizations in over 100 countries around the world. GhostNet was reported to originate in China, although that country denied responsibility. The most effective protection against cyberwarfare attacks is securing information and networks. Security updates should be applied to all systems including those that are not considered critical because any vulnerable system can be co-opted and used to carry out attacks. Measures to mitigate the potential damage of an attack include comprehensive disaster recovery planning that includes provisions for extended outages. It is tempting for policymakers to view cyberwarfare as an abstract future threat. After all, the national security establishment understands traditional military threats much better than it does virtual enemies. The problem is that an electronic attack can be large, widespread, and sudden far beyond the capabilities of conventional predictive models to anticipate. Cyber warfare is here to stay on the long run and it will be growing in the set of solutions our military has for the future. Weve have already seen this demonstrated in some of the wars in the Middle East. As weve heard in the press, the attacks by the United States have been to disable communications, to cause confusion in the command and control structure of the adversary before a follow- on assault. 1991 Gulf War: An Early Cyber Conflict. The first major U.S. conflict involving computer warfare was the 1991 war against Iraq. The Pentagon does not offer specific details as to what was done, but reports have asserted that Baghdads air defense radar and other systems were targeted by U.S. cyber warriors. A Case for Cyber Breach Every day, millions of automated network scans originating from foreign sources search Indian computers for unprotected communications ports, the built-in channels found in even the most inexpensive personal computers. Breaches of cyber security and data theft have plagued the US as well: in 2006, between 10 and 20 terabytes of data equivalent to the contents of approximately 100 laptop hard drives were illegally downloaded from the Pentagons non-classified network, and the State Department suffered similarly large losses the same year. The emergence of so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) networks poses yet another threat. These networks are temporary on demand connections that are terminated once the data service has been provided or the requested content delivered, much like a telephone call. From a security perspective, P2P networks offer an easy way to disguise illegitimate payloads (the content carried in digital packets); through the use of sophisticated protocols, they can divert network traffic to arbitrary ports, Data containing everything from music to financial transactions or weapons designs can be diverted to lanes that are created for a few milliseconds and then disappear without a trace, posing a crippling challenge to any countrys ability to monitor Internet traffic. Estimates vary, but P2P may consume as much as 60 percent of the Internets bandwidth; no one knows how much of this traffic is legitimate, how much violates copyright laws, and how much is a threat to national security. The commercially available networking systems that carry nearly all international data traffic are of high quality: they are structurally reliable, available globally and are also highly automated. However, the networking standards that enable communication using this networking infrastructure were designed in stages over the last four decades to ensure compatibility, not security, and the network designers have been playing catch-up for years. The price of perpetrating a cyber-attack is just a fraction of the cost of the economic and physical damage such an attack can produce. Because they are inexpensive to plan and execute, and because there is no immediate physical danger to the perpetrators, cyber-attacks are inherently attractive to adversaries large and small. Indeed, for the most isolated (and therefore resource-deprived) actors, remote, network borne disruptions of critical national infrastructure terrestrial and airborne traffic, energy generation and distribution, water and wastewater-treatment facilities, all manner of electronic communication, and, of course, the highly automated Indian financial system may be the primary means of aggression of a potential adversary. The cost of a cyber weapon is very low, a few thousands of dollars compared to the millions of dollars spent developing a new bomb or a sophisticated automated missile system. The skills and resources are not controlled and are available. As for intent, there is no shortage of individuals or groups who wish to harm India and the likelihood of detecting this plan and foiling it is questionable. Cyber-attacks occur on a frequent basis and in a near-instantaneous manner; as the world becomes more connected, more machines and more people will be affected by an attack. In the months and years to come, cyber-attack techniques will evolve even further, exposing various and possibly critical vulnerabilities that have not yet been identified by computer security experts. Moreover, such attacks could also be coordinated to coincide with physical assaults, in order to maximize the impact of both.

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essays -- Mary Shelley Frankenstein Essays

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein The characterization of Victor’s creature, the monster, in the movie although somewhat dramatically different from Mary Shelley’s portrayal in the novel Frankenstein also had its similarities. Shelley’s views of the monster were to make him seem like a human being, while the movie made the monster out to be a hideous creation. The creature’s appearance and personality are two aspects that differ between the novel and movie while his intellectual and tender sides were portrayed the same. From the novel the creature’s physical appearance is left up to each reader’s imagination. Shelley wrote: His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips (p.56). Although I imagined the creature a human being with somewhat distorted features, another reader might view his appearance as a grotesque monster. On the other hand, the movie has shown him as a hideous monster created by a mad scientist. The monster’s appearance was focused on creating life out of dead body parts, sewing the pieces together that left horrid physical scars, and activating him with electricity. The creature’s personality, or actions toward society, was displayed as being very calm and compassionate in the novel. He made many attempts to converse with society, but society feared and mistreated... ...survive the cold season. The creature also requested a companion of the opposite sex, so he too could feel love from another instead of total rejection. At the very end of the novel and movie the creature was caught grieving over the death of his creator. Even though we are made to think that the creature was cold and destructive, in the end his human emotions prevailed. The Frankenstein movie focused on outward action scenes rather than emotional themes to make it more popular and entertaining. It also portrayed Victor as a mad scientist engrossed in his desire to create human life. I was very impressed that the movie did keep some of the good qualities that came from the novel. I enjoyed the novel more, because it gave me the opportunity to put my imagination to work instead of having to accept someone else’s interpretation of Mary Shelley’s literary novel.

Mproving the quality of life of college students through physical education and sports participation Essay

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate students’ perceptions of the factors that improve their quality of life through physical education and sport participations. One of the most striking problems of quality of life improvement today is the sedentary life we live and the lack of participation in physical education and sports, which arises as a result of inability of students to have improved quality life. This improvement of quality life is concerned with the promotion of health status of individuals and communities. Methods and Materials: 250 students were randomly selected from the department of physical and health education and college athletes of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos. Questionnaires were used as the instrument for data collection while simple percentatges and chi-square (X2) analysis were employed in data analysis and testing the formulated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Results: Findings from the study shows that factors like happiness to partake in sporting activities, keeping faith in physical activities/fitness and personal interests improves the quality of life of the students, which helped maintained their good health. Conclusions: Physical education and sports participation among the students influenced their quality of life greatly, which improves their quality health. However, they encountered fewer problems, which they believed didnot impede their quality of life. A number of recommendations were made on the improvements of quality life through physical education and sport participations. Keywords: Health, Participation, Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, Quality Life. Introduction Life is defined as the period between a person’s birth and death during which they are alive (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2009). Life can also be regarded as all the experiences and activities that are typical of a particular way of living. This further implies that level or quality of health, comfort and pleasure in someone’s life. Physical education is an integral part (important part) of general education. It is part of general education, which is concerned with the development of an individual physically, socially, mentally, emotionally and his/her health generally (Akinseye, 2008). Apart from these, physical education through well-planned and programmed exercise, helps to remove stress and strain of modern-day living. It provides avenues for physical fitness and relaxation thereby promoting physical and mental health. In other words, physical education aims at developing the child skillfully and makes him grow and develop physically, socially, mentally and emotionally through selected and well-programmed physical activities; thus influencing the child’s cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains positively. The term sport can be defined as an institutionalized competitive activity that involves vigorous physical exertion or the use of complex physical skills. This is often undertaken by individuals who are motivated by either the intrinsic satisfaction with the activity itself or the external reward earned through participation (Igbanugo, 2003, citing Coakley, 1978). For one to have a good quality and improved life, his or her health must be very paramount and cared for. World Health Organization (1948) defines health as the complete state of well-being of an individual physically, emotionally, mentally and socially without the absence of disease or infirmity. Some people would interpret this definition as being the quality of life and the way to achieve this is through personal cleanliness, physical activities and others. Physical activity is described in physical education and sports by Angela Lumpkin (2010) as â€Å"all moments that can contribute to improved health†. Quality of life is determined differently for each individual. However, the two factors, happiness and faith are the ideal components that helps maintain good health that include physical activities, which enables a person to achieve the true quality of life. Health care provides perceptions towards health promotion, which is important in achieving the aims of healthy people. Assessment of the physical education of students’ belief is an integral part of understanding current behaviour and conceptualization of strategies to measure the impact of it on the improvement of quality life. The issue of quality life promotion is concerned with improvement in the health status of individuals and communities. By promoting the quality of life means improving the dimensions of it. Therefore, a fundamental aspect of quality of life promotion is that it aims to empower people of health advancing, supporting, encouraging, and placing it higher on personal and public agenda. According to Ma Xin-dong (2011), life style change more than any other factor and this is considered to be the best way of preventing illness and early death in our society. The major causes of early death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic lifestyle related conditions. Health lifestyles are critical to wellness. Each individual is different from all others’ health and wellness depends on each person’s individual characteristics. Making comparisons to other people on specific individual characteristics may produce feeling of inadequacy that detracts from one’s profile of total health and wellness. The goal of this is to help all people to make personal lifetime lifestyle changes that promote health, fitness and wellness. Regular physical activity, sound nutrition and stress management are considered to be priority healthy quality lifestyle. Ma Xin-dong (2011) also posited that children and youth are the future of the human beings. Children and youth’s fitness and wellness have important implications on their lifetime of health. However, the problem of children and youth’s health has become a global issue. In recent years, physical health status related with children and youth in many countries have suffered different degrees of decline. Regular physical activity has important positive effects on the muscular, skeletal, cardio-vascular respiratory and endocrine systems. The effects of exercise on these systems are associated with a number of health benefits, including a decreased risk of premature mortality and reduced risks of coronary heart diseases, hypertension, colon cancer and diabetes mellitus. In addition, regular participation in physical activity also reduces depression and anxiety, improve one’s mood and enhance our quality of life. Several observational and clinical studies suggested that physical activity substantially reduces the risk of dying, coronary heart diseases, stroke and colon cancer. It also helps to control weight and contributes to healthy bones, muscles and joints, reduces falls among older adults, helps to relieve the pains of arthritis, reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression and associated with fewer hospitalization, physician visits and medications use. Worldwide, the World Health Organization (1998) estimates that over 60%of adults are not active enough to benefit their health. Moreover, physical activity declines significantly with age. It is generally higher among females and the overall inactivity trend is worse in poor than urban areas. In addition, there are racial and ethnic differences in physical activity rate, particularly among women. Physicians and other health care professionals are recommending physical activity as an adjunct to more traditional therapy for a variety of physical and psychological disorders. It helps to lower the risk of early death, coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, impoverishment of bone health, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, falls, depression, poor cardio-respiratory and muscular fitness, decreased level of body fat; all these will help to improve quality of life through physical education and sports participation, hence the need for this study.

Cuckoo’s Egg Analysis Paper Essay

The Cuckoo’s Egg book is well written by Cliff Stoll. It was something like reading a horror story book. It was creepy, suspense, curiosity and scary too. The hacker every time breaks into a military system seemed to be like a ghost entering into the house and not like a thief. We know thief will definitely when he attacks a home he will for sure grab all things possible for him to steal. But this hacker was not doing just that, he was wandering in the system and making some creepy moves and disappeared. Many a times he would just come and go just to show that he was still there. Something like a ghosts act. Cliff clearly briefs every day’s situations, thoughts and reaction of the people around him. As we are reading this book and try to imagine the description given by Cliff, we can understand how things were in those days. The FBI, NSA, NCSC and CIA reacted and helped for such case. It was definitely very difficult for Cliff to handle the pressure of his boss and the unsupportive FBI. It was definitely a challenging case. An astronomer, who was least interested in computer programming lands up tracking a spy which leads him to be a professional network and information security provider. This journey of Cliff is an example to many who loose hope on their current jobs, or people who lost and don’t know where they are ending up. See more: how to write an analysis paper From this book I take back lot of things related to computers, networks, the government, information security and its importance, and how to handle things under pressure and stress. There are many characters who teach us how to look at situations which actually shows us a way to solve the problem. Luis Alvarez is one such example who actually showed Cliff another view of handling this case. I think it was because of him Cliff took this case as a research and not as part of his job. IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE BOOK The very interesting part of this book is the way author relates all the problems to astronomy and physics. Most of the time it was his physicist friends who helped him crack the puzzle and find hints related to the hacker. The reader must be good at computer security or astronomy in order to understand the relations made between them by the author. Author also analyzes people relating to physics and planet study. Cliff describes his new boss Marv Atchley and his division head Roy Kerth in physics aspect. Roy who was a college professor teaching about collisions, protons and anti-protons. He related his students and staff to his subatomic particles: keep them in their orbits, energize them and then shoot them into static positions. Roy was fed up of the year long delays and excuses given by computer professionals. Author analyzed Roy and always made sure to start of a conversation something about relativistic physics before he could move on to computer related issues. That way author expected some kind of support for his tracking business, but Roy was a person who believed everything that had been proved or had some proof. This made the author to maintain a logbook, in which he entered every single word related to this case. He even had dotted down the conversations made with every person whom he contacted for help. This logbook concept actually helped him to analyze the hacker and his activities, sometimes saved him from getting screwed by his higher authorities and also helped him to write his paper titled â€Å"Stalking the Wily Hacker†. Though the techniques used by the author to trace the hacker is out dated now, but his way of approach is definitely amazing. How he relates this case to astronomy and physics is a very unique way. Another physics aspect applied for detection is: When the hacker fires a universal file transfer program called Kermit. The hacker also used the Kermit program on his system, because the Kermit program checks each of its files after it has copied it from one computer to another. This proved the author that the hacker was obviously having all the sessions printed out and also copied on to a floppy disk. Here author calculates the distance between his computer and the hacker’s by the concept of sound travelled and its echo heard. This way he arrives at a result of 279,000 miles but since his technician Lloyd was very good at communications explains him about the delays which occurred during communication between satellites and the earth, the hacker using a slow computer and the data transferred in the form of packets. Thus they land up with a result of 6000 miles. Another interesting way Maggie Morley cracked the word puzzle which led to a hint of hacker’s location. Though this is not physics approach, but definitely it is a different way of approach to solve a problem. Maggie gives the meaning of Jaeger, in German it meant Hunter and it was a name of a hunting bird. Hunter and Jaeger were the passwords used by the hacker. Hedgers and Benson were the name Cigars. So this lead to a conclusion that hacker must be somewhere in Germany and that he smoked. Dave Cleveland also gives a clue, which the hacker is not from the west coast. He comes to this conclusion by seeing the hacker type ps-eafg Unix command. This meant to Dave that the hacker didn’t know Berkeley Unix. The best way to learn new things is to make mistakes and learn from your mistakes and the best way to understand others is to put your legs in their shoes. Cliff uses same technique; he tries to be hacker himself to break into Mitre systems. He was successful in logging into Mitre and finding out holes in its internal networks. He tried to log in to Mitre through Tymnet connection as the hacker had done. This proved that it was possible for anyone to break into the most secured network systems and also helped to find the holes in the system. Cliff’s astronomer friends Jerry Nelson and Terry Mast play an important role in helping cracking few codes and puzzles related to the hacker. Jerry analyzed the codes and numbers given by the phone technician while tracing out the hackers line. He said that 703 was area code to Virginia and C and P meant Chesapeake and Potomac. The next time they help to crack KH-11. It was a secret spy satellite, KH stands for Key Hole and 11 was the series number. We should also be aware that in many countries hacking is not considered as illegal or crime. Some countries actually support hackers and maintain secret group of hackers to hack sensitive information of other countries. In this case it is very difficult to trace the hackers and punish them. The author not just keeps an eye on the hacker’s activities and trying to trace him but also tries to explain it to other authorities who could help him with this case. So he begins to talk to people at FBI, Teejay at CIA, Zeke at NCSC, some spies and spooks. That way he actually becomes a spy himself trying in his own way to catch the hacker. This experience teaches him how to talk and explain things to such people and also very well understands that every department was not interested or were not ready to take up the case. This way he understands what importance people gave to the information and network security. CONCLUSION This book tells us how the government treated a security issue. It is really pity that they were just bothered about the loss in figures and not the sensitive information that was stolen. The FBI, CIA, NCSC, NSA all of them had the same idea. They were worried about their reputation or about the loss in figures. They did not realize that the hacker was stealing some very sensitive information related to the U.S army, navy, and military. If they had been co-operative to Cliff they could have caught the hacker mush before and did not need a year. But now the FBI is very concerned about the Cyber crime and identity theft. I learnt that they would take serious action in investigating such cases. This is definitely very important in today’s world. As the number of users and systems are increasing, technology is advanced, people are connected not just through telephone lines, wires and cables but also they are connected wirelessly through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections which make them more vulnerable to security threats. As number of users and system and technology is rising, number of cyber crimes and hackers are also increasing. Now the hackers are very intelligent unlike our Cuckoo in the book. Markus Hess could have been easily caught with the help of the FBI and NSA as he was leaving his traces everywhere. For example the passwords and the connections used were easily predictable. Today the hacker may be sitting next to you but it is very difficult to trace them. Hence complicated and advanced techniques and technologies must be implemented. At the same time it is everybody’s responsibility to make sure that the information related to them personally or professionally must be secured.